44th Welland Battalion of Infantry Snider

T

tacfoley

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Gentlemen, esp. Mooncoon and Mr Rombaugh, I am shortly going to be taking temporary possession of a three-band Snider stamped up as belonging to the unit in the title. Right now, here in UK, this is an antique that I am not permitted to shoot, but I fully intend to do so when I sell something else and put this one on my license as a 1-for-1.

It is a very exciting exercise for me, as I'm sure that many of you can understand, and it has been a long journey fraught with PITA bureaucracy at your end to blame.

I don't expect to see it until after the festivations fast approaching, but you may be sure that I'll be sending pics to those able to utilise the rather odd image-posting system that this forum has, so that you can see what all the fuss is about.

Best to all.

tac
 
For me, sniders are a challenge to shoot. I have posted it before, but the skirt configuration is very different between original british and american mini ball style slugs. The US ones have a very thin edge and a cone shaped cavity while those used in the snider appear to have had a much thicker skirt edge. The shape that I found best so far is non traditional and solid base and I think developed by a UK trained gunsmith living in BC, and is probably called a collar button style. I would suggest making the diameter up around . 585". The collar button one is on the left side of the selection displayed and in the second photo is a recovered snider slug on the left and a civil war US mini on the right. The base cavity on the recovered snider bullet is filled with a brick like material (at least that is what it is like now, almost 60 years since I dug it out of a former military berm

cheers mooncoon



 
Thanks for posting those pics, Mooncoon, very useful they are, too. I bleeve that the brick-like base filler actually IS clay, fire-hardened in the shooting. This was a common feature of the early Minié design, as were wooden plugs. Both were quickly rendered obsolescent during the Hythe Musketry Trials of the late 1850s where both were judged to have been an unnecessary additional cost for no discernible benefit.

Both Sniders I used to own shoot oversize bullets - the 3-band shoots a .585" and the five-groove Sergeant's model is actually .592" [!] The present owner had two VERY expensive moulds made up to cast a bullet that looks a lot like your collar-stud version, but devoid of a lube groove.

Best to all

tac
 
Snider molds, you name it, I have tried it.

I am now having amazing results with a .58 Cal Wilkinson

I picked up a mold at the North South Skirmish Association Nationals

58WImpCAT_zps7dd7e47e.jpg


The base cavity on the recovered snider bullet is filled with a brick like material
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We have recovered many of these washed ashore from behind Niagara on the Lake Range.

This range was used for many competitions and training grounds from way back when.
 
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from behind NOTL range- Do you mean Fort Mississauga at the Golf Club?
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I'm not tellin, it's a secret.



okay, okay, yes, we have a winner.


Tac

taking temporary possession of a three-band Snider
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???

Of all my antiques, my Sniders are my favourites.

I shoot them all, but regularly, a MK III Short Rifle - 30th Wellington Battalion of Rifles (Guelph, Ontario)

1. SNIDER MK I* SR 1862 Enfield 70/186/226 Champlain Battalion
2. SNIDER Mk III SR 1872 BSACo 30/309 Wellington Battalion Goderich
3. SNIDER Mk III SR 1872 BSACo 23 Beauce Battalion – 17/8 Levis Battalion
4. SNIDER Mk II* LR 1861 Enfield 24/413 Kent Regiment
5. SNIDER Mk II** LR 1861 LACo 23/159 Essex Battalion – 29/17 Waterloo
6. SNIDER Mk II** LR 1860 Enfield Battalion scrubbed
7. SNIDER Mk III LR 1871 Enfield 13/51 Battalion Hamilton
8. SNIDER Mk II* Cadet 1862 Enfield GT-2B/21 GRAND TRUNK RAILROAD
9. SNIDER Mk II** Cadet 1862 LSACo 13/379 77th/43 Battalions, Hamilton, Wentworth
10. SNIDER Mk II** Cadet 1860 Enfield 35/363 Battalion Simcoe
11. SNIDER Mk III CavCar 1871 Enfield NWMP 1-9-D
12. SNIDER MK I* SR 1861 Enfield 82/168 Queens County Provisional Battalion
 
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Interesting...I'll have to keep my eyes peeled the next time I'm down there. I always get a kick out of the 150 year old graffiti etched into the brick in the covered passages (tunnels) leading to the lake. Quite a few from WW1 as well, there must have been a metric tonne of guys barracked there before heading "Over there".
 
I always get a kick out of the 150 year old graffiti etched into the brick in the covered passages (tunnels) leading to the lake. Quite a few from WW1 as well, there must have been a metric tonne of guys barracked there before heading "Over there".
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I check the conditions of the graffiti each year and I must say, in the last five years we have lost.
The weather and new graffiti seem to come into play.

