British P-1864 Snider Breech Loading Rifle: Tower Marked & 1854 Dated Original Items

Original Item: Only one available. The standard .577 cal Snider Rifle from our Nepal cache purchase showing original British Victorian Lock markings. Engraved with Crown over V.R. (For Victoria Regina), and “1854” over “TOWER” this was presumably once a Percussion Rifle. IMA recovered very few tower marked weapons from Nepal, so this is a rare opportunity.

History of the Snider rifle: Jacob Snider, an American from New York, developed this breech loading system for the P-1853 Enfield, the most prolific imported Percussion rifle in use by both the North and South during the U.S. Civil War. When the British Board of Ordnance appointed a Select Committee in 1864 the Snider system was swiftly adopted with the first breech loaders being issued in 1865 to British forces. Improved in 1867 by the use of Colonel Boxer’s center fire brass bodied cartridge, the rifle was used very effectively in the Abyssinian Campaign of 1868. The system utilized a hinged breech block with an internal firing pin assembly that permitted the use of a self contained cartridge of lead bullet in cardboard, and, after 1867, brass casing. This highly efficient conversion system prolonged the active life of the P-1853 rifles up until 1871 when the Martini System was adopted. Snider rifles saw continued use throughout the Empire but were officially obsolete by the late 1880s.

This Rifled Musket is offered in very nice cleaned condition, complete with British Tower marked and dated lock and small Gurkha Battalion markings to Barrel Tang, Butt Tang and Trigger Guard.