Original Enfield Pattern 1853s were received as a muzzle-loading muskets though the advent of new single-piece cartridges led to the development of breech-loading mechanisms which allowed long guns to now be loaded from the receiver near the trigger - considerably reducing reload times. Such breech-loading firearms rendered all muzzle-loading guns obsolete. As such, conversions were offered through various arsenals for many of the existing muzzle-loading guns then in use to become breech-loading firearms, in much the same way earlier flintlock guns became percussion-based guns prior). For the British, this "movement" came in the form of the ".577 Snider-Enfield" - interestingly enough developed by American Jacob Snider - which converted the prized Pattern 1853 Enfields to breech-loaders beginning in 1866. These Enfields fought on throughout the British Empire thereafter, seeing action in the Crimea, India, Africa and the New World until around 1901. A shorter carbine form of the long gun was also produced which intended to make for a more compact long gun, particularly useful when firing from horseback. Other notable operators included Brazil and Japan.
Snider-Enfields themselves were formally replaced by the newer Martini-Henry rifles beginning in 1871.
The Enfield Pattern 1856 were nothing more than shortened (by six inches) versions of the full-length Pattern 1853 guns. Two bands were used along their length (as opposed to three in the Pattern 1853).
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