I almost had Norm Christie interested in doing a video on this.

Just a small piece of the camp that was setup.
Notice anything in the foreground of the picture?
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Niagara on the Lake was the place for shooting practice and competition.

There is a long history here with Snider Enfields.

One thing is for sure, those Sniders marked to the 44th Battalion would have been here in their day.

Picture is WW1 era.
 
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Klunk said:
one of the 'corners' of the fort...Ft. George...?
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Nope, Ft. Mississauga. The Pic is facing east (slightly south) and is now part of the Golf Course. The buildings in the background are homes/private residences of the town of NOTL and still present today. Ft. George is not more than 2 KM away (certainly within cannon range) and older than Ft. Mississauga which is a red clay brick structure. Ft Mississauga had a tracked gun emplacement on the flat roof, the track is circular and would have commanded a 360 degree firing advantage that would have covered the mouth of the Niagara river NE, the town (SE, S, SW, West), and Lake Ont. to the direct North and NW.
What is unclear is the period of the pic...1860's? 1890's (South Africa), or 1914-18 (WW1). From the tents I'll assume it's not from the 1940's.
 
Why yes, I'll be dead soon. Hence the 'possession' is only by way of a short-term loan.
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Hell, thats funny.

We need pictures asap.

Yes the above picture of Niagara on the Lake is WW1.

I wonder if there are some graffiti writers among that crew!
 
cigar_man said:
Of all my antiques, my Sniders are my favourites.

I shoot them all, but regularly, a MK III Short Rifle - 30th Wellington Battalion of Rifles (Guelph, Ontario)

1. SNIDER MK I* SR 1862 Enfield 70/186/226 Champlain Battalion
2. SNIDER Mk III SR 1872 BSACo 30/309 Wellington Battalion Goderich
3. SNIDER Mk III SR 1872 BSACo 23 Beauce Battalion – 17/8 Levis Battalion
4. SNIDER Mk II* LR 1861 Enfield 24/413 Kent Regiment
5. SNIDER Mk II** LR 1861 LACo 23/159 Essex Battalion – 29/17 Waterloo
6. SNIDER Mk II** LR 1860 Enfield Battalion scrubbed
7. SNIDER Mk III LR 1871 Enfield 13/51 Battalion Hamilton
8. SNIDER Mk II* Cadet 1862 Enfield GT-2B/21 GRAND TRUNK RAILROAD
9. SNIDER Mk II** Cadet 1862 LSACo 13/379 77th/43 Battalions, Hamilton, Wentworth
10. SNIDER Mk II** Cadet 1860 Enfield 35/363 Battalion Simcoe
11. SNIDER Mk III CavCar 1871 Enfield NWMP 1-9-D
12. SNIDER MK I* SR 1861 Enfield 82/168 Queens County Provisional Battalion
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Great envy hereabouts. As you may know, here in UK anybody over the age of 18 with no criminal record can actually walk into a dealers and walk ut with as many Sniders as he can carry - no license is needed since it is a Section 58(3) obsolete calibre firearm.

However, if you want to fire even a single shot, 'just to see if it works', you must have it entered on your Firerarms Certificate as a live-firing' entry.

Please enjoy shooting your Sniders for us stuck over here, even though I occasionally get one of a pal's to shoot - see Youtube - tac's guns Canadian Snider.

Best to all

tac
 
cigar_man said:
Hell, thats funny.
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Not for me, it ain't. I have a fatal disease. It's called 'living'. Nobody has ever recovered from it.

Anyhow, the vendor of the soon-to-be-temporarily-mine Snider has given me a shipping number, so it's on its way back to UK where it came from all those years syne. Wish it could talk to me.

BTW, anybody here know the gentleman who posts all those excellent Youtube movies on shooting Enfields and sniders and the making of cartridges and so on? I'd sure like to meet up with him some day, before, uh, y'know.......

tac
 
englishman_ca said:
I picked this one up in southern Ontario.View attachment 18235

It might be a rack-mate to yours.
View attachment 18238

1864 Enfield lockplate, 1861 London Armoury stock, BSA&Co barrel with Mk.II* shoe.
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Prolly the next armoury along the street - the one coming here is #207, I'm told by the vendor.

My pal Carter - owner of the QGA two-bander, is hopping around like a flea on a griddle with impatience to see it. I have to admit that I, too, am looking forward to seeing it.

Best to all - Merry Christmas/Joyeux Noel!

tac
 
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