Chassepot, Antoine Alphonse (1833–1905)

French inventor. He was a mechanic in the government arsenal. He designed the rifle that bears his name; the Chassepot was a breech-loading rifle and was adopted by the French army in 1866, being employed to great success in the Franco-Italian war of 1867. The Prussian needle-gun was matched against the Chassepot in the war of 1870. The Gras rifle replaced the Chassepot in 1874.