At the end of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, the decision was made that the French population should be better prepared for war. The 11x59R Gras was adopted in 1874, but the weapon was heavy, especially for school boys. Monsieur Andreux, a gunsmith in Paris during the 1880’s designed a rifle that was a scaled down model of the 1874 Gras rifle. He was the principal supplier to the French School Battalions for whom Gevelot produced arms and ammunition. The rifle fired a 6mm center fire cartridge, similar to the 6mm Flobert rimfire.

This was originally thought to be the 5.75mm Velo Dog Short, but, as can be seen on the box labels, the Andreux text is clearly visible. The cartridge has no h/s, as opposed to the Velo Dog, which has a SFM h/s.