The Snider

The British .577 Snider–Enfield was a breech-loading rifle. This Snider was made by Hollis and Sons and is in excellent condition for its age.

The American inventor, Jacob Snider created this firearm action, and the Snider–Enfield was one of the most widely used of the Snider varieties. The British Army adopted it in 1866 as a conversion system for its ubiquitous Pattern 1853 Enfield muzzle-loading rifles, and used it until 1880 when the Martini–Henry rifle began to supersede it. The British Indian Army used the Snider–Enfield until the end of the nineteenth century.

The Snider breech-loading system was designed to economically convert existing muzzle-loading arms to use a breech-loaded cartridge. This allowed Britain to convert their existing inventory to use the new technology which allowed rifles to be fired faster, more reliably, and with ammunition easier to store and transport. At the time, this upgrade gave troops an astonishing 284% increase in fire-rate. The sound of Infantry line volleys was described as “canvas ripping”. The Snider conversion was more of a stopgap, being swiftly replaced by the Martini, but was a significant development in military small arms. This is a contract rifle made by I. Hollis & Sons, a gunmaker like so many others that has been lost to time. While very little info is available on the firm, we know they made shotguns and assorted rifles, and in the case of the Snider Sporter, arms for the British War Department. Anecdotal information tells us that these rifles were used in colonization efforts and sent to countries like India or Africa. Conversions such as these are a fascinating aspect of military weapons history.

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