*British, Dated 1871, .577 Mark III Snider-Enfield Breechloading 3 Band Long Rifle, Made by Enfield, Obsolete Calibre*
Marked on Lock Plate: Crown over V.R., Crown over War Arrow over 1871 over Enfield
Marked on top of Barrel: III
Marked on LHS of Barrel: War Arrow over WD over Crown over E over 42
Marked on LHS of Barrel below rear Sight: Steel, Crown over VR over 1P, Crown over E over 10, Crown over VR over crossed flags over 2P, Crown over E over 10
Marked inside breech: 5228, Crown over E over 8?
Marked on Barrel Bands: War arrow over WD over Crown over E over 6
Marked on top of brass buttplate and on brass trigger plate: War arrow over WD over Crown over E over 90
.577 caliber, 36 1/2-inch rifled barrel with a rear-hinged Snider breech-loading action, marked “Enfield.” It features a block blade front sight and a rear ladder sight. The military lock plate is stamped “1871 Enfield” and bears the Crowned VR and War Arrow marks. The rifle has a military percussion-type hammer and polished full wood stock, with a brass butt plate and trigger guard. It is secured with three steel barrel bands and includes a steel ramrod.
The .577 Snider-Enfield was a breech-loading rifle developed by the American inventor Jacob Snider, who designed a system to convert the Enfield muzzle-loaders into breech-loaders. Britain adopted this system, and by 1866 began converting its stock of Pattern 1853 Enfield rifles. The conversion was cost-effective at just four shillings per rifle. The Snider-Enfield remained in British service until it was gradually replaced by the Martini-Henry in 1874.
The Snider-Enfield breech-loading rifle increased the rate of fire for infantrymen from 3-5 rounds per minute to approximately 10 rounds per minute. It saw action in various conflicts throughout the British Empire, including the Anglo-Ashanti Wars and the New Zealand Wars. The Snider-Enfield also introduced the brass-cased .577 Snider cartridge, which continued in use in various forms until it was eventually replaced by the .303 cartridge.
Approximately 870,000 Pattern 1853 rifles were converted to the Snider-Enfield pattern.
Rudyard Kipling gave a graphic depiction of its effect in his poem, “The Grave of the Hundred Head”:
A Snider squibbed in the jungle—
Somebody laughed and fled,
And the men of the First Shikaris
Picked up their Subaltern dead,
With a big blue mark in his forehead
And the back blown out of his head”.
*Condition*
The rifle is in excellent condition. The rifle cocks and half cocks with a very strong spring. The barrel has some minor bruises. The woodwork has a great patina and some knocks commensurate with its age. Please see photographs as part of the condition report.
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