1857 Enfield, Info and Value Please Now With Pic Links

8

88 man

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Grafton Ont
Hi Guys
I just picked up an 1857 Enfield.I beleiver this is what they call a .577 Snider but don't know.I know nothing about this type of gun period !.The barrel is
19 1/4 inches long from the chamber where the brass hits the firing pin block.Theres a crack in the wood on the left side.Rear site is missing all the parts other than the site bass that's welded (?) to the barrel.The forend has a hole in the end where a rod or something should go.Butplate and trigger guard are brass.The firing pin is ok and when I pull the firing pin block up and over it moves back and forth to pull the empty out.On the left side of the but theres a triangle with the letters DC inside.On the right side of the but theres a circle an R and then enfield and then an M and under the circle looks to be a 1.On the front of the trigger guard theres and E with a crown under it and 29 under that again,same on the butplate but also with 10 marked above and 115 below.Theres some other markings that are crowns with arrows pointing down.
Hope this info helps to enable someone to give me an idea what I've got and value.
Thanks, 88
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x18/88man1/Dscf0020.jpg
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x18/88man1/Dscf0021.jpg
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x18/88man1/Dscf0022.jpg
 
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The Snider

Your Snider started life as a full three band percussion musket. If you can find a WD with an arrow over it stamped somewhere on the gun than it served in the British army. Some time after 1866 it was sent back for conversion and the Snider action was added. All the alterations for 12 bob or about $150 to $200 in today's money. Soon after conversion it was sent to Canada either as one of the original 30,000 that ended up as a gift to the Canadian Government or some subsequent purchase. The DC in a diamond is the Dominion of Canada ownership mark. Some time in 1905 or so the three bander was cut down to its present form and given to the cadets for drill purposes. That is the long and the short of the story, what happened after 1905 is anyone's guess. It is rare to see a date from the late 1850's on these guns they are mostly from the 1860's.

As for value, that is far more subjective, I have seen them sold as cheap as $150 but that was 6 years ago, now they go for about $350 or so if you are lucky but can go as high as $500 if not so lucky. Because the cadet is a recognized military model and not just a butchered cutdown it is beginning to gain value and is more collectable than the run of the mill chop victim that you can still see here and there at the gun shows.
 
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Cadet carbine should have a bead foresight and the cleaning rod hole should be filled with a wood plug.
 
The front site is a bead site and the rod hole is still there.Maybe the wooden plug was taken out at some piont but it's not there anyways.
There is some marks on one side of the barrel end as boney said but it does'nt at all look like a hammer job,to me it looks more like it's been stored barrel down on hard surfaces or dropped a few times.
Thanks for the info guys !
88
 
I believe that the Regimental marking on the butt plate tang....the "10".. refers to "10th Royal Regiment of Toronto Volunteers" or "10th Battalion of Volunteer Militia Rifles"....both markings were used in the period this rifle would have been in full trim, before being cadetted. Dave
 
I've got one of these as well. Barrel length is the same, but the finish is a combination of brown patina and what appears to be nickel plating?? Mine is dated 1864 and has a very good rifled bore.
 
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