Snider-Enfield Rifle

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Snider-Enfield Rifle
general information
Civil name: Snider-Enfield
Developer / Manufacturer: Royal Small Arms Factory
Development year: 1860
Manufacturer country: United KingdomUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Production time: 1863 to 1875
Model variants: Short rifle for sergeants or for the navy, artillery carbines and cavalry carbines
Weapon Category: Breech loader
Furnishing
Overall length: 1250 mm
Weight: (unloaded) 3.8 kg
Technical specifications
Caliber : .577 Snider (14.7 × 50mm R)
Cadence : 7 rounds / min
Number of trains : 3-5
Twist : 1:78 "= 1: 198 cm, 1:48" = 1: 119 cm
Visor : open sights
Closure : Flap closure
Charging principle: Single loader
Lists on the subject

The Snider-Enfield is a 19th century English breech loading rifle in .577 Snider . It was made by the Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield.

Building history

open Snider-Enfield closure

Even at the time when the American Civil War (1861–1865) was raging, it was clear that the future belonged to rifles with rear loading. In 1864 the British government asked the country's gunsmiths to make proposals to rear-load Enfield rifles, with the change costing no more than £ 1 per weapon. The military powers observed each other very closely and when the superiority of the breech loader seemed to be confirmed by the Battle of Königgrätz , Austria began to convert the Lorenz rifles into Wänzl breech loaders in 1866, with the English army alone (due to the high degree of industrialization in the country) able to complete the rearmament in 1867 (Mk I *).

For the conversion of the English infantry rifles of the Enfield Rifled Musket type in 1853, the American Jacob Snider suggested to the British Board of Ordnance (BO) that the muzzle-loaders be converted into single-shot breeches. For this purpose, the barrel was milled out in the area in front of the tail screw and a snuffbox lock was installed. The Snider patent had, however, been slightly modified under Superintendent WMH Dixon of the Royal Small Arms Factory . Versions for the shorter sergeant rifles and carbines followed later. Wilhelm von Ploennies, one of the most recognized experts in ballistics, wrote: When the general technical conversion came to a sudden breakthrough after the Bohemian battles, only England had its Snider rifle and boxer cartridge in hand as ready-made samples. The first of the two years had been used for competition, that is, for the selection of the system - the second year for the exclusive and consistent development of this one chosen system. On June 21, 1866, the whole preparatory work could be completed, the mass implementation of the transformation of the rifles began, and now (February 1867) this implementation is already well advanced. Technical issues still arise, but are dealt with quickly .

The existing caliber .577 of the Enfield Rifled Musket (some rifles got a new barrel made of steel) was retained, but Colonel Boxer constructed a cartridge with center fire . The breech loading rifle was manufactured from 1866 to 1875.

function

The breech block is rotatably mounted on an axis located on the right side of the weapon, parallel to the barrel axis, and is also displaceable on the axis. To load the weapon, the cock is placed in the Ruhr branch. Then the breech block is pivoted to the right; a cartridge is placed in the recess (which was originally part of the barrel) and pushed forward into the chamber with the thumb. The breech is swiveled back and now lies between the cartridge and the tail screw. The cock is fully cocked before firing. When the trigger is pulled, the hammer is released and snaps forward, where it hits the spring-loaded firing pin and drives its tip into the primer of the cartridge.

To unload, the tap is brought back into the Ruhr branch and the lock is swiveled to the right. A nose at the front of the breech engages behind the edge of the cartridge case. If the slide is pulled back along its axis, the nose pulls the case out of the chamber; With a rotation of the weapon around the longitudinal axis, the case is shaken out of the weapon.

.577 Snider (left) compared to other ammunition

effect

During attempts at shooting by the Board of Ordnance, the Snider bullets penetrated 11 half-inch boards (27.4 m; 14 cm) at 30 yards. The Westley-Richards construction ("Monkey Tail") penetrated 16 boards (20 cm), but was not completely gas-tight and not as reliable as the Snider system.

literature

Essays
Books
  • Charles J. Purdon: Jacob Snider's action & EM Boxer's cartridge. The Snider-Enfield rifle (= Historical Arms; Vol. 24). Museum Restoration Service, Bloomfield 1990, ISBN 0-919316-24-7 (English)
  • Jan Boger: Black Powder Digest. The manual for the muzzle loader shooter. Guns, ammunition, accessories . 2nd Edition. Motorbuchverlag, Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3-613-01056-9
  • William Greener: Modern Breechloading Systems . London 1871 (English)
  • Heinrich von Löbell: The needle gun history and competitors. Lecture given at the meeting of the military society in Berlin on November 30, 1866 . Mittler, Berlin 1867
  • Frank C. Barnes: Cartridges of the world , 3rd edition, DBI Books, Northfield (Illinois), pp. 204–205 (English)

Web links

Commons : Snider-Enfield Rifle  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Holt Bodinson (March 2006), "Britain's big .577 Snider," Guns Magazine
  2. ↑ Caesar Riistow wrote about American weapons in 1866: “As is well known, the repeater guns or magazine guns are considered to be the highest and, for the time being, the last stage of technical progress, which for emptying the previously loaded magazine in rapid fire on the target only takes about 3 seconds after the shot require. There are mainly two war-worthy American models of this category, namely that of Spencer with a magazine for seven rounds in the butt, and that of Henry (improved by Winchester) with a magazine for fourteen rounds under the barrel. The construction of both is not complicated in relation to their performance, the treatment is fairly simple, the need for repair is not great, but the dismantling (especially with regard to the Henry rifle) cannot be entrusted to every soldier. ”The war of 1866 in Germany and Italy, political -military described, Zurich 1866
  3. ↑ Hans-Jochen Grap: Large flap. The modification of the Enfield rifles , in: Visier 1 (1988) pp. 76-81, here p. 78.
  4. ^ Charles J. Purdon: The Snider-Enfield Rifle. Jacob Snider's Action & EM Boxer's Cartridge , = Historical Arms, Series 24.
  5. ^ Purdon, p. 6.
  6. ^ Wilhelm von Ploennies: New studies on the rifled firearm of the infantry . Darmstadt 1867, p. IX .