Snider Enfield... That's all I know.

[Drift]

Hello,
I don't know much about this rifle. It is the only Snider Enfield that I've touched. I don't know the model or if it has been "sporterized." I'm going to include the photos I have (some are warped, the gun is true). Any info regarding model and value would be greatly appreciated.



Photos can be viewed here: Snider Enfield | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Thanks,

Drift

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Beerhunter]

Until the pix arrive, who knows what you have?

[Drift]

Thanks for looking Beerhunter. I'm new here and had some issues getting the photos on the site. I've put them on flickr and provided a link in the thread post. Also any links to proper photo posting are appreciated.

flickr link: Snider Enfield | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Thanks,

Drift

[Patrick Chadwick]

Did you post those photos on another forum? Or did you buy the gun very recently? Because I am convinced that I have seen that bore before.

The odd thing about the bore is that although one can see the rifling, that is really only because of the integrating power of the human vision, which can make patterns (sometimes illusionary) out of very little information - the "joining the dots" effect. But from the "point of view" of a bullet, there is a mass of fine grooves that look almost like micro-grooves which do not follow the rifling, and only roughly follow the bore axis.

In other words, the bore has been mishandled with some tool that has almost scraped away the original rifling, and that bore will probably not shoot well, as the projectiles will tend to follow the "micro-grooves" - because they will exert a stronger guiding force than the rifling.

Otherwise, it is a 2-band Snider MkII (no spring-loaded thumb catch) that has been sporterized.

Unless the rifling can be cleaned up and the "micro-grooves" removed, rate it as a wall-hanger.

[Drift]

Thanks Patrick,

I appreciate you taking time to look at the thread.

As far as I am aware this rifle has spent the last 30 years in the closet in a farm house in rural Nova Scotia. The pictures were taken by myself in October 2015 and only loaded on Flickr the same day I posted this thread. I have never looked down an Enfield-Snider bore before. When I looked down the bore I too noticed the "micro-grooves" are as you described. In my mind I guessed they were a by-product of finishing the barrel before the rifling was cut. However, I know nothing of the manufacturing process that was used to create this rifle.

Any idea on the value of such a beast? My friend, is looking to sell it and I have no idea what to value it at?

Regards,

Drift (Jonathon MacKay)

[Patrick Chadwick]

Over here: hardly 3-figures. Maybe 150 absolute tops, on a good day with a following wind.

---------- Post added at 06:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:01 AM ----------

As to barrel condition etc. here is a good one:

https://www.milsurps.com/showthread....ghlight=Snider

It is a long-barrelled 3-band Snider III. The twist is quite long, which is why the grooves look rather straight. But note how the lines of the rifling appear to be "offset" from the bore axis.


Now look at your example, and compare the remains of the rifling - which also shows the "offset" - with the "micro-grooves". It seems to me that the bore was probably rusted up, and some steel tool was driven through to remove the rust. It failed to follow the rifling, going roughly straight down, and the result can be seen.

In effect, the rifling would have to be recut, at the end of which one would have not a nominal .577" bore, but a good .600", making it extremely difficult to prepare a good cartridge, as an adequately sized bullet could result in a cartridge that might be impossible to chamber.

Seriously, I would forget it as a shooter. However, I would be happy to be proved wrong.

[Patrick Chadwick]

Worse to come:

The rifling is 3-grooved - like mine. A 2-band Snider (the shorter model) should have a 5-groove rifling with a faster twist - like the 1858 "Navy" model from which most of them were converted.

So it is probably a cut down 3-band. Which would explain why there is a shotgun-style bead as a foresight, instead of a block with a blade foresight. Looking at my example, linked above, you can get an idea of what your example would have looked like before it was sporterized (and possibly used as a shotgun).

[Drift]

Thanks for the help. That rifle posted in; https://www.milsurps.com/showthread.p...ghlight=Snider is pretty amazing.

Regards,

Jonathon/Drift