74 G&A october 2019 |rifle of the future
and examples were issued to
line infantry regiments and
Rifle Brigade, as soon as was
practicable. First seeing limited
action in South Africa, the P51
was before long to experience its principal challenge, one which
would give it the distinction of being the first general-issue rifle to
be employed in quantity, and ever to be used in a major campaign.
Though the Crimean War officially began in 1853, British and
French involvement really didn’t start until 1854. With very few
exceptions, most of the Crown infantry initially landed in the
Crimea carrying P51 rifled muskets. Interestingly enough, the
French (who initiated the Minié) were largely equipped with
smoothbores, as were Britain’s other allies, the Turks and Sardin-
ians. While other rifles were seen in the theatre of war, they were
largely carried by dedicated units. The Russian riflemen were still
issued with their copies of the British Brunswick. These hand-
some pieces became particularly prized trophies, and many were
brought back to Great Britain by officers as souvenirs, ending up
gracing regimental messes.
Though it was the primary infantry arm of the British, by the
time the P51 hit the Crimea, it was already basically obsolete.
Very soon after its adoption, its foibles became manifest and it
was decided to begin development of a new smallbore Minié
longarm. This resulted in the superb British Pattern 1853 Enfield,the author was able to locate
a new mold which cast Pattern
1852 Minié bullets. for the
shooting evaluation bullets
were patched to emulate
the greased cartridge paper
envelope.Prior to the adoption of the
.702 P51 Minié (above, center),
Pattern 1842 smoothbores
fired round balls (left), and
later on in the more sophisti-
cated Pattern 1853, the .577
Pritchett-style Minié (right).
implements included a muzzle
stopper (left) and cleaning
jagg which could be screwed
on to the threaded rear por-
tion of the ramrod.A trio of Pattern 1851 bullets
gleaned from Crimean and Civil
War battlefields. the speci-
men on left still retains its iron
“culotte.” obvious variances in
shape, size and cavities indicate
they are from different origins.