Small nick at the mouth of snider enfield mk.1 chamber

TTB4570

TTB4570

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Hey gang!
I happed across something unusual on my newly acquired cadet carbine. In that it appears to have a small channel cut along the top rim of the mouth of the chamber. It’s about 2~3mm deep and I was wondering if it’ll prove to be hazardous to my health to shoot it.

Picture:
Xsxg4s1


https://imgur.com/gallery/Xsxg4s1

What do you guys think?

Thanks,
Ttb
 
None of my Snider’s have the ring or the cut out. Cut looks like someone filled a groove. The ring could be tool marking from when first built. Someone could have rebarrelled and left the rear piece in. Just guessing on the ring. Does it look like a part line between two pieces.
 
Isn't the "ring" just the portion of the chamber that is in the shoe? Quite sure that's the standard construction but it is harder to see in many rifles. The hole running in from the top of the shoe almost looks like the metal is spread as if it was formed by something sharp punching into it. Edit- is that a I* chopped down to Cadet config? If it is then it was a fairly rare type. Have you had it apart to see what the conversion date is?

milsurpo
 
If it is a Model 1* then it would have been using the early brass foil cartridges which were much more fragile than the full brass cases and gas venting would have been a nice feature. Just my thoughts having never shot one but have some of the cases in my small collection.
 
milsurpo said:
is that a I* chopped down to Cadet config? If it is then it was a fairly rare type. Have you had it apart to see what the conversion date is?

milsurpo
Click to expand...

Yep! It’s mk.I * that’s been cut down to a cadet carbine, and no I haven’t had it apart yet, mostly because I need to get me some hollow ground screwdrivers to avoid marring the bolts. Where might I find the conversion date? On the bottom of the shoe? I had no idea it was a rare type.
 
milsurpo said:
Isn't the "ring" just the portion of the chamber that is in the shoe? Quite sure that's the standard construction but it is harder to see in many rifles.

milsurpo
Click to expand...

Agree, the first 1/4" of the Snider chamber is part of the shoe not the barrel.
 
TTB4570: The conversion date will be stamped on the underside of the barrel and will probably be late 1866. These Mk I's were the earliest conversions . There were Mk I versions of both the 2-band and 3-band rifles- yours was probably a 3-band which would mean brass triggerguard, buttplate, etc. It was the 2-band Short Rifles that are quite rare but you don't see Mk I long rifles every day either. As suggested above, the change from Mk I to Mk I* was to accommodate the change from Mk I to MK II Boxer ammunition and involved nothing more than squaring off the rim portion of the chamber. Regarding the ring in the chamber, I believe the Snider barrel breeches up against this ring but I don't think I've ever seen that in writing.

milsurpo
 
looks like a grove worn by the firing pin being stuck forward one of my MKII's has a grove like that but not as deep from the firing pin Just use solid base cases not balloon head and you should be fine
 
Dez is on the right track I believe. I too have seen this grove worn by a sticking firing pin. In extreme cases, the pin nails itself into the primer and locks the breech closed. The poor old rifle often got kicked and beaten to get the breech open A very common thing to see on Canadian Sniders after being in civilian hands for several generations. One of the things I check for when evaluating a Snider is if there are any bruises on the wood from missed swings with a hammer or rock, from trying to get the breech open.
The trick is to undo the nipple and pull the firing pin back manually. But not everybody has a nipple wrench, but they do have a hammer.

The firing pin can get stuck from a shard of brass if the primer is pierced or if extruded back into the hole if it has worn too big.

This one looks like that some smart fella filed a relief groove so that a sticking firing pin would never cause a lock up problem.

Looks dodgy to me, but if the cartridge body is supported, it might be ok.

Cadet carbines were not intended for ball, but they were live rifles capable of firing it.
Front sight is rudimentary and is a bead sight similar to that found on shotguns.
Their use was more as drill rifles for cadets on the parade square. Capable of blank fire for a Feu de joie.

This one obviously has been shot many times in this state. But just be sure to wear decent shooting glasses. You now have a gas escape for pierced primers going straight up!

I would let my brother in law shoot it.
 
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