British .577 Snider-Enfield 3-band Musket / Long Rifle, dated 1857, with triangular 1853 Pattern Socket Bayonet

*British .577 Snider-Enfield 3-band Musket / Long Rifle, dated 1857, with triangular 1853 Pattern Socket Bayonet*

A 19th Century British Snider-Enfield three-band musket, .577 bore. 35.5-inch barrel with various proof marks, lock engraved 1857 with Crowned VR monogram, Snider Patent breech with proof marks, brass fore-end cap, trigger-guard and butt plate, stock with stamped numbers '141,' with triangular blade socket bayonet. This Long Rifle has a 90cm barrel and three barrel bands. Its total length (without bayonet) is 140cm in length. It was issued to line infantry and has three-groove rifling with one turn in 78 inches (200 cm).

The .577 Snider-Enfield was a breech-loading rifle, with its action designed by the American inventor Jacob Snider. Among the different Snider models, the Snider-Enfield gained widespread usage. In 1866, the British Army officially incorporated it as a conversion system for their widely used Pattern 1853 Enfield muzzle-loading rifles. The Snider-Enfield was in service until 1874 when it was gradually replaced by the Martini-Henry rifle. The British Indian Army continued to use the Snider-Enfield until the late nineteenth century.

The Snider was notably powerful. 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.

*1853 Pattern Socket Bayonet*
Socket bayonet designed for use with the Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle-Musket. Crown markings clearly visible on the ricasso. 52.5cm overall length, 43cm / 17" blade .

*Condition*
The ramrod is missing. The rifle cocks and half cocks with a very strong spring. The barrel has minor pitting and some bruises. The woodwork has a great patina and some knocks commensurate with its age. The bayonet is in good condition with some pitting and discolouration. Please see photographs as part of the condition report.

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