Before the unification in 1871 Germany consisted of a collection of independent states and kingdoms, each having its own weaponry. With the newly formed Germany they sought to standardise their weaponry, including rifles, artillery and cavalry. It seems that side-arms were not high on the list. The German Ordnance Revolver or Reichsrevolver was adopted by the German Army in 1879 but was obsolete from the moment it was adopted, although being a sturdy, solid made gun. The biggest drawback was that it was a single-action revolver and lacked an ejector rod, the soldier carrying a separate ejector rod to manually remove fired cases. Most European Armies as well as America already had superior double-action revolvers during the late 1870’s. (Erlmeier, Brandt Ref. 153).

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