Full Name Basile Gras Name Basile Gras | Education Ecole Polytechnique Employer French Army | |
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Born January 2, 1836 ( 1836-01-02 ) St. Amand, France Occupation soldier, inventor, Army general Died April 15, 1901, Auxerre, France | ||
General Basile Gras (January 2, 1836 – April 14, 1901) created the Gras rifle for the French Army in 1874 by converting the Mle 1866 Chassepot rifle to fire metallic cartridges. Gras, who was a colonel at the time, played a very important role in the formulation and industrial production of the Lebel rifle. He was an alumnus of Ecole Polytechnique, then a shooting instructor at l'École Normale de Tir at Châlons. Eventually he supervised the three weapon manufacturing facilities at St Etienne, Châtellerault and Tulle. Finally he became Secretary of War for France.
References
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