Military firearms in colonial Western Australia 
their arms being unknown. In 1872 this troop 
became known as the Western Australian Troop 
of Volunteer Horse Artillery. Their small arms are 
not known with certainty but W.A. is known to 
have attempted to procure 30 Martini-Henry .577/ 
.450 inch calibre carbines for them in 1872. 41 In 1874 
it is recorded that two copies of a book on 
"Artillery Carbine Exercises" were received. As the 
W.A.T.V.H.A. were the only artillery corps at the 
time it indicates the possibility that they may have 
been armed with artillery carbines. 42 The following 
information however seems to indicate that this 
corps had no firearms on issue. Photographs of 
them taken in 1875 and 1879 show them armed 
only with swords, 43 and an 1874 confidential 
despatch from the Governor to England states that 
the V.H.A. "has the use of Snider Rifles" 44 
indicating that the troop borrowed arms when 
required. Also, when the stores of the disbanded 
Enrolled Pensioner Force were transferred to the 
W.A. government in 1880, a voucher to the 
Colonial Storekeeper, J. Flynn, for ammunition 
used since 1878 was included. The voucher was for 
"6000 Rounds, Snider Ball for Captain Phillips of 
the Volunteer Horse Artillery", 45 It is certain 
therefore that the troop had access to Sniders (for 
target practice) at least from 1874 - 1880. Prior to 
1877 the "Sniders" could only be the .577 inch 
Snider-Enfield rifles of the E.P.F. who at that time 
had the only Sniders in W.A. After 1877 Sniders 
were on issue to the volunteers but all are thought 
to have gone to the rifle corps. This corps was 
again re-named in 1882 as the Perth Artillery 
Volunteers, with a muster of 25 men and 7 
recruits. 46 They are listed in a Stores Return for 
1884 as having "light and heavy swords, 12 
Revolvers, 5 Revolving Carbines and 4 Rifles, 
Enfields". The carbines and Enfields were listed as 
"unserviceable". 47 It is difficult to interpret these 
arms other than to say that there appears still to 
have been no official "stand" of arms, rather, an 
oddment of leftovers. The arms listed as 
unserviceable were probably so due to a lack of 
muzzle loading ammunition at that late date. The 
corps are reported in 1887 however to have been 
awaiting the arrival of a shipment of Martini- 
Henrys "expected soon". 48 If they received the 
Martinis they would have been the first 
recognizable stand of arms the corps is known to 
have possessed. This unit became the Number 1 
(Perth) Battery, Field Artillery in 1897. They bore 
this name through until 1903. The arms issued in 
this latter period and details of their marking are 
unknown. 
In the initial period of the Volunteer Movement 
1861 to 1872, only four corps were formed and by 
1869 mustered 98 N.C.O.s and men at Perth, 60 at 
Fremantle and 76 at Pinjarrah. 49 The last mounted 
corps, the Union Troop of Western Australian 
81 
Mounted Volunteers, already mentioned, was not 
raised until 1870, when its muster stood at 40 
officers and men for a grand total of 272 W.A. 
volunteers. 50 By 1872 the two rifle corps had been 
disbanded, and the 200 Enfield M.L. rifles shared 
by the Metropolitan and Fremantle Rifle Volunteers 
were returned to store, leaving only the two 
mounted corps with less than 100 arms on issue to 
defend the colony. These totals illustrate the 
relatively small number of arms existing then, 
which is not surprising when the entire population, 
(including convicts) in 1867 was only 21,718. 51 
The next period of the Volunteer Movement 
began in 1872 and went through Federation until 
1903. It included a major restructuring in 1893. This 
period began with the raising of the Perth 
Company of the Western Australian Rifle 
Volunteers in 1872, which soon became known as 
the Metropolitan Rifle Volunteers. The M.R.V. 
included many members of the disbanded 
Metropolitan Volunteer Rifles. On 14th June 1872 
Captain Finnerty the Commandant of Volunteers, 
recommended to the Colonial Secretary that 
Captain Birch, the newly designated commanding 
officer of the M.R.V. be empowered to swear in the 
volunteers and issue "Enfield Rifles and 
accoutrements". 52 The recommendation was 
accepted and consequently, on 20th June 1872, 
Finnerty applied to the Colonial Secretary for "100 
Enfields for Captain Birch and the new company of 
volunteers". 53 Birch had actually applied to 
Finnerty to arm the men with breech-loaders (ie. 
E.P.F. Snider-Enfields) to put them "...on a par with 
the Pensioners when we are exercising with 
them" 54 but this request was not granted. Instead, 
as has been noted, they were armed with 100 
Enfields which appear to have consisted wholly or 
partly of E.P.F. surplus Enfield arms loaned to the 
colony. 55 
The M.R.V. was increasing in numbers and 
according to the Returns of 1874 stood at 122 men. 56 
On the 26th November 1875 Lt. Col. Harvest, the 
Inspector of Volunteers wrote to the Colonial 
Secretary stating: 
"The Perth Rifle Corps (M.R.V.) should I think be 
armed with Snider Rifles - their present arms, 
Enfields on loan from the Imperial Government 
would then be available to complete the Guildford 
Volunteers and supply York and Newcastle" and 
"The Enfields now on loan were spare in the Colony 
owing to the Pensioner Force being armed with 
Sniders". 57 
The M.R.V. continued to increase and in that year 
had a muster of 125 men armed with Enfields. 58 
Soon after, on 18th February 1876, Lt. Col. Harvest 
ordered new arms consisting of: 
"Arms, inter.. Rifles B/L Snider with C/R, Short Pat/ 
60, Steel Barrels P/III.7. 
Rifles B/L inter., Snider with C/R Pat. 53, Steel 
Barrels, P/III Long Butts 2nd Class.131". 59 
