Well, we took the plunge this morning and went out - out of the local area that is - for the first time since the first week in June of last year. It was a 75 mile drive to the arms and militaria dealer advertising a very rare .577cal Pritchett rifle, named for the man who invented not only the form of rifling he used, but the smooth-sided and paper-patched bullet named after him.

It was even better than I'd hoped - light to handle like a good shotgun and a lovely 'pointer', it would have been a wonderful skirmishing rifle, or, over in Europe, and in a more sporting nature, a prize Battue gun. That 500gr bullet would easily put most boar wheels-up.

The bore, he said, looked 'alright'. To me, it was as near perfect as it was possible to be, given that it was made in 1858, the year that Pritchett, who was by then the Guildmaster of the Worshipful Company of Gunmakers, moved his premises out of St James, and into more roomy real estate nearby. It has a hook breach to aid post-shooting clean-up, and the tightest and 'clickiest' lock I've ever encountered. I'll try and find out some more about it, bearing in mind that its history is lost beyond any hope of recovery now.

I fully intend to add it on to my firearms certificate ASAP, as I have been granted another two .577 and a single .451 rifle. Loads, he suggests, are best between 60 and 70gr of Swiss Fg, and if using a Minié, with the base cavity filled with a plug made from car-body filler. right now, having paid a small fortune for this lovely rifle, I'm too poor to buy a proper Pritchett mould...

Hopefully, I'll be getting to shoot it soon - as soon as I've filled in the bases of a couple of dozen Minié bullets, that is.

One of the Pritchett models was used by the Confederacy during the Civil War.
I believe they were Enfield made.

Can you post some photos?

Is this the rifle I have seen called the Pattern 1853 Enfield?

Nossir. The Pattern 1853 Enfield rifle was a military arm of the same calibre, designed to shoot either the Metford-Pritchett bullet [smooth-sided] or the Minié bullet [cannelured], also known as the Burton bullet. The Enfield had three barrel bands for the long rifle, and two for the short rifle, AKA the Model of 1858, often used by the Royal Navy.

So the Enfield was a mass-produced military arm, thanks to the American mass-production methods employed at the Enfield Lock Royal Small Arms Factory. The Pritchett rifle, like mine, was a more precisely-made civilian rifle of somewhat lighter construction - a full pound less that the similar-sized short rifle, and much in demand by the British Volunteer militia forces of the later 1850 and early 60s.

Sadly I have never managed to figure out a way of posting images here, but if you email me, I'll send you what I have so far. If you can post them here, that would be great.

TIA

This message has been edited. Last edited by: tacfoley,

quote:

Originally posted by tacfoley:
Nossir. The Pattern 1853 Enfield rifle was a military arm of the same calibre, designed to shoot either the Metford-Pritchett bullet [smooth-sided] or the Minié bullet [cannelured]. The Enfield had three barrel bands for the long rifle, and two for the short rifle, AKA the Model of 1858, often used by the Royal Navy.

So the Enfield was a mass-produced military arm, thanks to the American mass-production methods employed at the Enfield Lock Royal Small Arms Factory. The Pritchett rifle, like mine, was a more precisely-made civilian rifle of somewhat lighter construction - a full pound less that the similar-sized short rifle, and much in demand by the British Volunteer militia forces of the later 1850 and early 60s.

Sadly I have never managed to figure out a way of posting images here, but if you email me, I'll send you what I have so far. If you can post them here, that would be great.

TIA

I don't see an email for you. I am DELETED. (Ignore the punctuation and
spaces except as normally needed.)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jhe888,

Email sent, and many thanks indeed to you, Sir.

Tacfoley's rifle. He sent me some others, but I don't have time to do them all now.

It looks great!! Thank you, Sir!!

Given its age, its in great condition!

Superb rifle TAC!

Wow. That looks to be in outstanding condition.

Thanks, Gentlemen, for your help and kind comments. Yes, Arties, it would seem to have been cared for, especially inside the barrel, where is looks like new.

Sad to say, I'll never know anything about it, as the dealer from whom I bought it - Michael Noble [a v. fine fellow indeed] acquired it from a third party as it is, without any record. Here in UK there is no requirement to record any kind of antique firearm, you might be surprised to know, given the extreme measures taken to record the working firearms that take a cartridge of some kind.

I would add that both my Canadian Sniders are in somewhat better condition, but a lot more mundane, to say the least. This is the very first Pritchett rifle I've ever seen in my entire life.

quote:

Originally posted by tacfoley:
Thanks, Gentlemen, for your help and kind comments. Yes, Arties, it would seem to have been cared for, especially inside the barrel, where is looks like new.

Sad to say, I'll never know anything about it, as the dealer from whom I bought it - Michael Noble [a v. fine fellow indeed] acquired it from a third party as it is, without any record. Here in UK there is no requirement to record any kind of antique firearm, you might be surprised to know, given the extreme measures taken to record the working firearms that take a cartridge of some kind.

I would add that both my Canadian Sniders are in somewhat better condition, but a lot more mundane, to say the least. This is the very first Pritchett rifle I've ever seen in my entire life.

lovely rifle Tac, hope to see a range report on it,


I googled Mr Noble, very nice offerings

Lovely rifle, tac. Here's a fellow with a passion for such things.

Thanks, Para. Brett Gibbons and I are already in contact with each other, even though he is currently out of the US.

He was my inspiration into finding this rifle - all HIS fault, if you like. We will no doubt have a lot to catch up on when he comes home later this year. His Youtube videos are well-worth watching, that's for sure. I have both his books on the subject of the British and their remarkable rifle, made using an amalgamation of American mass-production know-how and British ingenuity - 'Destroying angel' and 'the English cartridge'.

Both should be on the shelves of anybody with an interest in military arms of this period.

The condition is museum quality. I'm looking forward to a range report.

It might be a little while, on account of finding that none of my four Minié-style moulds throw a bullet of .575" diameter. And I currently do NOT have any kind of a Pritchett bullet mould. As you might know, the Pritchett bullet is smooth-sided, unlike the Minié that has three or four cannelures.

Dang.

Thankishly, one of my shooting buddies has one, just not to hand - he lives in Norway. Got me a 1/4 ton of lead though, to feed my other front-loaders and associated firearms that shoot pure lead.

You can be sure that the first shot WILL be recorded an put on Youtube the very same day.

Take care, all.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: tacfoley,