This is a carbine de Versailles model IX
Calibre - 14.5 mm
Rifling - 13.5 mm
This is a baker rifle , Calibre - 15.6 mm
Rifling - 15.9 mm.
The carbine de Versailles was a French rifle built during time of naepoloen 1 , emperor of the France aka naepoloen Bonaparte or " lil Boney " , ( he was of the average height though for the era .)
In french the carbine was the word for a rifle , so baker and Versailles both are comparable.
Now the Versailles was meant to be issued to voltegeur battalions .
These were voltegeur or skirmishers, they acted as scouts , advance parties etc .
They didn't fight in a battle formation, thus they needed a very accurate weapon.
The rifle was the answer,
The Versailles had a range of 300 metres, very comfortable and the 14.5 mm lead ball would generally put a man down .
But yet they were not built in numbers , while there were thousands of voltegeurs , if not millions in the Grande armee.
The number made was just 3,000 .
Thing is although accurate, they were slower to reload than muskets , and the 14.5 mm lead ball was difficult to ram in a 13.5 mm barrel.
So they used this
A French charleville dragoon musket .
Now it fired a heavier ball , but it was highly inaccurate.
Thus the skirmishers or voltegeurs were at a severe disadvantage against the
British rifle battalions , or the grass hoppers.
These were armed with a baker rifle of which 22,000 plus were built .
The world's first rifle which had a impact on a war.
These could counter voltegeurs from a long range , which voltegeurs were unable to do after thier carbine de Versailles was banned by Bonaparte.
@Falcon slayers
@Johny_Baba.
@ALBY