Snider–Enfield

{{More citations needed|date=September 2010}} {{Infobox weapon | name = Snider–Enfield | image = Snider Springfield Armory.jpg | image_size = 300 | caption = | origin = United Kingdom | type = Breech-loading rifle | is_ranged = yes | is_UK = yes | service = 1866–1901 | used_by = ''See ''{{section link|Snider–Enfield|Users|nopage=yes}} | wars = {{plainlist| *Third Anglo-Burmese War *Anglo-Ashanti wars *New Zealand Wars *Fenian Raids *Paraguayan War *British Expedition to Abyssinia *Haw wars *Franco-Prussian War<ref>{{cite book |last1=Huon |first1=Jean |title=Les armes françaises en 1870-1871 |date=2007 |isbn=978-2703003090}}</ref> *Boshin War *Red River Rebellion *Aceh War *1874 Japanese Invasion of Taiwan *Satsuma rebellion *Ethiopian-Egyptian War<ref>{{Cite journal |last=PANKHURST |first=RICHARD |date=1971 |title=Linguistic and Cultural Data on the Penetration of Fire-Arms into Ethiopia |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41965823 |journal=Journal of Ethiopian Studies |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=47–82 |jstor=41965823 |issn=0304-2243}}</ref> *Second Anglo-Afghan War *Russo-Turkish War (1877–78) *Anglo-Zulu War *War of the Pacific<ref>Esposito, Gabriele, Armies of the War of the Pacific 1879-83: Osprey Publishing (2016)</ref> *First Boer War *North-West Rebellion *First Italo-Ethiopian War<ref name="McLachlan">{{cite book |last=McLachlan |first=Sean |title=Armies of the Adowa Campaign 1896: The Italian Disaster in Ethiopia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pli3CwAAQBAJ |date=2011 |publisher=Bloomsbury |page=35 |isbn=978-1-84908-458-1}}</ref> *Chitral Expedition *Second Boer War *Balkan Wars<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jowett |first=Philip |title=Armies of the Balkan Wars 1912-13 : the priming charge for the Great War. |date=2012 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |isbn=978-1-299-58155-5 |oclc=842879929}}</ref> *British Expedition to Tibet *World War I *Portuguese conquest of the Gaza Empire}} | designer = RSAF Enfield | design_date = 1860 | manufacturer = RSAF Enfield | production_date = 1866–1880s | number = ~870,000 | variants = Long Rifle, Short Rifle, Engineer's Carbine, Cavalry Carbine, Artillery Carbine, Yeomanry Carbine, Naval Rifle, Royal Irish Constabulary Carbine | weight = 8 lb 9 oz (3.88 kg) (unloaded) | length = 49.25 in (1,251 mm) | part_length =  | cartridge = .577 Snider | caliber = {{convert|.577|in|mm|abbr=on}} | action = Side-hinged breechblock | rate = 10 rounds/minute | velocity = 1,250 ft/s (381 m/s) (original black powder load) | range = {{convert|600|yard|abbr=on}}<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Army quarterly and defence journal Vol 104 |year=1973 |publisher=West of England Press |page=91|quote=...Snider-Enfield, which had an effective range of 600 yd.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Macdonald |first=John Hay Athole |title=Fifty years of it: the experiences and struggles of a volunteer of 1859 |year=1909 |publisher=W. Blackwood and Sons |page=232 |quote=The Snider-Enfield even at 600 yards, which was the limit of the really effective range of the rifle for accurate shooting.}}</ref> | max_range = {{convert|2000|yd|m|-1|abbr=on}} | feed = Single-shot | sights = Sliding ramp rear sights, Fixed-post front sights }}

The British .577 '''Snider–Enfield''' was a breech-loading rifle. The American inventor, Jacob Snider created this firearm action, and the Snider–Enfield was one of the most widely used of the Snider varieties. The British Army adopted it in 1866 as a conversion system for its ubiquitous Pattern 1853 Enfield muzzle-loading rifles, and used it until 1880 when the Martini–Henry rifle began to supersede it. The British Indian Army used the Snider–Enfield until the end of the nineteenth century.

==Design and manufacture== [[Image:Snider-Martini-Enfield Cartridges.JPG|thumb|left|(From Left to Right): A .577 Snider cartridge, a Zulu War–era rolled brass foil .577/450 Martini–Henry Cartridge, a later drawn brass .577/450 Martini–Henry cartridge, and a .303 British Mk VII SAA Ball cartridge.]]

