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"They issued spare needles in case one snapped."
The needle firing pin also became burned and weakened after a relatively few shots (it was entirely within the powder charge during firing, after all) so each soldier was issued several firing pins and they are easily removed and replaced. The gun was an advance over the muzzle loaders being used at the time by other armies, but it was not the only reason for Prussian military superiority in that era. Just as important were the intensive training, high morale, discipline, and determination to win that characterized Prussian military thinking of the time. (Ask any sports coach what the keys to victory are and you will get about the same answers!)
I ordinarily avoid silly "what ifs", but I was once involved in a discussion about whether it was the "needle gun" that made Prussia victorious. I replied that it certainly helped, but that IMHO if the Austrian army of 1866 had been somehow replaced by "Uncle Billy" Sherman's hard, battle-tested Union veterans from the year before, Sherman would have rolled right over the Prussians, "needle gun" or no "needle gun."
Jim
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