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The British .577 Snider-Enfield was a type of 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 It was introduced in 1866, and was used by the British Army until it was superseded by the Martini-Henry rifle in 1871. The Snider-Enfield was used by the British Indian Army almost to the end of the nineteenth century.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snider-EnfieldIt stayed in service with the Indian army until the mid 1890s, because Indian troops between the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and 1905 were kept one weapon generation behind the British. They were issued with the Martini-Henry when the British introduced the Lee-Metford. Large numbers were used by the Ijesas against the Ibadans during the 16 years Yoruba civil war of 1877 to 1893.
Frank Richards, who served on the Northwest Frontier between 1902 and 1908, records in Old Soldier Sahib that Sniders were still in use by the British army during that period. Night sentries on duty in camps and cantonments would be issued with a Snider and buckshot cartridges. Should tribesmen try to get into the camp to steal rifles, the sentries would have a better chance of hitting the thief, and unlike a .303 round, there would be less danger of wounding or killing a comrade if they missed.
Land forces of the British Empire: Army: Armaments: Rifles: Snider HistoryThe Ashanti War of 1873-74 was the last major campaign in which the British Army used the Snider, but the rifle saw a great deal more service in the hands of the Indian Army. In accordance with the post-Mutiny policy of keeping the native Indian Army one step behind the British as far as its arms were concerned, the Snider was issued in India only when the Martini-Henry had come into general use in the British Army, by around 1877. When the Lee-Metford was introduced some of the Indian regiments were re-armed with the Martini, but according to the Musketry reports a few units still had the Snider as late as 1893, so that its active military life spanned well over a quarter of a century. In a less active role, the Royal Irish Constabulary retained it until the turn of the century, as did some regiments of Artillery Militia. Thus, the Snider hardly warrants the description of "temporary" so often applied to it.
These guns lasted in service for a long time. Although the Martini-Henry replacement came out in 1874, it took many years to fill out the orders for the British Army. Austrailian and Canadian units held onto theirs for years. The Indian Army had theirs far longer, as the British never forgot the Sepoy Mutiny, and didn't want them to have modern guns.
The Snider period is one of relative quiet for the British Army, and it's first large scale engagement occurred during the 2nd Afghan War at Ali Masjid (a fort on the Khyber pass), and only in the hands of Indian troops, as the Brits kept the new Martini-Henry for themselves. The Indian troops aquitted themselves well with few casualties for the British forces, and heavy losses for the Afghans.
