Antique Trapdoor Rifle: Milbank-Amsler Swiss .41 Rimfire

This is my Milbank-Amsler rifle, a vintage military gun from Switzerland. (I've also seen it written as Amsler Milbank). Originally an 1840s-era muzzleloader, these guns were updated in the 1850s and 60s for use with primitive metal cartridges. The shells are rimfire (like a giant .22), pushing a 41-caliber bullet. The trapdoor system is a bit clumsy, but vastly speeds up the reloading process vs the original percussion design.

My grandfather bought this at an army surplus store back in the 1960s, but some parts disappeared during a rebuild. Fortunately I was able to find someone in Switzerland who still had spare parts! An international "save it for parts" collaboration, if you will!

This video is my first time firing the rifle. Apart from some hang-fires due to vintage ammo, it functioned very well. Perhaps in a future video I'll look into reloading for this, since the cartridges are basically museum pieces. Each shot costs $5 or more, if you can even find ammo at all!