1854 Imperial Guard Voltigeurs Rifled Musket
France
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17m
While the British rapidly adopt a rifled musket for their infantry relatively quickly, it is a different story for most continental european militaries, notably France, who's massive conscript armies cannot be easily and economically equipped and effectively trained in marksmanship to make it worthwhile. This changes when Napoleon III decides to recreate the imperial guard and of course these magnificent shock infantry have to be armed with the best infantry rifle of the day.
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