Military firearms in colonial Western Australia 
75 
upgrade their arms to the new "Minie Rifle", (the 
Pattern 1851), but instead received "500 or 600 
percussion smoothbore muskets". These arms were 
accompanied by the comment "No Minie rifles are 
available and it will be some time before they can 
be spared". 6 The large number of muskets sent is 
surprising considering the low number of men 
actually under arms in W.A. Of the 352 guards 
here in 1856, only 157 were required to bear arms, 
and by 1864 the number of armed guards had risen 
to only 268/ so the large number of arms sent in 
1855-56 probably included arms for store. The 
reason that no Pattern 1851 Minie Rifles were sent 
was that virtually all of them were needed for 
regular troops in the Crimea and also, by 1855 the 
Pattern 1853 rifled musket was well into 
production and issue. Two years later, in May 1857 
the E.P.F. acquired six double barrelled carbines 
complete with sword bayonets and 120 rounds of 
carbine ammunition from the W.A. Police Force. 
These carbines were for use when shipping convicts 
up and down the coast in boats, where their long 
muskets proved cumbersome. 8 It is presumed that 
these carbines, if marked, would have had the 
ownership marks of the Police Force. 
The new Pattern 1853 Enfield .577 inch calibre 
muzzle loading rifles began making their 
appearance at this time and may have 
accompanied the later Pensioner groups arriving 
here. They would have arrived in Western 
Australia probably beginning in the late 1850's or 
early 1860's but there is also strong evidence 
suggesting that they were sent as a single large 
shipment. A reasonable number of Pattern 1853 
Enfields survive bearing the engraved marks of the 
Enrolled Pensioner Force. The mark on the brass 
buttplate tang is "W.A. over E.F. over number" 
(see Figure 1). The highest number observed on an 
Enfield is 260 (W. A. Museum, W73.104). E.P.F. 
Enfields noted have included Second and Third 
models of both British and Belgian manufacture. 
From the similarity of the engraving style of the 
letters and numbers observed on these Enfields it 
is concluded that they may have been engraved at 
the same time by the same hand. Whether they 
were engraved in England prior to shipment or 
engraved here at the convict establishment is 
unknown, but in light of evidence discovered 
concerning the engraving of volunteer arms, it 
could well have been done here. From butt 
numbers observed and known manning levels it is 
calculated that they were numbered from one to 
about 300. When these arms were issued they 
replaced the smoothbore muskets on issue in the 
metropolitan area but the remote country stations 
retained their smoothbore muskets for another 
twenty years. Pattern 1853 Enfield bayonets noted 
have been marked with stand numbers only, 
having no additional identifying letter code. The 
Figure 1 The engraved ownership marks of the 
Enrolled Pensioner Force, 1850 - 1880. This 
mark appears on the butt plate tang of a 
Pattern 1853 Enfield rifle used by them 
between c.1860 - 1870. (Photo D. Elford). 
stand number range observed indicates that these 
bayonets are almost certainly W.A.E.F. bayonets. 
The highest number observed was 267. 
The next arm used by the E.P.F. was the Snider- 
Enfield conversion to breech-loader. According to 
a despatch included in the 1876 Votes and 
Proceedings of W.A. Parliament, the E.P.F. 
received their Snider-Enfields "early in 1870". 11 The 
Snider-Enfield .577 inch calibre breech loading 
rifles were introduced into British service 
commencing in 1866, 10 and were produced in both 
the short rifle version for sergeants and the long 
rifle for rank and file. All E.P.F. Enfield-Sniders 
noted have been the Mark IP* long rifles. These 
arms were also marked on the brass buttplate tang 
