Jacob Snider

Jacob Snider ( 1811 - October 25, 1866 ) was an American inventor . In particular, he is known for the Snider-Enfield rifle introduced by the British Army .

When Snider was secretary at a school for the blind in Philadelphia , he printed a book in relief in November 1833 . This is the first known book in Braille in the United States. Since the printing process was complex, he only printed 40 pieces. He made his living as a wine merchant in Philadelphia.

In March 1859, Snider came to England as a sales representative for the Montgomery Storm rifle (often called the Mont Storm Rifle for short ). The Mont Storm Rifle was a breech loader, but needed a separate primer cap . Snider presented the rifle to the War Office , which was set benevolently after various discussions but did not make a decision. Already in 1859 Snider went to Paris to present the Mont Storm in France. There he was supported by Napoléon Lucien Murat . The French Emperor, Napoleon III. , had the rifle examined by the gunsmith Gastinne Renette ; the tests carried out were not satisfactory. Even if Snider was unable to close a deal with France, the trip gave him new ideas. For example, he had the opportunity to inspect the Mousqueton des Cent Gardes breech -loading carbine .

open breech of the Snider-Enfield rifle

In August 1860, Snider presented his own design, which was fundamentally different from the Mont Storm Rifle, to the British Ordnance Select Committee; the committee was positively impressed. It is unclear how much intellectual work by Snider and how much by Françoise Eugène Schneider, a gunsmith from Strasbourg, went into this design. Schneider registered a corresponding patent in France on October 4, 1860. In any case, Snider and Schneider knew each other well. When Snider was in Paris in 1861, he arranged a contract with Schneider for George H. Daw, an ammunition manufacturer from London. Schneider sold the rights to use his patents in England to Daw. The patents included centerfire cartridges and, later controversial, a breech-loading rifle. Schneider came to England and worked for Daw. In 1862, Snider and Schneider filed a joint patent for an improvement in breech loading rifles. Daw disagreed with the patent because, in his opinion, he was entitled to the patent. Snider paid Schneider £ 100.

Snider had little financial means and had to live very frugally, which was not good for his poor health. Besides the guns, Snider had other projects. He sent some of the money home. Snider's interest wasn't just limited to rifles; In 1861 he filed a patent for guns .

In 1864, Snider's rifle engagement took off; the War Office announced a £ 5,000 award for the conversion of Enfield muzzle-loaders to breech-loaders . Snider contributed with his design, and that year he also registered several patents for breech-loading weapons. The rifle was rated positively; In February 1865 it turned out during the shooting tests that the quality of the ammunition was poor and the specifications for precision and failure were not met. The Ordnance Select Committee decided to test the rifle again when better ammunition was available. The committee actually chose the Mont Storm Rifle as the winner, but decided against it because of expensive ammunition with the separate primer cap. Snider got a second chance, but it was impossible for him to produce better ammunition with his own resources. The ammunition was supposed to come from Daw, but the rift ended this cooperation and Snider approached the ammunition manufacturer Eley Brothers . In November 1865, Daw successfully took action against the cartridges produced by Eley Brothers for patent infringement. Eley Brothers was forced to cooperate with Edward Mounier Boxer . The Ordnance Select Committee repeated the tests with the .577 Snider cartridge developed by Boxer . On May 23, 1866, the committee recommended the introduction of the Snider rifle, and the British Army approved on July 5. Snider was horrified to discover that he was not being adequately compensated. His patent had no legal effect against the British monarchy as commander in chief of the total armed forces. Of the £ 5,000 prize money, only £ 1,000 were approved on the grounds that the rifle may prove to be a failure. Snider had to use up all of this money in order to pay off accumulated debts. In September 1866 the War Office broke off business relations with Snider. Marked by illness, Snider could only defend himself insufficiently.

On July 9th, Snider had his first stroke , on October 25th the second, from the consequences of which he died. Snider was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery . He left a wife and several sons. His son, John Vaughan Snider, was also an inventor, and he took up his father's fair compensation lawsuit with the British government.

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Jacob Snider papers, 1840–1873 , New York Public Library
2. ^ Edwin Wolf, Marie E. Korey (Ed.): Quarter of a Millennium: The Library Company of Philadelphia, 1731–1981 , The Library Company of Philadelphia, 1981, ISBN 9780914076810 , p. 155, digitized .
3. ^ ^{A b c d} J. Scoffern: Jacob Snider, Inventor in: Belgravia: A London Magazine Volume 1, February 1867, digitized .
4. ↑ ^{a b c d} Thomas Heptinstall: From Snider-Enfield, to Martini-Henry, to the Magazine Lee-Metford: An Historical and Technical Overview of the Development of British Military Rifles from 1866 to 1895 , University of Huddersfield , November 24, 2016 , Pp. 16-31, online .
5. ↑ Vivian Dering Majendie: On Military Breech-Loading Small Arms , March 1, 1867, in: Notices of the Proceedings at the Meetings of the Members of the Royal Institution , p. 69, digitized .
6. ↑ Charles Mathew Clode: The Military Forces of the Crown: Their Administration and Government, Volume 2 , published by J. Murray, 1869, p 534, digitized .
7. ↑ George H. Townsend: The Manual of Dates: a Dictionary of Reference Verlag F. Warne & Company, 1867, p. 912, digitized .
8. ^ Charles Hibbs: Small Arms, etc. in: Reports of Artisans Selected by a Committee Appointed by the Council of the Society of Arts to Visit the Paris Universal Exhibition , Verlag Royal Society of Arts , 1867, p. 89, digitized .
9. ^ The Commissioners of Patents' Journal , 1861, p. 218, digitized .
10. ↑ ^{a b} Cadwallader Waddy: Breech loaders and their inventors in: Belgravia, volumes 16–17 , February 1872, pp. 339–342, digitized .
11. ↑ ^{a b} Manfred R. Rosenberger, Katrin Hanné: From powder horn to rocket projectile: The history of small arms ammunition. Motorbuch Verlag, 1993, ISBN 3613015412 , pp. 108–111, 141–142.
12. ^ William Newton (ed.): Newton's London journal of arts and sciences , 1861, p. 182, digitized .
13. ↑ Patent No. 869 of April 7th, No. 2912 of November 22nd and No. 2741 of November 5th in: Subject-matter Index of Patents Applied for and Patents Granted , 1866, pp. 65, 144, 147, digitized .