Military firearms in colonial Western Australia 
77 
REFLATIONS 
von TnF. 
Marking and Preservation of Arms issued to 
Corps of Colonial Volunteers. 
Every Government rifle in the possession of n corps is to 
bear engraved noon the heel-plate the letter V, and the 
letter denoting the colony, according to the arrangement 
,*n in Appendix A.; the number of the corps should also 
be added, ami the rifles should be numbered consecutively 
from one upward?, in th: manner shown in Appendix B. 
Care is to be taken that the arin j are. in all ca*es, marked by 
engraving and not by stamping. 
In addition to the letter V no letters except those indi¬ 
cating the colony need be engraved on the rifles issued to 
rifle volunteer corps; on those issued to light horse,artillery, 
engineer, and mounted rifle volunteer corps letters denoting 
the various branches of the service should he added thus— 
V V V V _ 
A ‘ L 2 A* A *2 A*i!f2 A»M'2 
T "l 1 1 
Corresponding letters and numbers arc also to be engraved 
on the socket of the bayonet, on the button of the scabbard, 
on the rammer immediately under the jag, on the muzzle- 
stopper, and on the nipple-wrench. 
APPENDIX A. 
Colony. 
Antigua - 
Bahama Islands 
Barbadocs 
Bermuda 
British Columbia 
British Guinna 
Canada 
Capo of Good Hope 
Dominica 
Gambia 
Gold Coast 
Grenada 
Heligoland 
Honduras 
Jamaica 
Montserrat - 
Natal 
Novis 
New Brunswick - 
Newfoundland 
Now South Wales 
New Zealnnd 
Nova Scotia 
Prince Edwnrd Island 
Queensland - 
St. Christopher 
St. Helena 
St. Lucia 
St. Vincent. 
Sierra Leone 
South Australia - 
Tasmania 
Tobago 
Trinidad 
Turks Islands 
Vancouver Island 
Victoria - 
Virgin Island 
West Australia 
Letters 
denoting 
Colony. 
-! 
A-. 
B. I. 
B-. 
B*. 
B. C. 
B. G. 
C*. 
C. U. 
D\ 
G b “. 
G. C. 
G d *. 
H-. 
H-. 
J‘. 
M>. 
N>. 
N>. 
N. B. 
NX 
N. W. 
N. Z. 
N. S. 
r. e. i. 
Q.L. 
S<. C. 
S*. II. 
S'. L. 
S'. V. 
S. L. 
S. A. 
TV 
TV 
TV 
T. I. 
Vv I. 
Vv 
Vv I. 
W. A. 
Figure 3 Extract from the regulations governing the 
marking of Volunteer arms. This War Office 
publication was circulated to all British 
colonies in 1862 and governed the marking 
of Imperial arms on issue in the colonies. 
Colonial owned arms did not necessarily 
have to conform to these regulations. (Photo 
V. Mclnerney). 
In 1862 a War Office circular entitled 
"Regulations for the Marking and Preservation of 
Arms issued to Corps of Colonial Volunteers" was 
received in W.A. 20 (see Figure 3). It set out the 
regulation letter and number codes for the marking 
of volunteer arms such as those sent on the Bride. 
The regulation mark for a rifle volunteer corps 
was the letter "V" engraved on the tang of the 
buttplate followed by the ownership code for the 
colony and then the stand number of the arm, thus, 
for Western Australia it was "V over WA over 1". 
They were to be numbered consecutively from one 
upwards. The arms were to be engraved, not 
stamped. The bayonet socket and other small 
accoutrements were also to be marked. From this 
regulation it is evident that the individual identity 
of a particular corps would not be recorded, as the 
various rifle corps would be issued with arms 
marked simply "V over W A over number" (see 
Figures 9 and 10). Only a register of the stand 
numbers would enable one to identify whether an 
arm was on issue at Perth or Fremantle. No Pattern 
1853 Enfield muzzle loading rifle is known to the 
author with this "V over W A" marking, but in 
view of later correspondence from the 
Commandant of Volunteers it can be stated with 
reasonable confidence that the letters "V over W 
A" were used. The Commandant, in an 1864 letter 
discusses the marking of the next documented 
shipment of arms (for the Pinjarrah corps), which 
he desired to have marked to War Office 
instructions "as in the case of the Enfield Rifles". 21 
This document seems to confirm that the Enfields 
were marked in the prescribed manner. A possible 
alternative marking is discussed at the end of the 
section below, entitled, "Review of Marking". 
The Metropolitan Volunteer Rifles were armed 
with Enfields and lasted ten years until 1872 when 
they were abruptly disbanded. The arms of this 
corps were immediately returned to store. One 
rifle, on issue to Private William Elsegood of the 
disbanded corps was not returned. This matter was 
viewed very seriously as the Commandants report 
of 5th July 1872 to the Commissariat shows: 
"VV. Elsegood has lost his Volunteer Rifle. Referred to 
Colonial Secretary in order that he may be pleased to 
cause steps to be taken for the recovery of the Rifle 
which can ill be spared. It appears that W. Elsegood 
belonged to the disbanded company of the Perth 
Volunteers and as yet has not handed in his Rifle" 
The laconic reply from the Colonial Secretary, 
noted on the margin of this correspondence, was 
that "W. Elsegood be called upon to return the 
Rifle". 22 It appears that by 29th November 1872 
Elsegood's rifle was still missing as there is a 
reference in this same correspondence to "Enfield 
Rifle No. 234 lost or mislaid by Volunteer Wm. 
Elsegood of Perth Company". This man is the only 
rifle volunteer whose rifle stand number is known. 