In trials, the Snider Pattern 1853 conversions proved both more accurate than the original Pattern 1853s and much faster firing; a trained soldier could fire ten aimed rounds per minute with the breech-loader, compared with only three rounds per minute with the muzzle-loading weapon. From 1866 onwards, the Enfield rifles were converted in large numbers at the Royal Small Arms Factory (RSAF) Enfield beginning with the initial pattern, the Mark I. The converted rifles received a new breechblock/receiver assembly, but retained the original iron barrel, furniture, lock, and hammer.

The Mark III rifles were newly made. They featured steel barrels which were so marked, flat nosed hammers, and a latch-locking breech block instead of the simple integral block lifting tang.

The Snider–Enfield used a new type of metal-cased cartridge called a Boxer cartridge after its designer. The breech block housed a diagonally downward sloping firing pin struck with a front-action lock mounted hammer. To operate the weapon, the rifleman cocked the hammer, flipped the block out of the receiver to the right by grasping the left mounted breech block lever, and then pulled the block back to extract the spent case. There was no ejector, so the firer turned the rifle to the right and upside-down to allow the case to drop out.

==Service== thumb|left|Snider breech-loading mechanism. The Snider first saw action with the British/Indian Army at the battle of Magdala (Aroghee) in Ethiopia on 10 April 1868, against the forces of Tewodros II of Ethiopia; during the battle the 4th (King's Own) Regiment of Foot alone fired 10,200 rounds.<ref>Markham, Clements R (1869) ''A History of the Abyssinian Expedition'' (Macmillan & Co); p. 325.</ref> The Snider–Enfield served throughout the British Empire, including Cape Colony, India, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, until its gradual phaseout by the Martini–Henry, beginning in 1871–1880. Volunteer and militia forces continued to use it until the late 1880s. It stayed in service with the Indian Army until the mid-1890s, because between the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and 1905 the British kept the Indian Army one weapon generation behind British units. The Hunza Scouts may have been the last to use it in action (in the carbine version), in the Chitral campaign of 1895.<ref>Beynon, L. (1895) ''With Kelly To Chitral''</ref> The Indian units received the Martini–Henry when the British adopted the Lee–Metford. The Ijeshas used large numbers of Snider–Enfields against Ibadan during the 16-year-long Yoruba Civil War (1877 to 1893).

Frank Richards, who served on the Northwest Frontier between 1902 and 1908, records in ''Old Soldier Sahib'' that the British army still used Sniders during that period. Sentries on night duty in camps and cantonments would carry a Snider and buckshot cartridges. Should tribesmen try to get into the camp to steal rifles, the buckshot would give the sentries a better chance of hitting the thief, and unlike a .303 round, would be less likely to wound or kill a comrade should the sentry miss.

The Snider was notably powerful. Rudyard Kipling gave a graphic depiction of its effect in his poem, "The Grave of the Hundred Head":

<blockquote><poem> 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. </poem></blockquote>

In 1869, the Ottoman government began procuring American Civil War surplus Enfield and Springfield muskets, as well as from Belgium, Austria, England & France in order to have them converted to the Snider "Polivache" system. This differed in that the locking latch on the breechblock was pivoted up to unlock, rather than pressed in like on the MkIII. These were converted in Belgium and at the Tophane-i Amire arsenal.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gencer |first1=Dr. Ali İhsan |title=Türk-Amerikan Silah Ticareti Tarihi |date=2008 |isbn=978-9944397308 |page=48 |url=https://www.academia.edu/35966916}}</ref> At the start of the Russo-Turkish War, the majority of the Ottoman military was armed with a Snider rifle. As the Ottomans upgraded, the Sniders got pushed further into rural areas, such as Yemen.

Some less well-equipped Portuguese units deployed in the Niassa Province, in northern Mozambique, were still using this rifle during World War I.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|title=A Nossa Infantaria na Grande Guerra: 1914-1918|last=Marquês de Sousa|first= Pedro|date=2018|page=216|publisher=Caleidoscópio |isbn=9789896585365|oclc=1057007890}}</ref>

