It is intended that this synopsis of Enfield production markings will help answer some common questions, with regards to identifying British government arms. A government rifle will NOT carry the commercial marks of the London or Birmingham Gun Barrel Proof Houses with their usual marks and double 25 bore size marks. To be a government rifle ALL the appropriate marks must be present.
Archives
The Enfield Rifle, 1860
The first thing that strikes a visitor on entering the forges at Enfield where the barrels are made is the apparent rudeness and inadequacy of the machinery to its purpose. It may be urged that it makes the barrels very well, but the same excuse might be advanced for non-improvement in every stage of manufacture, and we are sure that among the clear-headed American mechanists now at the works are many who could at a day’s notice devise a far better apparatus for working up the iron of the barrels than that now in use.
The Enfield Rifle, 1859
A visit to the Ordnance Factory, Enfield, in 1859: “The weapon that is at length turned out is, with its bayonet, 6 feet 1/2 inch long, and weighs 9 pounds 8 ounces. The length of the barrel is 3 feet 3 inches; its weight is 4 pounds 2 ounces; and the diameter of the bore is .577 inch. The bullet is elongated, and takes three-quarters of a turn whilst in the barrel. The general figure of the bullet is cylindrical, its a front-end rounded, and its rear-end has a conical shaped cavity formed in it.”
Military Marksmanship
INDEX. For the soldier to take advantage of the advances in firearms technology, so musketry instruction needed to evolve to meet changing military tactics and capabilities.
Martini Arms
INDEX. Martini arms in British service: Martini-Henry, Martini-Enfield, Martini-Metford.
Marksmanship
INDEX. Musketry Instruction and target shooting; historical study and shooting today. 19th Century competition at Wimbledon, Creedmoor and Dollymount. Riflemen,
British Military
INDEX. British military history, the Volunteer Force (1859-1908), and Ordnance.
William Ellis Metford (1824-1899)
INDEX. G.T. Teasdale-Bucknell in his book “Experts on Guns & Shooting” (1900) referred to William Metford as the ‘father of the match rifle’ and ‘the father of modern rifle-boring.’
William Metford worked closely with the Bristol gunmaker George Gibbs, the manufacturer of the Gibbs-Metford muzzle loading match rifle and the later Farquharson-Metford breech loading rifle.
British Military Longarms
INDEX. Articles dealing with specific arms, featuring muskets, rifles and carbines. This section also addresses arms not adopted by the armed forces but that featured in Small Arms Trials.