training and service units were armed with the Berdan II. It is common to see Berdan rifles in photos of street fighting taken during the Russian Revolution of 1917. : The Russian Empire sent 30,000 Berdan rifles to Ethiopia before the First Italo-Ethiopian War. Some were hand-modified into carbines Kingdom of Bulgaria: Berdan II was adopted by Bulgarian army Kingdom of Serbia in 1890 received 76,000 rifles as military aid. They saw service in the Balkan Wars and the First World War in the hands of Serbian soldiers of the 3rd class (men over 50 years old). : received about 7,000 Berdan rifles from the Russian Empire The Swiss military bought 8900 in 1869, but these were replaced in favour of the Vetterli soon after. The Berdan II saw service, though by then very limited, in Finland as late as World War II. In the Finnish Civil War of 1918, troops stationed in Finland still had Berdan rifles in storage and some 2nd line troops continued to employ the Berdan II. During this conflict, newer rifles were not always available in needed numbers, so Berdans saw limited use on both sides. As the Finnish military was not interested in the obsolete Berdan, in 1919 some 2,500 were issued to the Suojeluskunta (National Guard) General HQ. When the Suojeluskunta obtained modern rifles, the Berdans were returned to Finnish Army stores. About 3,000 Berdan rifles were issued to Finnish troops during the initial stages of the 1939 Winter War due to the great lack of modern infantry weapons. These rifles were replaced by more modern rifles as soon as it was possible. It appears that the Finns retained the Berdan rifles in store until scrapping them starting in 1945. In 1955 the remaining 1,029 were sold abroad, mostly in the U.S., through surplus arms dealers. See also Berdan Sharps rifle List of Russian weaponry Table of handgun and rifle cartridges References External links 7.62×54mmR rifles Single-shot bolt-action rifles Early rifles Rifles of the United States Rifles of the Russian Empire Russo-Japanese war weapons of Russia Hinged breechblock rifles