Saint Denis Model 71 Rifle, 31″ Barrel

The St. Denis Model 1871/94 (often referred to as the Dovitiis or Daudeteau Mauser) is a rare and highly unusual piece of international firearms history. This firearm started life as a German-made Mauser Model 1871 black-powder single-shot infantry rifle. In the mid-1890s, the Uruguayan government contracted a French merchant named Antonio Dovitiis and the Socit Française d'Armes Portatives at the Saint-Denis arsenal outside Paris to modernize 10,000 of their surplus Mausers.