How far is their technology away from a needle gun? Paper cartridges, roughly double the firing rate from a musket (3->6), and probably insane, unaffordable price per unit.
There's also this cool gravity-fed, hand-cranked toy that you can drag around on artillery carriage, which can spit out ~200 rounds per minute, which can be compared to the effort of 66 musketwomen. That oughta be a nice lil' surprise for anyone trying to do a bayonet charge on them.
Also, now that they've got rifles, they can outfit a unit of sharpshooters to pick off officers. You know, those flashily dressed nobles who loiter around, thinking that they couldn't hit an elephant at this distance.