1869 3 band Snider mark 3 rifle

[Huttles94]

Just came today is a new rifle to my small collection. A 1869 3 band Mark 3 Snider .577 rifle. I will be uploading photos of all markings I can find, I am still a novice and I don't recognize some of them so if there are any you know, please let me know.

She is in a sorry state, full of dirt and gunk and who knows what else. Stock is cracked, Breech opens but extraction mechanism is jammed. Was sold to me as being "complete" and it is, sort of. As you can see in the photos there is what seems to be a cleaning rod. Well, after fighting to get the thing out. It turns out to be a length of metal rod someone has cut down to look like a cleaning rod, Cheeky beggar! Oh well I don't mind too much.

I basically bought it unseen since there was only one photo and it was only of the breech and nothing else. Got it for a decent price (Well I think so...) and I was feeling a bit 'lucky' so I thought "why the hell not".

From the one photo I thought it might of been a Nepalese rifle but to my surprise, it looks to be British made with no foreign markings on the rifle. And while the lock is well worn, you can just make out the date and the top of the crown marking. The marking you can see look legit but I am no expert. I shall include photos for you all below.

The bore is covered in rust....cant say much else, who knows what it looks like underneath all that rust but I can see that the outside of the barrel, especially the part that comes in contact with the wood, has next to no pitting whatsoever! Which in my eyes is nothing short of a miracle. Even my Martini Henry carbine which has a near mint bore has some pitting on the outside. So I am a bit shocked. Hopefully, and I mean hopefully, the bore is not too bad underneath all that thing rust. Fingers crossed.

I am in the process of stripping it to bits and cleaning it. So far I have every thing out apart from the trigger block, which seems to be stuck due to all that much. The barrel, barrel bands, lock plate ect all all out. Will be disassembling the breech block later. Someone in the past has had the barrel out since when they put it back, they put the rear band back the wrong way round!

Also another thing that I find weird is that there is no bayonet lug. Bit strange on what I would guess be a infantry rifle (dont think it was made for the civilian market since there are war department markings on the rifle, but I could be wrong).

Anyway, if anyone can enlighten me on this rifle, please do so. Thank you.

Here are all the photos:

https://imgur.com/gallery/D6CI9iQ

Also a short video (though I apologize for the poor quality, I was doing it one handed on my phone):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha0D-247yUE&t=46s

[tacfoley]

As you note, sad indeed to see. but not beyond recovery. It is a MkIII - an all-steel rifle that was MADE as a Snider, and not converted. Spare firing pins are available from Peter Dyson - you might need one after you filmed yourself dry-firing it, something that the soldier of the day would have done only once, and earned a week's stoppages. Also the extractor spring from Dyson, as well as proper cleaning rods. Don't be too downhearted about the lack the lack of a a bayonet lug - I have two of them - a short rifle as well as a three-band, like yours - and only the short rifle has a bayonet lug. All the markings are good, and the use of an early lock is of interest, but not much.

Take a look at Rob's series about the snider on britishmuzzleloaders on Youtube. He's a hoot, as well and nice guy, and hugely knowledgeable about the Snider as well as a lot of others. Do you intend to shoot it? If so, please PM me for details, unless, of course, you are already fully up to speed. You can see me shooting mine on Youtube - tac's guns Snider.

BTW, the Snider three-band rifle was NOT made for the civilian market, although many in India were converted for officers to use on shikar - having a sporting gun that used the same cartridge as the issue was a good idea, doncha know?

[Huttles94]

Thanks for the info, Ah yes I did film myself doing something I should of not. Wont happen again

I dont plan on firing it anytime soon as I dont have an FAC. Would love to do so one day though.

I have stripped it down and found that it must have had contact with water at some point. A lot of the brass has a greenish material on it. The trigger mechanism is covered in the stuff so I dont think its had an easy life. Now I am just trying to get the breech block removed so that I can take that apart and clean it. Once that is done I shall clean the barrel and see what I am left with.

[loiner1965]

does the latch work ? as they tend to stick and can be a pain to free up.
i have 3 x snider mk 3 and they are easy to work on.
when you get the breech off stick your finger in the chamber and check for rust as you tend to find it at the 12 oclock position......hard to remove lol...but possible.
it needs doing as you might not be able to chamber the brass.....and if you dont fully remove rust the first time you fire a strong load to fireform the brass it will stick in the chamber and you have to whack the breech to open...dont ask how i know.

[Huttles94]

does the latch work ? as they tend to stick and can be a pain to free up.
i have 3 x snider mk 3 and they are easy to work on.
when you get the breech off stick your finger in the chamber and check for rust as you tend to find it at the 12 oclock position......hard to remove lol...but possible.
it needs doing as you might not be able to chamber the brass.....and if you dont fully remove rust the first time you fire a strong load to fireform the brass it will stick in the chamber and you have to whack the breech to open...dont ask how i know.

I have got it all in pieces. The latch on the breech does work, though the extractor is stuck.

As for rust.....well there is no way around it. The entire bore is covered in rust I cant get a photo but in the ones I do have you can see the breech has a lot of rust in it. I tried a snap cap and yes, it will not go in all the way. I have some cleaning equipment coming.

I have no idea how the bore will be once cleaned. Though, the breech trench which was equally rusty has cleaned up good so fingers crossed. Though I suspect the rifling will not have survived.

[loiner1965]

bung the muzzle up with a tight fitting bung ....stand upright in a bucket and fill from chamber with caustic soda mixed with warm water.....white vinegar is good but will take bluing off.....after a few days empty barrel and use a loose fitting brass cleaning bore brush with some strands off those pound shop stainless steel pan scubbers wrapped around and give it a good brushing.....then repeat with caustic soda etc.....