Comparing the Trajectories of the Snider-Enfield and Martini-Henry Rifles

Military shooting is quite different from target shooting in several ways.  Precise targeting is less important to the soldier than to the target shooter; any hit on an enemy soldier is likely to incapacitate the enemy, and that is usually good enough.  Moreover, the soldier rarely has as much time to aim carefully for a perfect shot.  Thus, musketry manuals of the Nineteenth Century were focused on teaching soldiers to hit somewhere on an enemy as quickly as possible.

In order to make such hits it was important to understand the trajectory of the bullet being fired so that a soldier could adjust his aim properly.  In this discussion, we will examine and compare the trajectories of the Snider-Enfield and Martini-Henry rifles based upon information taken from the 1870 and 1879 Musketry Manuals respectively.

The Snider-Enfield Rifle

Distance	Greatest height	First Catch		Margin for		First
	of trajectory	Cavalry	Infantry	Cavalry	Infantry	graze
yards	feet	yards	yards	yards	yards	yards
100	4 '6"	Thro'	Thro'	Thro'	Thro'	180
200	5'	Thro'	Thro'	Thro'	Thro'	280
300	7'	Thro'	220	Thro'	135	355
400	11'	300	350	140	90	440
500	15'	420	465	100	55	520
600	23'	570	585	45	30	615
700	32'	670	685	40	25	710
800	44'	780	790	30	20	810

The Martini Henry Rifle

Distance	Greatest height	First Catch		Margin for		First
	of trajectory	Cavalry	Infantry	Cavalry	Infantry	graze
yards	feet	yards	yards	yards	yards	yards
100	4'6"	Thro'	Thro'	Thro'	Thro'	205
200	5'	Thro'	Thro'	Thro'	Thro'	285
300	6'9"	Thro'	205	Thro'	155	360
400	8'9"	285	345	165	105	450
500	12'	410	455	130	85	540
600	16'6"	530	565	100	65	630
700	20'9"	645	670	80	55	725
800	26'9"	750	775	70	45	820

Remarks

The calculated height for cavalry forces is 8 1/2 feet, that for the infantry is 6 feet.

The rifle is 4 1/2 feet above the ground at distances to 300 yards; beyond that distance, 3 feet above the ground; the reason for this difference is that at ranges up to 300 yards the soldier was taught to fire from a standing position, while at longer ranges he was taught to fire from a kneeling position.  The object hit 3 feet above the ground at each distance.

N.B.: The first catch and first graze are given in divisions of 5 yards to assist the memory, hence are only approximations.                                                      

Definitions

Distance is the setting on the rifle's rear sight.

First Catch is the first distance at which a round will hit either a cavalry or infantry soldier in the head at that sight setting.

First Graze is the distance at which a round will hit a soldier's feet at that sight setting.

Margin is the distance between "First Catch" and "Graze" at that sight setting.

Point Blank is the point at which the bullet's trajectory crosses the line of sight for any given sight setting; also known as "far zero" today. 

Looking at the diagram above, the first soldier (far left) represents the “First Catch” range; the middle soldier represents the “Point Blank” for that sight setting, being three feet above the ground; and the third soldier (far right) represents the “First Graze.”  The Margin is the distance from the first soldier to the third.

Now we can compare the two weapons:  If we set the sights on our rifles to 300 yards, then in the picture above the First Catch for the Snider is at 220 yards and the First Graze is at 355 yards, with a Margin of 135 yards.  The maximum height of the bullet’s trajectory would be 7 feet.

For that same 300-yard sight setting on the Martini-Henry, the First Catch would be 205 yards, and the First Graze would be 360 yards, with a Margin of 155 yards (20 yards wider than the Snider). The maximum height of the bullet’s trajectory would be 6 feet 9 inches, showing a trajectory that is just slightly (3 inches) flatter than that of the Snider.

If we set the sights on our rifles to 600 yards, then in the picture above the First Catch for the Snider is at 585 yards and the First Graze is at 615 yards, with a Margin of only 30 yards.  The maximum height of the bullet’s trajectory would be 23 feet.

For that same 600-yard sight setting on the Martini-Henry, the First Catch would be 565 yards, and the First Graze would be 615 yards, with a Margin of 65 yards—more than double that of the Snider. The maximum height of the bullet’s trajectory would be 16 feet 6 inches, showing a trajectory that is significantly (6 feet 6 inches) flatter.

The Margin is particularly significant in these figures because it represents the width over which a shot fired at a man would hit an enemy soldier somewhere for each given sight setting.  The wider the Margin, the more likely a shot is to hit, and for the Martini-Henry, the Margin is slightly wider at every sight setting, reflecting the flatter trajectory of the round.

Neither manual specified which specific mark of ammunition was being referenced, and the ammunition for both rifles varied somewhat from mark to mark which could change these figures.