Ishapore SMLE .410 Musket

[lithgow]

Hello-this is my SMLE .410 Musket converted at the Ishapore Arsenal, India in 1947 as indicated by the markings on the left side of the action body. The action body itself was originally made in 1910 by the London Small Arms Co. As was the practice in India older unserviceable rifles were scrapped for parts and rebuilt into either 'new' rifles or other weapons such as the .410 calibre smooth bore 'musket'

The Indian Mutiny in 1857 had indicated that it would be a good idea to have a large part of less than fully reliable native forces armed with inferior weapons compared to British or elite local units. Both the Snider and Martini Henry rifles had been produced as shorter range smoothbores for Indian paramilitary guard units and so the Lee Enfields were as well from the 1920s onwards-the conversion included filling in the magazine well with a wood block and boring out the barrel to the new calibre-an unnecked .303 shell case was used with either a solid ball or a 7 segment shot load-this round allowed the original bolt and chamber to be used for this single shot weapon. Production continued after Indian independence from the UK in 1947 for the same general reason-local units of troops who may not be reliably loyal to the central government.

The ammunition is not the same as the commercial .410 shotgun round and is now fairly rare-many of the guns in the US have been converted (again) to use the commercial ammo.