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Title:	RIFLE, MILITARY -  BRITISH RIFLE SNIDER BREECHLOADING CONVERSION .577
Maker/Manufacturer:	SNIDER, JACOB/ENFIELD
Date of Manufacture:	1871
Eminent Figure:
Catalog Number:	SPAR 4537
Measurements:	OL:139.7CM 55" BL: 92.7CM 36 1/2" 9.13 lbs. empty

Object Description:

BRITISH RIFLE SNIDER BREECHLOADING CONVERSION .577
Manufactured by Adams Patent Small Arms Co., London, England - Commercial version of the Pattern III rifle. Blued barrel with full length stock. Three bands, screw fastened. Brass buttplate, nose cap and triggerguard. Swivels on upper band and front of triggerguard. 3-groove rifling, right hand twist. Weapon weighs approximately 9.13 lbs. empty. Complete with nipple protector.

Markings:
Lock: ADAMS PATENT SMALL ARMS CO./391 STRAND LONDON.
Breechblock: SNIDER/Broad Arrow with S indicating commercial version/PATENT. 14605. 22.
Barrel: British proofs.

1909 CAT.#0835 - "Musket. Snyder Breech Loading Rifled Musket. Cal..58".

Notes: Letter from T.T.S. Laidely to Jacob Snider, dated 10 February 1865. "Dear Sir, Your of the 21st (?) covering a pamphlet on the 'Breech loading Enfield Musket' was received yesterday, and in reply have to express my thanks to you for your kindness, and shall be most happy to see the record of experiments that you propose to send me.
Agreeably to your request I have forwarded to the Sec'y of War a copy of your letter to use as the best method of executing your wishes.
We have before our board an Enfield carbine presented to us in your name, and intended to use a peculiar self-primed centre fired cartridge. Regret to have to tell you that I fear your gun will not be one of six out of sixty breech loading guns subjected to the extreme proof by our Board. We shall doubtless adopt a self primed cartridge and a system of breech loading suited to such ammunition. We have a great many different plans of guns before us, and many of the, very ingenious. At present we are taking a rest for the purpose of waiting for some other guns to be brought before us. We shall soon assemble and make our decision. In order that the information should be of use to us, it is important that you should send it forward with the least practical delay.
Again thanking you for the interest you have taken in the labors with which were are charged and for any records you may furnish us."

"By 1864 the British Army had concluded that breechloading rifles were essential and that the quickest way to re-equip the troops was to convert the existing stock rather than to develop a completely new weapon, although that, obviously, was the long-term goal. As a result, in August 1864 all leading British gun-makers were invited to submit mechanisms for coverting the existing Enfield muzzle-loading rifles to breechloading and of 45 submissions the clear winner was the Snider, but it was only after lengthy tests that it was finally accepted for service in May, 1866. In this weapon the breech block was hinged on the right side and opened sideways to enable the firer to load a single cartridge, which he placed through, pushed home and then closed the breech. He then cocked the action and, when ready, took aim and pulled the trigger, releasing the striker (which was from the original Enfield) which struck the firing pin which, in turn, hit the cap in the base of the cartridge. The main problem lay with the ammunition and a succession of rounds was developed until, finally, the MkIX was deemed fully acceptable. Once things had got moving, large numbers of existing rifles were converted in a remarkably shot space of time....- Miller

"Snider. This American design, best known for service in Britain, was also used in Denmark and Spain - and, in a modified form by France as the 'Tabatiere.'
The essence of the Snider breech was a hinged block developed by Jacob Snider the Younger in association with Francois Schneider of Paris. Patents granted in Britain in 1864 protected an improved sideways-tipping block which could be retracted on its axis pin to extract the spent case.
The Snider was reliable once problems of premature opening had been overcome, solved in Britain with the Improved or 'Bolted' breech of the Pattern III infantry rifle. The short 577 coiled case cartridge proved to be more reliable in hot and arid conditions than the later 450 design, and most British cavalrymanEventually, many British guns found their way abroad, particularly to Portugal and Japan. Several alleged 'proprietary' breech systems were very similar to the Snider. They include the French Tabatiere, submitted in questionable circumstances, after a proper Snider conversion had already been approved.
THE FIRST STEPS - Made by Potts & Hunt and chambered for French Potter cartridges, the Snider trials rifle of 1865 was susceptible to jamming. However, it was regarded as very strong; very little of the original stock needed to be cut away, unlike many of its rivals. The absence of the American Joslyn trials rifle promoted the Snider's cause appreciably, though the British Secretary of State preferred the Storm conversion. This accepted standard combustible cartridges and could be loaded from the muzzle in an emergency.
May inventors subsequently questioned the originality of the Snider breech, but only Thomas Wilson of Birmingham benefited by a grant of one-tenth of the royalty payments....
Pattern III rifle. It soon became clear that Snider actions showed a tendency to open prematurely as they began to wear. However, even though development of a 450 Martini-Henry was proceeding steadily, large numbers of new Sniders were still needed to re-equip the standing army.
Trials with differing locking catches led to the approval of 'Pattern G,' designed by Edward Bond of the London Small Arms Company and approved on 13th January 1869. Pattern III guns embodying this 'Improved' or 'Bolted' action also had a steel barrel, a strengthened receiver and a squared-off hammer face. The knurled-head latch set into the left side of the breechblock was most distinctive.
The first Pattern III rifles were issued in the summer of 1870. Military weapons displayed royal cyphers and government property/inspectors' marks, while commercial examples bore a large 'S' transfixed by an arrow.
By 1874, however, the first Martini-Henry rifles were being issued to infantry regiments on Home Service. Work was completed at home and abroad by the end of 1875, and the Snider was clearly becoming obsolescent. Large numbers were withdrawn into store, though about five thousand Snider rifles were assembled in 1879 in the Royal Small Arms Factory, Sparkbrook, Birmingham, for a mixture of old P/53 parts and new Pattern III actions.
Most of the Sniders serving the volunteers and militia had been replaced with the Martini-Henry by 1885. An inventory taken on 1st April revealed that 166,340 Sniders were in store." - Walter

References:
Miller, David, Ed. THE ILLUSTRATED BOOK OF GUNS. Salamander Books Limited. London, England. 2000.
Walter, John. RIFLES OF THE WORLD. 2nd Ed. Krause Publications. Iola, Wi. 1998.