oldbritishgunsheader

Where the British Army travels, so go their guns.  Sometimes their guns stay on after they've left, and one such is the Egyptian Police Snider.  There are a lot of these guns floating around at gun shows and the like, and they all have the same pattern. The consensus of opinion seems to be that these are shotguns built on the Snider pattern for the Egyptian Police.

Egyptian Snider

They all seem to have the same cut down stock with checkering at the wrist.  A rail is soldered on the bottom of the barrel that is intended for a cleaning or some such rod, and the rod is usually missing, or some other rod has been substituted, as any seen are all different.  Egyptian markings are seen on the barrel with a rudimentary backsight, with the lock marked EP with a half moon beneath.  Some receivers are marked in England with Snider Patent with the appropriate proof marks, which are usually missing on the barrel.  Other receivers are unmarked.   They seem to have been bought in a bunch in 1968 from Egypt and have been here ever since.

Egyptian Snider receiver

On all the ones I've seen the firing pin is usually missing.  Most are Mk I latches that don't lock, and sometimes will fly open when shooting, but it doesn't happen that often.  A cheap way to shoot these guns is cutting off a 24 gauge shotgun shell, using the bottom part that holds the primer, and muzzle loading them for the rest of the load.   Those old shotgun shells are pretty hard to come by, but you can reload a base with a primer a lot, so you only need one, at least for a while.

Egyptian Snider receiver markings

Snider barrel markings

Stock detail