Serbian Peabody rifle (), single-shot breechloading rifle made and used in the Principality of Serbia in the second in the second half of the 19. century. The first Serbian military rifle using metallic cartridges. History Peabody Conversion Action (1867) American inventor Henry Oliver Peabody (1826-1903) from Boston, Massachusetts patented a new form of breechloading rifle action in 1862, and his new Peabody rifles were sold in small numbers in USA and Europe. Available records show that the third patent (No. 72,076, issued on Dec. 10, 1867) obtained by Peabody was on an action system specifically designed and constructed for use in converting military muzzleloading muskets into breech-loading arms. By the end of the American Civil War the self-contained metallic cartridge was a sure thing; conversions of muzzle-loading rifles had already commenced and it seemed to be a profitable venture to get into. Evidently with this in mind, Peabody developed such an action based on his original idea of the rear-pivoted breechblock, for use with Springfield and Enfield muzzle-loading muskets.The Peabody alteration is simply a shallow version of his original action, but made without the finger lever, and with the breechblock made with a tail-piece. The receiver is largely composed of two long narrow walls connected at the ends with thicker blocks of metal. The front end is bored and threaded to accept the barrel, while the back forms a tang to fill up the recess in the musket stock left after removal of the breech plug. The breechblock tail-piece extends to the rear, forming the operating lever. The breechblock is held in the receiver by a heavy screw going through both at the rear, allowing it to pivot. This breechblock screw is accessible over the stock edge so it can be easily removed, allowing the breechblock to be removed for cleaning. The top tang part of the receiver is grooved to make room for the tail-piece so that only the very end is above the grip line of the stock. The patent drawing shows the end of the tail-piece bent up, so that it could be tipped up with the thumb. The firing pin lies in a groove cut into the right side of the breechblock. A firing pin for a rim fire cartridge would be straight with a rounded-tip end, while the centerfire pin would be made of-set. The breechblock was made with a novel safety feature in the