11x59mmR French Gras
.22LR, 11mm PaperChassepot cartridge & 11×59mmR French Gras
Type	Rifle
Place of origin	France
Service history
In service	1874–1950s
Used by	Various
Wars	Various
Production history
Produced	1874–1950s
Specifications
Case type	Rimmed, bottleneck
Bullet diameter	11.3 mm (0.44 in)
Neck diameter	11.9 mm (0.47 in)
Shoulder diameter	13.5 mm (0.53 in)
Base diameter	13.8 mm (0.54 in)
Rim diameter	16.9 mm (0.67 in)
Rim thickness	1.9 mm (0.075 in)
Case length	59 mm (2.3 in)
Overall length	76 mm (3.0 in)
Case capacity	6.17 cm3 (95.2 gr H2O)
Ballistic performance
Bullet mass/type Velocity Energy 25 g (386 gr) Lead 455 m/s (1,490 ft/s) 2,580 J (1,900 ft⋅lbf)
Source(s): Cartridges of the world.[1]

The11×59mmR Gras, also known as the11mm Vickers, is an obsolete riflecartridge. France's first modern military cartridge, the 11×59mmR Gras was introduced in 1874 and continued in service in various roles and with various users until afterWorld War II.

The 11×59mmR was a rimmed, slightly bottlenecked,centerfire rifle cartridge with an external Berdan primer, developed for use in the single shot, bolt actionedFusil Gras mle 1874.^[1][2]

The original 1874 cartridge fired a paper patched, 25.0 g (386 gr), 27 mm (1.06 in) longlead bullet driven by 5.2 g (81 gr) of F1black powder, with amuzzle velocity of 450 m/s (1,500 ft/s), the velocity dropping to 430 m/s (1,400 ft/s) at 25 m (82 ft).^[3]

An improved cartridge was introduced in 1879 with a slower burning F3 powder, alterations to the tip of the bullet and a reduction in the height of the patch. In 1884 a bullet was introduced of 5%antimony and 95% lead which was compressed and hardened instead of simplycast, and the tip was flattened to improve accuracy.^[3]

DuringWorld War I an incendiary round was manufactured to be fired from the cartridge for theballoon busting role.^[4]

Following their disastrous defeat in theFranco-Prussian War, theFrench Army instituted a number of broad reforms including the adoption of an updated rifle in 1874, the Fusil Gras mle 1874, that replaced the cloth cartridge of the precedingFusil Chassepot mle 1866 rifle with a new brass cartridge, the 11×59mmR Gras, France's first modern military cartridge.^[1][2]

In addition to being chambered in their new Fusil Gras mle 1874, the preceding Fusil Chassepot mle 1866 was easily converted to fire the 11×59mmR Gras cartridge by simply modifying the chamber and altering the bolt, known as the Fusil mle 1866/74; this conversion was widely issued alongside the new rifle.^[2][3]

TheRemington Rolling Block rifle was also chambered in the 11×59mmR Gras cartridge. The 11.59mmR Gras was used extensively in both the Remington and the Gras rifles byJapan,Chile,Ethiopia, a number of Balkan states, and France's North African colonial possessions.Greece initially chambered theirMylonas rifle in this cartridge but later adopted the Fusil Gras mle 1874 as their standard rifle.^[1][5][6][7]

In 1886 it was replaced in French frontline service by the revolutionary8×50mmR Lebel, the first military cartridge to use smokeless gunpowder. The Lebel cartridge was itself created by necking down the 11×59mmR.^[1][8][9]

Despite being superseded, the Gras rifle and the 11×59mmR cartridge continued in wide service with territorial and second-line troops as well as throughout France's colonies, continuing in these roles during theGreat War. In addition to arming second-line troops, old Gras rifles and the 11×59mmR cartridge were widely used by front-line troops as convertedgrenade launchers, known asBombardes DR (grenade throwers) these conversions had cut down barrels and butts of varying workmanship and always fired cartridges with the bullets removed to propel the grenade, and were used as a crude form oftrench mortar.^[1][2][3][9]

In 1916 it was decided to re-equip theKingdom of Serbia's Army with French-made weapons, and from October of that year, the Serbian Army received 20,000 Gras rifles along with other French weapons. Due to a chronic shortage of modern rifles within theImperial Russian Army, 105,000 Gras rifles and a quantity of 11×59mmR cartridges were supplied to Russia during the war, these rifles were subsequently used by theRed Army in their early years.^[10][11][12]

By 1917 it had been determined that standard rifle calibre cartridges were less satisfactory forballoon busting (shooting downobservation balloons) than larger calibres carryingincendiary ortracer bullets. The French adapted the standard 11×59mmR Gras cartridge to fire from theirHotchkiss M1914 machine gun as an aircraft gun. Later the more reliable and more easily synchronisedVickers machine gun was chambered in the round, known as theVickers aircraft machine gun and sometimes the "balloon buster", it fired the same cartridge with incendiary bullets anddisintegrating belt link, the cartridge became known as the11mm Vickers in British service. The Vickers aircraft machine gun and the 11mm Vickers was adopted by the allies as a standard anti-balloon armament and used by both the British and French in this role until the end of the war, as well as other allies such asBelgium and theUnited States of America. Notable users include Belgium's leadingfighter ace and the allies' champion balloon busterWilly Coppens, and America's two highest scoring fighter aces,Eddie Rickenbacker andFrank Luke.^{[1][4][5][13][14][15]}

Post War the Gras rifle and the 11×59mmR cartridge continued in service with various users, theItalian Army faced a number of Gras rifles in the hands of Ethiopian irregulars during theSecond Italo-Ethiopian War of 1936, whilst duringWorld War II the Gras rifle and the 11×59mmR cartridge armed various partisan and guerilla groups throughout the Balkans. In the late 1930s, remainingMauser-Koka 1884 artillery carbines within the Yugoslav inventory were converted from the 10.15×63mmR Mauser to 11×59mmR Gras cartridges which were in good supply in Yugoslav Army depots. During theSpanish Civil War a number of Republican troops were armed with Gras rifles. The last known official user of the 11×59mmR was Yemen, who continued to use the Gras rifle and cartridge into the 1950s.^{[3][5][16][17]}

•  Canada
  •  Quebec - 1874/80/14 (Mle 1914) Gras variants chambered in 8mm Lebel, and some Mle 1874's and 1874/80's in the original 11×59R were used by the Quebec Home Guard, and Quebec Papal Zouaves. Quebec Home Guard rifles feature the Q.H.G. stamp, while the Papal Zouve Gras rifles are mostly only marked a 3 digit rack number on their stocks, and leather accessories (bayonet frog, sling, belt, cartridge belts etc.)
•  Kingdom of Belgium^[4]
•  Chile^[7]
•  Ethiopian Empire^[6]
•  France^[1]
•  Greece^[5]
•  Japan^[5]
•  Kingdom of Montenegro^[3]
•  Russian Empire^[12]
•  Kingdom of Serbia^[10]
•  Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes^[3]
•  Spanish Republic^[17]
•  Soviet Union^[11]
•  United Kingdom^[5]
•  United States^[15]
•  Yemen^[5]

• Fusil mle 1866/74
• Fusil Gras mle 1874
• Hotchkiss M1914 machine gun
• Mauser-Koka 1884
• Mylonas rifle
• Remington Rolling Block rifle
• Vickers machine gun

• List of rifle cartridges
• .577/450 Martini-Henry

Wikimedia Commons has media related to11 x 59 mm R.

• Pistol and rifle cartridges
• Military cartridges
• Rimmed cartridges
• Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1874

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Commons category link from Wikidata