Kropatschek 1886

The Kropatschek 1886 was bolt action infantry rifle made for Portugal Army. It was designed by Alfred von Kropatschek who was a General in the Austrian Army and a weapons designer of the late 19th century. His rifles feature a tubular magazine under the barrel similar to a Winchester rifle. Tubular magazine was slower to reload then box magazine that can be loaded with 5 rounds clip. Also, there was always a danger that tip of bullet of one round could ignite primer of next round in the magazine. Kropatschek was manufacturing his rifles in Steyr Mannlicher factory for army of Austrian Empire and also export them in several countries like Portugal or France. Kropatschek rifles and carbines were designed for black powder ammo but they proved to be strong enough to handle smokeless powder.