The British .577 Snider-Enfield was a 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 It was introduced in 1866, and was used by the British Army until it was superseded by the Martini-Henry rifle in 1871.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.