==Variants== thumb|New Zealand Military issue, 1881 Snider Mk II .577 calibre artillery carbine The Snider–Enfield was produced in several variants. The most commonly encountered variants were the Rifled Musket or Long Rifle, the Short Rifle, and the Cavalry and Artillery Carbines. The Long Rifle has a {{convert|36+1/2|in|cm|adj=on}} barrel and three barrel bands. Its total length (without bayonet) is {{convert|54+1/4|in|cm}} in length. It was issued to line infantry and has three-groove rifling with one turn in {{convert|78|in|cm}}. The Short Rifle has a {{convert|30.5|in|cm|adj=on}} barrel and two barrel bands with iron furniture. This variant was issued to sergeants of line infantry and rifle units. It has five-groove rifling with one turn in {{convert|48|in|cm}}. The Cavalry Carbine is half stocked and has only one barrel band. It has a {{convert|19+1/2|in|cm|adj=on}} barrel, with the same rifling as the Short Rifle. The Artillery Carbine has a {{convert|21+1/4|in|cm|adj=on}} barrel with a full stock and two barrel bands, and the same rifling as the Short Rifle and Cavalry Carbine.

The Snider was the subject of substantial imitation, in both approved and questionable forms, including the Nepalese Snider, which was a nearly exact copy, the Dutch Snider, Danish Naval Snider, and the "unauthorised" adaptations of the French Tabatière and Russian Krnka (which was in fact designed and patented in 1855, before the Snider).<ref>{{cite web |title=Krnka Patent |url=https://www.krnka.cz/dilo-mistra/rychlostrelka-sylvestra-krnky-z-roku-1855-6/ |website=Sylvester Krnka Civic Association}}</ref>

There were also "Trade Pattern" Snider–Enfields, being Snider–Enfields made for private purchase by various English gun-makers. These were often intended for sale to members of volunteer military units, or simply to anyone who might wish to purchase a rifle.

== Modern usage == Enthusiasts still use these rifles today, with the number in circulation boosted by the acquisition by Atlanta Cutlery and International Military Antiques of a vast quantity of antique weapons held in the Royal Nepalese Armory in the Lagan Silekhana Palace for over a century. Ammunition is reloaded into either modern production .577 Snider cases, or re-formed 24-gauge brass shotgun shells. Black powder or modern black-powder substitutes are used. The Halifax Citadel Regimental Association does live-fire demonstrations in the Halifax Citadel; they have around 60 of these rifles. In addition, the Fort Henry Guard at Fort Henry, Kingston also uses the various variants of this weapon for their re-enactments. <ref name="britsbig">{{citation |url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Britain's+big+.577+Snider.-a0141344134 |title=Britain's big .577 Snider|author=Holt Bodinson|work=Guns Magazine|date=March 2006}}</ref>

==Users== * {{flag|Argentina}}<ref>Esposito, Gabriele, The Paraguayan War 1864–70: Osprey Publishing (2019)</ref> * {{flag|British Empire}} * {{flag|Ethiopian Empire}}<ref name="McLachlan" /> * {{flagicon image|No flag 2.svg}} Gaza Empire{{sfn|Telo|2004|page=54}} * {{flaglist|Nepal}} − Locally produced copies<ref name="Walter">{{cite book |last1=Walter |first1=John |title=Rifles of the World |date=2006 |publisher=Krause Publications |location=Iola, Wisconsin |isbn=978-0-89689-241-5 |page=459 |edition=3rd |url=https://archive.org/details/riflesofworld00unse/ |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> * {{flag|Kingdom of Portugal}} − Model 1872, replaced by the Kropatschek rifle<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gleichen |first1=Lord Edward |author1-link=Lord Edward Gleichen |title=The Armed Strength of Portugal |date=1888 |publisher=Her Majesty's Stationery Office |location=London, United Kingdom |page=54 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YVuqlZ9W3PAC&pg=PA54 |access-date=23 May 2026 |via=Google Books}}</ref> * {{flag|Ottoman Empire}}<ref name="Walter" /> * {{flag|Qing Empire}}<ref>Imperial Chinese Armies 1840–1911 by Philip S. Jowett, pp. 19, 22 (2016)</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Sources== * {{cite book | first = António José | last = Telo | year = 2004 | title = Moçambique - 1895: A Campanha de Todos os Heróis | publisher = Tribuna da História | lang = pt}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Snider-Enfield rifle}} * [http://www.militaryheritage.com/snider.htm Loading and Firing a Snider–Enfield]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Snider-Enfield}} Category:Early rifles Category:Rifles of the United Kingdom Category:Royal Irish Constabulary Category:North-West Mounted Police Category:Victorian-era weapons of the United Kingdom Category:British Army equipment Category:Hinged breechblock rifles Category:Arms of the Franco-Prussian War Category:Guns of the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)