While many nations experimented with rifled and or breechloading guns in the mid nineteenth century, the French were very successful. Its Navy adopted rifled muzzle loading guns in 1855. Most of these were converted 30-pounders. During the 1859 Franco-Austrian War in Italy, the French army used rifled guns produced according to the La Hitte system. The war proved the superiority of the rifled gun over traditional smooth bore muzzle loading guns.