C&Rsenal did an episode last week on the Gehendra Rifle. It was a late 1890s Nepalese rifle based on the Martini-Henry with modifications for domestic production. The action was modified to run on flat springs instead of a coil spring, and rifles were hand-fitted rather than machined. There was also a carbine version that's exceedingly rare - Nepal had little cavalry and it's not clear who the carbines were intended for. It's worth noting these post-date the introduction of smokeless powder and bolt-action rifles. Britain didn't want Nepal to have the most modern equipment, but did want Nepal to be better equipped than China in order to serve as a buffer state between India and China.
Gehendra Rifle
Wt 4.20 kg, Mag 1i, Dam 3, Pen Nil, Blk 8, SS 2, Rng 90
Gehendra Carbine
Wt 3.50 kg, Mag 1i, Dam 2, Pen Nil, Blk 6, SS 2, Rng 60
One other firearm developed in the late 1890s was the Bira, a manually cranked machine gun using an action similar to the Gardner but reversed so that the crank was rotated counter-clockwise instead of clockwise, as the inventor felt a pulling motion could be sustained longer than a pushing motion. It was twin-barreled and used a pan magazine that visually resembles the later Lewis magazine, loaded with 120 rounds of .577/450 Martini. They are incredibly heavy, at roughly 900 pounds for the gun, and each magazine weighs 30 pounds empty with the ammunition adding another 10 pounds when loaded. They were intended for use in defensive positions, so the tradeoff of massive weight in exchange for more reliability was viewed as a positive. Like the rifles, parts were hand-fitted to each gun, so most pieces are not interchangeable without shims or other modifications.
Recoil is negligible since the gun is so heavy and is mounted on what's basically a light artillery carriage. Rate of Fire is based on Royal Navy tests of the Gardner, which fired 236 rounds in 30 seconds in its 2-barrel configuration. Since this is less than 700 RPM, ROF is 5 rather than 10 based on the guidelines in Infantry Weapons of the World.
Bira Manual Repeater
Wt 410 kg, ROF 5, Mag 120, Dam 3, Pen Nil, Blk 10, Rng 115
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The poster formerly known as The Dark
The Vespers War - Ninety years before the Twilight War, there was the Vespers War.
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