Flintlock, Percussion, and Bolt-action Firearms in the New Brunswick Military History Museum
Flintlock, Percussion, and Bolt-action Firearms in the New Brunswick Military History Museum
This page of selected small arms on display in the New Brunswick Military History Museum has been compiled by the author, a volunteer and one of the Friends of the NBMHM. Corrections, amendments and updates to the data on this page would be most welcome. Additional photos of the tanks, artillery and major weapon systems and displays in New Brunswick may be viewed in the Armoured Fighting Vehicles preserved in Canada section and in the Artillery preserved in Canada sections on this website. Other military weapons and historical artifacts on display in New Brunswick may be viewed on these webpages under the heading of New Brunswick Military Museums and Monuments.
Photos are by the Author unless otherwise credited.
New Brunswick Military History Museum, 5 Canadian Division Support Base ( 5 CDSB) Gagetown, Building A-5, Oromocto, New Brunswick, E2V 4J5. 506-422-1304. [email protected]. Captain David Hughes, Executive Director, and Troy Middleton, Technical Advisor.
NBMHM Website: http://nbmilitaryhistorymuseum.ca/en/new-brunswick-military-history-museum-home.html.
On Monday, 15 April 2024, the New Brunswick Military History Museum received an important donation of five antique firearms dating back to before confederation in 1867. The gift included a sword and a bayonet along with the accouterments that accompany them. The artifacts, valued at more than $36,000, were donated by Bocabec resident Lance Howard. They were used by New Brunswick militia units before Confederation. The donation included the following:
(Author Photo)
(Author Photo)
– a 1780s British Short Land Pattern Musket (2nd model) belonging to the Saint John County Militia (circa 1793).
– a British India Pattern Musket commonly known as a Brown Bess. The butt is marked “Sunbury Militia,” established in 1770 by an Order in Council of the Government of Nova Scotia.
British Acquisition of Dutch Arms
The British, facing shortages of arms, particularly during the French & Indian War, regularly purchased Dutch muskets and cannons, including a significant shipment of 18,000 "Dutch/Liege" muskets in 1741 for distribution to their American colonies. (Annie Redford)
(Author Photo)
– a British Baker Rifle. One of the first weapons with a rifled barrel issued in the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815). GC Rifle Companies were formed in selected N.B. Militia Units in 1828 and they were issued with Baker Rifles. (Baker Rifes were the weapon of service in the Sharpe's Rifes Napoeonic War TV series.
– a British 1853 Enfield Long Rifle, marked on the Butt plate N.B. 943. Twenty-five hundred of these rifles were purchased by provincial authorities.
– a British Snider-Enfield Long Rifle Mark II 1862, one of the last pattern 1853 Enfields to be converted to breech loading. The lock is dated 1862 and has the N.B. stamp.
– a British 1853 Enfield Long Rifle Socket bayonet and scabbard that goes with the 1853 Enfield Long Rifle. "This is a rare find because both the bayonet and the scabbard have matching numbers."
– a Victorian Infantry Officer pattern 1845 sword and scabbard, white buff leather belt with sword slings and knuckle guards with Queen Victoria cipher. The N.B. Militia imprint appears on the waistband buckle.
Brown Bess nickname for the British Army's muzzle-loading smoothbore Land Pattern Musket and its derivatives. This musket was used in the era of the expansion of the British Empire and acquired symbolic importance at least as significant as its physical importance. It was in use for over a hundred years with many incremental changes in its design. These versions include the Long Land Pattern, Short Land Pattern, India Pattern, New Land Pattern Musket, Sea Service Musket and others. The Long Land Pattern musket and its derivatives, all .75 calibre flintlock muskets, were the standard long guns of the British Empire's land forces from 1722 until 1838 when they were superseded by a percussion cap smoothbore musket. The British Ordnance System converted many flintlocks into the new percussion system known as the Pattern 1839 Musket. The Brown Bess saw service until the middle of the 19th century.
Enfield Pattern 1853 rifle-musket (also known as the Pattern 1853 Enfield, P53 Enfield, and Enfield rifle-musket) .577 calibre Minié-type muzzle-loading rifle-musket, used by the British Empire from 1853 to 1867, after which many Enfield 1853 rifle-muskets were converted to (and replaced in service by) the cartridge-loaded Snider-Enfield rifle.
Spencer repeating rifle, manually operated lever-action, repeating rifle fed from a tube magazine with cartridges. The Spencer carbine was a shorter and lighter version.
Snider-Enfield .577 breech loading rifle. The firearm action was invented by the American Jacob Snider, and the Snider-Enfield was one of the most widely used of the Snider varieties. It was adopted by British Army as a conversion system for its ubiquitous Pattern 1853 Enfield muzzle-loading rifles. It was introduced in 1866, and was used by the British Army until it was superseded by the Martini-Henry rifle in 1871. In Canadian service from the 1860s to 1901.
Snider-Enfield Carbine .577, also in service from the 1860s to 1901.
