item details
NameRifle, breechloading, Portuguese Model 1885 Guedes single shot.
ProductionOesterreichische Waffenfabrik Steyr; manufacturer(s); 1886; Austria
Classificationrifles, firearms
Materialssteel, wood
DimensionsOverall: 35mm (width), 175mm (height), 1215mm (length)
Registration NumberDM000367
Credit lineGift of the Police Department, date unknown
Overview
Steyr Guedes M1885single-shot breechloading rifle. Calibre .8mm
The Guedes breechloading system for single-shot rifles was developed by Portuguese Army officer Luis Guedes Dias. Manufacture of the rifles for the Portuguese Army was contracted out to the OEWG works in Austria, but the design was suddenly made obsolete by other nations' development of magazine-fed rifles. Portugal cancelled its order, and most of the 8,000 Guedes rifles made were on-sold to the South African Boer Republics. The rifles were used during he Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902), and it is likely that this example was brought to New Zealand by a returning soldier.