It was invented in 1836 by the German gunsmith Johann Nikolaus von Dreyse (1787–1867), who had been conducting numerous design experiments since 1824.

However, to conceal the revolutionary nature of the design, the rifle entered military service in 1841 as the leichtes Perkussionsgewehr Modell 1841 (transl.

His adoption of the bolt-action breech-loading principle combined with this igniter system gave the rifle its military potential, as these factors allowed a much faster rate of fire.

Most of the Prussian infantry in the 1850s were still equipped with the obsolete 1839 Model Potsdam musket, a smoothbore weapon whose range and accuracy was far inferior to the French Minié and Austrian Lorenz rifle.

The Royal Prussian Rifle Factory at the Spandau Arsenal began production in 1853, followed by Danzig, Saarn [de] and Erfurt.

[10] After the Prussian army received a 25% increase in funding and was reformed by Wilhelm I, Albrecht von Roon and Helmuth von Moltke the Elder from 1859 to 1863, the Dreyse needle gun played an important role in the Austro-Prussian victory in the Second Schleswig War against Denmark in 1864.

[8] The employment of the needle-gun changed military tactics in the 19th century, as a Prussian soldier could fire five (or more) shots, even while lying on the ground, in the time that it took his Austrian muzzle-loading counterpart to reload while standing.

The cartridge used with this rifle consisted of the paper case, the bullet, the percussion cap and the black powder charge.

The 15.4 mm (0.61 in) bullet was shaped like an acorn, with the broader end forming a point and the primer attached to its base.

Upon release of the trigger, the point of the needle pierces the rear of the cartridge, passes through the powder and hits the primer fixed to the base of the sabot.

[12] This was mainly because a sizable amount of gas escaped at the breech when the rifle was fired with a paper cartridge.

This was not a large problem because the individual soldier carried fewer cartridges than that and Dreyse created an "air chamber" by having a protruding needle tube.