I believe Jerry is correct. It appears to be a needle gun. It may be early Dreyse. Dreyse started with muzzle loaders before his famous cartridge design. If it is, then this one was not made for the common soldier. It should have some other markings. Some close up photo's of the gun, the engraving and any markings would help.

If this is an early Dreyse, then, judging by the limited view with the current photo's, it is a museum piece.

This shows the later Dreyse.


Pete

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