From the November 2001 issue, pages 294 - 296
The Chassepot-Murata
The accompanying drawings and photographs are of a Chassepot "converted to" a Murata. That this was in fact a regular issue Japanese Army rifle is firmly established by the quotation.
"In March, 13 Meiji (1880)....work was started on remodeling Chassepot rifles into Muratas. ....In January, 16 Meiji (1883)....Thanks to the well arranged system of works in every one of its factories and the great progress made in the skill of its engineers and workmen since July of the previous year (1882), the Tokyo Arsenal succeeded in that year in remodeling over 8,000 Chassepots and making over 7,000 Murata rifles." ([1] page 42.)
Moreover the top of the receiver ring bears the usual "mum" found on official Japanese military arms.
The reason for converting Chassepots to Muratas is also apparent from the preceding quotation. In 1883 over 7,000 Murata rifles were made but the strength of the Japanese Army was 45,000 men at this time. ([2] page 40.) Clearly the production was not sufficient to equip the army with Muratas very quickly. But why convert Chassepots?
France had adopted the Chassepot needlefire rifle in 1866. [4], page 88, states that at the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) France had about 1,037,000 Chassepots. Not all of these were manufactured in French government arsenals. [3], Cahier Number 2, page 2, states that approximately 50,000 Chassepots were manufactured by "Birmingham, Brescia, Placentia, Liege, Vienne, et Londres." After France adopted the Gras in 1874, some Chassepots were converted to the Gras system. Some had a short sleeve fitted to the chamber end of the Chassepot barrel (designated 66/74T, see [3], Cahier Number 4, plate 3, for a diagram of this conversion) and some had a totally new barrel fitted (designated 66/74N). The remaining Chassepots were sold. Bannerman's 1907 catalog on page 33 has a picture of a Chassepot with the following caption: "French Chassepot Breech-Loading Rifle. ...A few years ago the French Government sold a million of these old arms with their sword bayonets...Price $2.95 each. Bayonets, 45 cents extra."
I have found no direct documentation of the sale of Chassepots to Japan. But [2] on page 42 states "In the extraordinary expenditures, about 400,000 yen were required in 1879 and 1880 for arms and ammunition."
It has been claimed that the only Chassepots retained by the French for conversion to the Gras system were those that had been manufactured in the French arsenals. A more likely explanation is that the French retained for conversion only those Chassepots manufactured after 1869 when the Chassepot receiver was modified to include a shoulder on each side of the receiver tang to augment the previously sole recoil surface on the underside of the rear of the receiver tang.
And indeed the Chassepot-Murata pictured was made by Placencia (one of the manufacturers noted above) and is so marked on the top of the barrel just behind the rear sight. As is clear from the drawings, the receiver has the pre-1869 receiver configuration.
All French made Chassepots have a wooden plug, approximately 7/16 inch in diameter and marked ME, set in the center of the arsenal stamp on the right side of the butt of the stock. There is no such plug on the stock of the rifle pictured and thus at least this rifle was a conversion of one of the foreign made Chassepots.
(The foreign made and pre-1869 Chassepots were extensively utilized in all kinds of "conversions". A number of years ago I bought through a dealer advertising in The Shotgun News a barreled Chassepot action converted to 28 gauge which had Belgian proofs and, as I recall, the dealer had quite a few of these barreled actions.)
The conversion consisted of the following modifications:
1. The Chassepot bolt was discarded and a Murata style bolt fitted.
2. An extractor groove was cut in the left side of the receiver.
3. A new rear sight ladder was made. (See drawing.)
4. A short sleeve was fitted in the chamber portion of the barrel (similar to that done on the French Chassepot-Gras conversion). The rifle was chambered for the 11mm Murata cartridge and the portion of the sleeve between the chamber and the original barrel rifling was smooth bored. (The dimensions of the chamber, taken from a chamber cast, are given in the chapter on ammunition.)
5. A gas escape groove was cut in the receiver just behind the rear of the chamber.
All French markings on the receiver above the stock line were removed. As noted before, the manufacturer's name on the barrel remained as did the markings on the underside of the receiver and barrel. Each part was stamped with the new serial number. The rifle pictured is all matching so we can be certain that the modifications mentioned above were in fact part of the conversion.
Since all other parts remained the same the Chassepot-Murata utilized the slightly modified Chassepot bayonet and cleaning rod. (The modified Chassepot bayonet is described in a subsequent article.)
The principal dimensions are:
Overall length 51 1/2 inches
Barrel length (from muzzle to front edge of receiver) 31 7/16 inches
Length of trigger guard plate 6 1/4 inches.
Bibliography
1. Kobayashi, Ushisaburo, Military Industries of Japan, Oxford University Press, New York, 1922.
2. Ono, Giichi, War and Armament Expenditures of Japan, Oxford University Press, 1922.
3. Boudriot, J., P. Lorain, R. Marquisset, Armes A Feu Francaises Modeles Reglementaires 1858-1918, (in French).
4. Schmidt, Rudolf, Die Handfeuerwaffen, Akademische Druck und Verlangsanstalt, Graz, Austria, 1968 (in German, reprint of original editions of 1875 and 1878).
Close up view of action area. Note the new bolt is retained in the receiver by a screw (just below the bolt handle in the above picture) on the receiver that projects into a groove cut into the bolt body. This is the same method as used on the Chassepot but differs from the method used on the Model 13 Murata to retain the bolt.
Another view of the action area. Note the large screw on the top of the bolt handle, typical of the Murata single shot series.
Top view drawing of the receiver. Note the lack of recoil shoulders on the tang.
Left side view drawing of the receiver. Note the recoil shoulder on the underside of the tang.
Bottom view drawing of the receiver.
Right side view drawing of receiver. Note threaded hole for bolt retaining screw at rear of the receiver.