Johann Nicolaus von Dreyse (November 20, 1787 – December 9, 1867) was a
German firearms inventor and manufacturer. He is most famous for submitting the
Dreyse needle gun in 1836 to the
Prussian army, which was adopted for service in December 1840 as the
Leichte Perscussions-Gewehr M 1841 – a name deliberately chosen to mislead about the rifle's mechanism – later renamed
Zündnadelgewehr M 1841 in 1855.