Improved Enfield?

[FloridaConscript]

friends,

I was reading an article last night by a former Confederate captain who commaded a battalion of sharpshooters in the ANV.

http://www.cfspress.com/sharpshooter...or-Captai-8731

He describes the arms thusly: The sharpshooters were armed with the improved Enfield rifle; the scouts with rifles of the Whitworth make, with telescopic sights.

Have you ever seen reference to "the improved enfield" is this the shorter 2 band enfield? I have heard some NSSA guys say that shoots better than the standard p53.

thanks for the help,

bryant

[GPM]

Re: Improved Enfield?

Just a guess on my part but he was likely reffering to the Pattern 58 Naval rifle. It had a heavier barrel with 5 groove rifling and a 1:48 rate of turn. It was tested in Britian and found to be just as accurate if not more so than the 3 band musket at long range. The British army recognized this and addopted the Pattern 60 rifle which had the same barrel but was mounted in Iron.
Both P58 and P60 Two band rifles were imported during the war but in much smaller numbers than the P56.

[Secesh]

Re: Improved Enfield?

Hello,
It's also possible that he was using the term "improved" as a strictly adjective term...the true meaning of his statement being an inference that it was improved over what had been previously issued to the unit, such as smoothbores...Just a thought..

[MuleyGil]

Re: Improved Enfield?

" I have heard some NSSA guys say that shoots better than the standard p53."

I am a member of a N-SSA unit, the 34th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry, and use a P-H 2 bander. The shorter, stiffer barrel of the 1858 is very accurate. I also have a P-H 1853, but prefer the 1858.

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Improved Enfield?

Hallo!

It is always hard to impossible to know what a Period writer was thinking when he penned his words.

While there are P1856, P1858, and P1860 Rifles, even Ordnance folks were lax and causal about listings their often being records as "Rifles, Enfield calbre .577" or "Enfield Short Rifles," or "Enfield Rifles (short)."
IIRC, John Hun tmorgan refered to Enfield rifles as the "medium Enfield" for some reason, perhaps a referecne to muskets, rifles, and musketoons/carbines.

And then there are writers who make Enfield Rifle-Muskets "rifles."

And last but not least, there are writers who wrote about "Enfield smooth-bores," so an "improved Enfield" could be just the P1853-3 RM for that matter.

The most PEC was the P1856 Rifle, as IIRC only about 2000 P1858 NAval Rifles were imorted. (OF course if one is in a unit issued with P1858 Naval Rifles, it is a horse of a different color.)

And on a sour note to end, the PH and the Italian clone P1858 Naval Rifle is kinda/sorta but not quite a P1858 Naval Rifle.

Curt



Hard to know...