In 1872, two Austro-Hungarian military officers named Julius Payer and Carl Weyprecht set out on an expedition to find a northeast passage to reach the Orient by traversing across the Arctic Ocean above Russia. The expedition was well-funded, and among their other specialized articles equipment they had several bronze Gasser M1870 revolvers and Werndl rifles. Why bronze? That is a bit unclear; it may have been from concerns about iron becoming brittle at arctic temperatures, or perhaps to get better salt water corrosion resistance.
The expedition was not successful in finding passage to Japan, but it did discover and chart an archipelago which they named Franz Josef Land (now claimed by Russia). Despite losing their ship trapped in ice and having to escape by sledges and longboats, the expedition was able to successfully make it to Novaya Zemlya where they met up with Russian fishermen who helped them get transport back to Norway. It was a two year journey, and only one man died along the way (of tuberculosis). Ultimately, it led to a series of internationally coordinated sets of scientific expeditions (International Polar Years) to study the arctic in 1882/3, 1932/3, 1957/8, and 2007-2009.
Article on the 1872 expedition and its ramifications:
