12mm (nominally .48 caliber). 15.75" round barrel. SN: 727. Bright finish, iron furniture, walnut stock. Single shot, screw breech percussion ignition sub caliber training rifle with internal back action lock mechanism. Reinforcement strap on top of stock marked with the Cordier & Co C C trademark in an oval and with the serial number 727. Barrel marked with the serial below the side mounted, in-line percussion bolster and then Minie BTE / SGDG in an oval, indicating the patent for the design was that of Claude Etienne Minie (1804-1879), inventor of the revolutionary Minie bullet. Minie received English Patent #1051 in 1862 for this design. The rifle featured a screw-off barrel to allow breechloading and used an extended rod that was operated by the combination cocking piece and hammer, to detonate a percussion cap on a side mounted nipple 17" forward of the lock mechanism. The system is similar to later European parlor rifles like the Zimmer Schutzen. The design was intended to place the percussion cap far enough away from the military recruit that its explosion would not cause the the recruit to flinch and the sub-caliber bore size was also intended to reduce felt recoil to also mitigate flinching. Minie hoped that these features would allow new trainees to concentrate on learning the finer points of marksmanship. To more accurately model the percussion rifles in use by the French military at the time, the gun essentially conformed to the general size and weight of the French series of 1853/1857/1859 series of percussion military rifles with back action locks. The Minie-Cordier rifle included the same pattern of ladder rear sight as used on the other military rifles in service, which is graduated to 1,100 meters. A post and blade front sight is installed on the top of the barrel, .80" from the muzzle. The rifle also includes military type sling swivels. As the breech is located at the end of the stock, two extension langets extend from the breech on the top and bottom of the stock to provide reinforcement to the wood. These are very rare French military training rifles from the pre-Franco Prussian War period that are rarely found for sale in the United States.