![]() 577 caliber and weighs about 9 ½ pounds (4.3 kg) and about 55 inches (140 cm) long. Based on the fact that this weapon, like the last one I posted, is documented to have come from a huge cache of antique arms that were stored away in a palace armory in Kathmandu Nepal makes me confident that this is a period piece and not a recent reproduction sold in the bazaars to tourists. ![]() ![]() I can’t recall where I read that, but it would make sense. My understanding is that this pattern rifle continued to be made in India after it was obsolete in Britain in part because after the Indian Mutiny, the British Empire was less inclined to give Indian troops technological parity with British troops. My 1853 Enfield has what I believe is Hindi script on the lock where we would normally find the British crown. How true that is, I am not certain, but it makes an interesting story. This supposedly contributed to the Indian Mutiny of 1857. ![]() Afterward, the story goes that rumors began to spread that the paper cartridges for the Enfield were greased with pork and/or beef – a violation of both Muslim and Hindu practices, as the cartridge was to be torn open with the soldier’s teeth before pouring the powder down the barrel and ramming home the bullet. The 1853 Enfield was issued to Indian troops starting in 1856. “Rifle Musket” sounds a bit redundant to us, but it was intended to indicate the rifle was the same length as the musket it replaced. The 1853 Rifle Musket was used extensively by the end of the Crimean War, as well as being imported to the US during the American Civil War.
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