Smoothbore Snyder(pic's up)

tokguy

tokguy

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The bore is .59 inch.
Odds are pretty decent that this is a 24 gauge, correct?
This one has been beat on like a red-headed stepchild.
Bucheleplansrifle010.jpg

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Bucheleplansrifle007.jpg

And it's got the lock and trigger guard & trigger and various other kit.
Just have not dug it out.
My gal has small enough fingers that she slid one in the bore and said it's got two groove rifling, though it feels like the oval type.
 
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Is it really a smoothbore or is it one of the Sniders which were made with the oval bore "Lancaster" rifling? The Lancaster rifling looks like smoothbore but is not. Look it up on Google and read. Some Snider rifles were smoothbored but, unless the chamber was messed with it will still take a 57 Snider shell and will also work with 24 gauge shotshell casings cut to length. Magtech makes full length brass 24 gauge cases which can be cut to length but I would recommend you find some purpose made Snider casings. Good luck
 
Correct rifling in the older models such as yours was THREE grooves and they were pretty wide.

Add to that a soft IRON barrel and a lot of years and a lot of rust and neglect and who knows what you might have.

The military tried to keep them as close as possible to .577 bore diameter. Issue ammo used a 480-grain .583 lead bullet which was paper-patched with a hollow base. Paper is actually unusually abrasive stuff, although one would not think so.

I have encountered a few iron-barrelled Sniders with the rifling (if indeed it existed) invisible.

Try a 24-gauge casing in the chamber, see if it will go in all the way or if it wants to be necked. If you have the plastic casings from Fiocchi which Will Bilozir is selling, you can heat the case-mouth in near-boiling water for a couple of seconds and neck it in a Snider die. Good idea is to coat the case-shank lightly with Lubri-Plate 105,which is a lithium-based grease whoch usually doesn't come off unless you wipe it off: prevents stuck casings.

So what do you intend to do with the brute?

Hope this helps.
 
The barrel on this snider is STEEL, and made to some of the highest standards of the 19th century..."thats high"

Sniders are VERY robust arms.

I would love to see more pictures, like a full profile, so far I see nothing that cant be fixed with a bit of work.

I LOVE PROJECTS LIKE THIS.
 
well thats one snider that was really uesd in fact its most likely the worst one ive ever seen and ive seen quite a few nepal made ones

that breech block is most likely not safe
 
What I notice about this gun is that while the barrel is steel like a mark III, the breach is clearly not a mark III. I don't think the barrel and the receiver were issued together.
 
sunborn said:
What I notice about this gun is that while the barrel is steel like a mark III, the breach is clearly not a mark III. I don't think the barrel and the receiver were issued together.
Click to expand...

the action looks longer i may be a sporting gun(trade gun of sorts) or a sargents gun or it could be a mix match
 
God guys I have no idea what to say about it.
It's got a serious amount of kit that comes with it. BBL bands , extra buttplate, lock and trigger ( and all associated screws). It was en route to restoration when the cancer struck. GF's grandfather; Earl Westley Cummins a philanthropist and all around gentleman, never got this one restored. The Enfield musket yes...this one no.
Big shoes to fill...
Don't want to make hasty decisions that will compromise the whole project.
 
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The steel barrel is obviously not original on that action.
Are those threads showing just in front of the receiver ring?
Looks as if the barrel is one turn shy of being screwed in all the way.
I don't know what you mean by restoration, but I wouldn't suggest anything much beyond some linseed on the stock and something to stop further rust.
 
If your looking to do a complete rebuild where in the end you will have a good looking and solid shooting snider rifle I'm sure it can be done.

Now that a previous poster noticed the late barrel and the early shoed block "block looks like a *II "



That's a early block and the steel barrel is from a later pattern, maybe you have something very interesting "like some late Canadian arsenal rebuild" OR maybe its a bitsa type made up out of early and late parts privately.

If you of a mind to do it, a full length photo and one of the lock mortice would be super!!


Challenging and fun project


Cheers
 
I'll snap a couple more pic's of the breechblock and such...if you good folks are willing to lend a hand I should be willing to give you tools to help for sure.
 
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