The Lorenz rifle was an Austrian rifle used in the mid 19th century. It was used in the Second Italian War of Independence in 1859 and the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, and also featured prominently in the American Civil War. History The Lorenz rifle was designed by Austrian lieutenant Joseph Lorenz. It was first approved for manufacture in 1854, and was Austria's first all-new infantry firearm since 1842. The demand for the rifles was much greater than what the Austrian state arsenals could produce, so much of the production was done by private manufacturers. Many of these manufacturers did not have the skill and precision required to make what was then a very modern and sophisticated rifle design, and as a result, the quality of Lorenz rifles varied quite a bit. The bore diameters also varied quite a bit due to insufficient control of allowable tolerances. This often left too much of a gap between the bullet and the barrel, resulting in poor performance. Replacing the earlier Augustin musket, the Lorenz was first distributed to Austrian soldiers in 1855. Despite its superiority to the Augustin, the Lorenz suffered from slow delivery and was sometimes used ineffectively due to prevailing conservatism in tactics and training. By 1859, the year of the Austro-Sardinian War, not all Austrian units had received the new rifle. Design features The Lorenz rifle was a percussion-type muzzleloader, and as such was similar in design to the British Pattern 1853 Enfield and the American Springfield Model 1861 rifle-muskets. It had a barrel which was held into place by three barrel bands. The barrel was .5473 caliber, which was slightly smaller than the .577 used by the Enfield and the .58 standardized in later Springfields. The stock was made of beech or occasionally walnut. The Lorenz could have either block or leaf-sights. The rifle was fitted with a quadrangle socket bayonet. Use The Lorenz rifle first saw action in the Second Italian War of Independence. It was later used in the Balkans. The original Model 1854 Lorenz rifle was replaced in the Austrian army by an improved Model 1862 variant. This later variant was the main Austrian weapon during the Austro-Prussian War, where the Prussian Dreyse needle gun generally outclassed them. After the war, the Austro-Hungarian Empire converted some 70,000 Lorenz rifles into the Wänzl breechloader until they had enough M1867 Werndl-Holub rifles to arm the military. The Prussians,