Snider-Enfield Rifle

The Snider-Enfield is an English 19th-century breech-loading rifle series in .577 Snider caliber and was introduced in 1866 as a conversion for Pattern 1853 Rifle Muskets to breech-loading, though some would later be newly made. It was manufactured by the Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield and made mainly in Long Infantry Rifles, Short Rifles (for Seargents and rifle regiments), and Cavalry Carbine configurations. Though only used by the British regular army from 1866 to 1873, it was used by Volunteers and colonial units until the turn of the century.
Even as the American Civil War was raging, it was clear that breech-loading rifles were the future. In 1864, the British government invited the country's gunsmiths to submit proposals for the modification of Enfield rifles to breech loading, at a cost of no more than £1 per rifle. The military powers watched each other very closely and when the Battle of Königgrätz seemed to confirm the superiority of the Dreyse breech-loading rifle, Austria began converting the Lorenz Model 1854 to Wänzl breech-loaders in 1866; only the British army (due to the country's high level of industrialization) was able to complete the conversion in 1867. For the conversion of the English infantry rifles of the Enfield Rifled Muskets, the American Jacob Snider suggested to the British Board of Ordnance (BO) that the muzzleloaders be converted into single-shot breechloaders. For this purpose, the barrel was milled out in the area in front of the tang and a tab breech was installed. However, Snider's patent had been slightly modified under W. M. H. Dixon of the Royal Small Arms Factory. Versions for the shorter Sergeant rifles and carbines followed later.
The breech block is pivoted on an axle located on the right side of the weapon, parallel to the barrel axis, and can also be moved on the axle. To load the gun, the hammer first half-cocked. The breech block is then swung 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 bolt is swung back again and now lies between the cartridge and the tail screw. The hammer is fully cocked before firing. When the trigger is pulled, the hammer is released and snaps forward, where it strikes the spring-loaded firing pin and drives its tip into the primer of the cartridge.
To unload, the hammer is returned to the rest position, and the bolt is swung to the right. A lug at the front of the breech engages behind the edge of the cartridge case. If the bolt is pulled back along its axis, the nose pulls the case out of the chamber; the case is shaken out of the gun by rotating the gun around its longitudinal axis.
=Specifications=
(1866 - 1880s)
* Type: Battle Rifle
* Caliber: .577 Snider (14.7x50mmR)
* Weight: 8 lb 9 oz (3.8 kg)
* Length: 49.25 in (1.250mm)
*Feed system: Single-shot
* Capacity: 10 rounds/minute
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===Film===
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| Forty Thousand Horsemen || || Turkish soldiers || || 1940
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| rowspan=7 |The Mysterious Island (Tainstvennyy ostrov) || Andrey Andriyenko-Zemskov || Bonadventure Pencroff || rowspan=7 | || rowspan=7 |1941
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| Pavel Kiyansky || Gideon Spilett
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| Robert Ross || Neb
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| Aleksey Krasnopolsky || Cyrus Smith
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| Yuri Grammatikati || Harbert Brown
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| Ivan Kozlov || Tom Ayrton
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| || Pirates
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| Fighting Film Collection No. 11 (Boyevoy kinosbornik No. 11) || Vasiliy Zaychikov || An old man || Cavalry carbine || 1942
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| Zorro || || |Spanish lancers || Cavalry carbine ||1975
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| Zulu Dawn || || |Zulu warriors || Cavalry carbine ||1979
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| Far and Away || Tom Cruise|| |Samuel|| Sporterised Infantry Rifle ||1992
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| The Ghost and the Darkness || John Kani|| |Samuel|| Artillery Carbine ||1996
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| rowspan=2 | When the Last Sword Is Drawn || Kôichi Satô || Hajime Saitô || rowspan=2 | || rowspan=2 | 2002
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| || Imperial Japanese soldiers 
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| rowspan=3 | The Four Feathers || Heath Ledger || Harry Faversham || rowspan=2 | Infantry Rifle || rowspan=3 | 2002
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| Marouazi Mohammed || A Dervish Sniper 
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| || Mahdist Cavalry || Cavalry Carbine
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| Ned Kelly || Heath Ledger || Ned Kelly || Cavalry carbine || 2003
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| The Golden Compass || || Gyptian man || || 2007
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| The Wolfman || || | || J.C. & A. Lord Snider carbine || 2010
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| Rurouni Kenshin Part I: Origins || || Samurai || || 2012
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| Shinobido || || Samurai || || 2012
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| Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno || || Policemen, Shishio's troops || || 2014
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| rowspan=4 | The Monk and the Gun || Tsering Wangmo || Shop Owner || rowspan=4 | Short Rifle || rowspan=4 | 2023
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| Harry Einhorn || Ronald Coleman
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| Tandin Wangchuk || Tashi
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| Kelsang Choejay || Lama
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|}
===Television===
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| Deadwood|| Unknown || Bar Patron || Mk.III Cavalry Carbine || 2004 - 2006
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| King Solomon's Mines || Mesia Gumede || Ventvogel || Cavalry Carbine || 2004
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| rowspan="2"|Yae's Sakura|| Hidetoshi Nishijima|| Yamamoto Kakuma || rowspan="2"|Mk.II** Infantry || rowspan="2"|2013
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| || Samurais, Imperial Japanese Army soldiers
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| rowspan="2"|Ripper Street|| Jerome Flynn|| Detective Sergeant Bennet Drake || rowspan="2"|Cavalry Carbine / "The Weight of One Man's Heart" (S01E05) || rowspan="2"|2013
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| || Armed robbers
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|rowspan=2|Rebellion||Brian Gleeson|| Jimmy Mahon || Ep. 01, Long Rifle ||rowspan=2|2016
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|| || ICA members || Long Rifles and Carvalry Carbine
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|}
===Video Games===
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| Total War: Shogun 2 — Fall of the Samurai || || || || 2012
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| Assassin's Creed Syndicate || || || Primary rifle of the Royal Guards || 2015
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=See Also=
* Royal Small Arms Factory - A list of weapons produced by RSAF Enfield
Category:Gun
Category:Rifle
Category:Battle Rifle