Martini-Henry Model 1871 .577-450 calibre rifles. The M1871 is a breech-loading single-shot lever-actuated rifle adopted by the British Army. It first entered service in 1871, eventually replacing the Snider-Enfield. There are four classes of the Martini-Henry rifle: Mark I (released in June 1871), Mark II, Mark III, and Mark IV. There was also an 1877 carbine version with variations that included a Garrison Artillery Carbine, an Artillery Carbine (Mark I, Mark II, and Mark III), and smaller versions designed as training rifles for military cadets. The Mark IV Martini-Henry rifle ended production in the year 1889, but remained in service throughout the British Empire until the end of the First World War.
Lee-Metford rifle (a.k.a. Magazine Lee-Metford, abbreviated MLM) .303-inch bolt action British army service rifle, combining James Paris Lee's rear-locking bolt system and ten-round magazine with a innovative seven groove rifled barrel designed by William Ellis Metford. It replaced the Martini-Henry rifle in 1888, but was in service for only a short time until replaced by the similar Lee-Enfield.
(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3395151)
Royal Highlanders of Canada soldier cleaning his Short Lee Enfield rifle, June, 1916.
(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3581685)
Lee Enfield Mk. 3, ca 1940.
The Canadian Militia received the Mk. I Long Lee Enfield rifle in 1896. They used this rifle in the Boer War 1899 to 1902.
They used the MK.III & MK.III* in the First World War, as well as the No. 4 Lee Enfield in the Second World War, the Korean War and into the late 1950s. The No. 4 rifle was manufactured starting in 1941 by Small Arms Limited and later by Canadian Arsenals Limited, in Long Branch, Ontario, Canada. The No. 4 rifle is still used for drill and was used for range shooting by cadets. The No. 4 was used by the Canadian Rangers until 2016.
Lee-Enfield bolt-action, magazine-fed, .303-inch repeating rifles. The Lee-Enfield was the main firearm used by the military forces of the British Empire and Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century. It was the British Army's standard rifle from its official adoption in 1895 until 1957. The Canadian Forces' Rangers Arctic reserve units still use Enfield No. 4 rifles.
(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3207117)
Seaforth Highlander with sniper rifle, Foiano, Italy, 6 Oct 1943.
(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3596657)
Corporal S. Kormendy and Sergeant H.A. Marshall of The Calgary Highlanders cleaning the telescopic sights of their No.4 Mk. I (T) rifles during a scouting, stalking and sniping course, Kapellen, Belgium, 6 October 1944.
(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3206370)
Sergeant H.A. Marshall of the Sniper Section, The Calgary Highlanders, armed with a a No. 4 Mk. I (T) rifle, Kapellen, Belgium, 6 Oct 1944.
During the Second World War, standard No. 4 rifles, selected for their accuracy during factory tests, were modified by the addition of a wooden cheek rising-piece, and telescopic sight mounts designed to accept a No. 32 3.5× telescopic sight. These rifles were designated as the No. 4 Mk. I (T). The accuracy requirement was ability to place 7 of 7 shots in a 5 inches (12.7 cm) circle at 200 yards (183 m) and 6 of 7 shots in a 10 inches (25.4 cm) circle at 400 yards (366 m). The wooden cheek-piece was attached with two screws. The rear "battle sight" was ground off to make room to attach the No. 32 telescope sight to the left side of the receiver. Each No. 32 and its bracket (mount) were matched and serial numbered to a specific rifle.
(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3596658)
A Canadian sniper with Lee-Enfield No. 4 Mk. I (T) with telescopic scope, Kapellen, Belgium, 6 Oct 1944.
(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3599772)
Lee-Enfield Mk. 1 rifle with scope.
(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3596209)
A Canadian soldier with a P-14 Enfield rifle with scope, on a training exercise in England, 23 Apr 1943.
(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3395234)
Canadian Mobile Workshop for the repairing of Ross rifles and Lewis Guns at Vimy Ridge, May 1917.
(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3395242)
Canadian Mobile Workshop for the repairing of Ross rifles and Lewis Guns at Vimy Ridge, May 1917.
Ross .303-inch rifle. The Ross was a straight-pull bolt action .303 inch-calibre rifle produced in Canada from 1903 until 1918. The Ross Mk. II (or "model 1905") .303-inch rifle was highly successful in target shooting before the First World War, but the close chamber tolerances, lack of primary extraction and overall length made the Mk. III (or "1910") Ross rifle unsuitable for the conditions of trench warfare. By 1916, the rifle had been withdrawn from front line service, but continued to be used by many snipers of the Canadian Expeditionary Force until the end of the war due to its exceptional accuracy.
(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3589887)
Corporal of The Royal Winnipeg Rifles handling a Ross .303-inch sniper rifle, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 30 July 1942.
(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3395395)
Canadian soldiers examining a German 13-mm Mauser T1918 T-Gewehr Anti-Tank Rifle mounted on small trailer during the advance East of Arras, September, 1918.
(National Library of Scotland Photo)
German 13-mm Mauser T1918 T-Gewehr Anti-Tank Rifle held by two New Zealand Artillery Officers. They are standing in a captured German trench in Baupaume, France, c1918.
(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3395388).
Canadian soldiers examining a German 13-mm Mauser T1918 T-Gewehr Anti-Tank Rifle captured during the Battle of Amiens, August, 1918. One is held in the NBMHM.
Germany, 13-mm Mauser T1918 T-Gewehr Anti-Tank Rifle.
