Snider Enfield Rifle. The stock, possibly made of walnut is stepped at the upper barrel band and again at lower band. Fore-end encircled by two barrel retaining bands (iron). Brass butt plate and brass fore-end. Brass trigger guard fitted with lower sling loop, the upper loop being secured to the upper barrel retaining band. Iron ramrod with knurled and pierced end and hollowed tip. The lock is a Snider conversion to convert an Enfield muzzle loader into a breech loader. A hinged block containing a spring loaded firing pin opens to the right by means of a knurled thumb piece on the left side. The barrel is circular external section, rifled with five grooves. Fitted with a bayonet lug to the rear of the right side of the muzzle. Blade foresight and stepped ramp and leaf rearsight graduated to 1100 yards. This rifle barrel has been shortened at the breech and fitted with a smaller chamber. The calibre is 0.577in. The barrel is stamped with a figure two and marked "No 3 Reduced Chamber", the breech marked "Reduced Chamber". Proof marks on this rifle are: crown over 'VR' over crossed sceptres over 'P'. Breech block and tang bear 'WD' and other marks. On the lockplate is a crown over 'VR' & 'Enfield' under '1865'. On the butt is a circular Enfield mark and Museum of Artillery No.1481. Underneath are the letters 'O.S.C. No.1' & '10/5/66' (OSC=Ordnance Select Committee). Jacob Snider, an American, invented a breech-loading mechanism, which was used by the British to convert percussion muzzle-loaders into percussion breech-loaders. The percussion lock was replaced with a hinged block containing a spring loaded firing pin which opens to allow a cartridge to be loaded into it. It was the first breech-loading rifle to be introduced for general issue and took a metallic centre cartridge adapted by Colonel Boxer of the Royal Laboratory at Woolwich. This example is presumably a prototype of the short naval rifle of 1866. The Snider Enfield conversion was used by the Navy in the Abyssinian Campaign of 1868 and the Ashanti Campaign of 1874.