″++SPANDAU 71/84 NONE″

The I.G.Mod.71/84 (Infanterie-Gewehr M1871/84), Germany's first infantry repeater, is a further evolution of Mauser's successful I.G.Mod.71, but it is not a conversion of the M71 nor a simple upgrade, but rather a newly-designed and newly built rifle merely based on the M71. The I.G.Mod.71/84 is an 1871 pattern rifle with a tubular magazine (itself a derivation of the Winchester system), coupled with a Mauser designed lifting mechanism and improved rear sight. The most significant improvement was the addition of an 8 round tubular magazine in the forestock, loaded singly from the top with the bolt open. As a repeater, the M71/84 constituted a firepower improvement over the M1871 single shot, the under barrel tubular magazine was clumsy and time consuming to reload and served to provide only a backup for emergency firepower. Fully loaded, the rifle was very front-heavy and its center of gravity changed with every shot. The introduction of easily reloadable box magazine repeaters such as the Austrian Mannlicher in 1885-86 tolled the approaching end of the tube magazine repeater. While the M71/84 was competitive at the time of its adoption, the introduction in 1886 by the French of their Lebel rifle chambering a revolutionary 8mm smokeless powder cartridge made the M71/84 obsolete almost overnight. This action escalated the great European arms race of the late 19th Century, and Germany embarked upon a crash program to adopt a competitive rifle.