“British, .303 Martini-Enfield Lever Action Artillery Carbine Mark III (ME .303 A.C. III, I), Marked D.P., Dated 1889, Converted 1899 by Enfield, Regimental Disc 2. ST. V, Deactivated” has been added to your cart. View cart
*British, Snider Enfield Three Band Musket Mark 11, by Birmingham Small Arms Company, Dated 1862, Indian service, Obsolete Caliber*
A 19th Century British Snider-Enfield three-band musket. 90cm barrel, 137cm overall. Brass butt plate and trigger guard. Marked on lock plate with Crowned V.R. Monogram, 1862 over Enfield, Crown cypher over a war arrow, 3, 11. Marked on sight with E/crown/8, left of sight on side of barrel 16/B, 17/B (examiners mark)/crown/TP (Birmingham Proof "Tower Proof") and War arrow/crown. Receiver crown/TP, 11**, B.S.A. Co for Birmingham Small Arms Company, 23/B, Trigger guard marked with Urdu script. E/crown/25 and. Each band marked E/crown/and the number is indistinct. Stock stamped. Ramrod marked E/crown/18. 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. This rifle has clearly seen service in India as it has an iscription in Urdu on the trigger guard. 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".
*Condition*
The rifle is in excellent condition. 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. Please see photographs as part of the condition report.
*In order to complete the online purchase we will require a picture/scan of a photo ID (Driving Licence, Passport or an official document with a recent picture). If you don't posses any such document please call to buy. If we consider that the proof of ID is incorect or insuficient, we reserve the right to cancel the transaction.
*We also reserve the right to cancel the transaction with a full refund if there is any suspicion that the provided item will be used in any way contrary to the laws and legislation of UK.
