Enjoying Black Powder Episode 11: The Snider-Enfield (Ad-free)
Added 2025-05-24 12:00:04 +0000 UTCFull video with reloading segment available here: https://forgottenweapons.vhx.tv/videos/ep-11-snider-app
Black powder military rifles of the 1860s-1880s are a really enjoyable group of guns. A lot of them are relatively reasonably priced, and they are actually pretty easy to reload for. The unavailability of factory ammunition (for most, although not so much for the Trapdoor) makes them seem like a daunting prospect, but for a pretty simple investment in tools and time one can make up ammunition and have a lot of fun with rifles like this.
That's the idea behind a new series here on black powder military rifles. Each month, my friend - and handloader - Tom and I will take out a different model to have some fun at the range and compare how they handle. And then we will show you how to make the ammunition for them. So grab your pith helmet, pause "Zulu" and join us! Today is Episode Eleven: The Snider-Enfield!
Comments
A friend of mine has one of the Reilly trials rifles which lost out to the Snider. It is an elegant, toggle action and quick to operate. It failed because it could not survive ham fisted British infantry. For a service arm, robust beats elegant.
Brian Ross
2025-05-27 15:51:17 +0000 UTCrather a trapdoor or a rolling block!
Guido Schriewer
2025-05-25 09:25:16 +0000 UTCthought you'd be scottish, not rather in some connery accent? man that bullet sounds like a huge load of pain for whatever it hits! a nasty HP 60cal soft lead heavy as heck projectile in a soft target... won't be much left of it. probably not so great for hunting.
Guido Schriewer
2025-05-25 09:18:51 +0000 UTC
