Antique Snyder Patent Conversion “Zulu” 12 GA Shotguns C. 1870s

Description:
Antique Snyder Patent Conversion “Zulu” 12 GA Shotguns C. 1870s
Offered here as a monthly special which can be a “fun” gun to display is this 19th century “Zulu” 12 Ga British shotgun.
This is one of many of surplus Snider-Enfield rifles that were sold out of government stores and commercially converted into sporting shotguns during the late 19th century.
History of the Snider Patent Conversion
The Snider–Enfield was developed by American inventor Jacob Snider. His hinged breechblock system allowed existing British muzzle-loading Pattern 1853 Enfield rifles to be converted into breechloaders rather than manufacturing entirely new rifles.
The British Army officially adopted the conversion in 1866, and by the early 1870s hundreds of thousands had been converted at government arsenals.
These rifles saw service:

• Throughout the British Empire
• In Canada
• India
• Africa
• Australia
• New Zealand

They were famously carried during the Anglo-Zulu War, particularly at the battles of Battle of Isandlwana and Battle of Rorke's Drift.
The "ZULU" marking was a commercial trade name. After the British military replaced the Snider with the Martini–Henry beginning in the late 1870s, enormous numbers of obsolete Sniders entered the surplus market.
Belgian gunmakers, especially those around Liège purchased surplus actions, shortened the barrels, bored them smooth, chambered them for shotgun shells, stocked them as inexpensive hunting guns.
To capitalize on public fascination with the recent Zulu War, many exporters stamped these guns "ZULU" such as this specimen.
Rather than remaining a British military arm, the gun was exported to Belgium, reworked by a commercial gunsmith, proof-tested at the Liège Proof House, then sold throughout Europe, Canada, Australia, and the United States.
Most "Zulu" guns encountered today carry Liège proof marks dating from roughly:
1875–1895


A 29-inch barrel is very typical of these sporting conversions. Commercial sporting conversions generally became 28–30 inch barrels making them handier field guns.
Sold as antique for display but in working condition.

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Antique: Yes
Shotgun Gauge: 12 Gauge

Price: $295.00
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