The origins of the modern British military rifle are within its predecessor, the Brown Bess musket. While a musket was largely inaccurate over , due to a lack of rifling and a generous tolerance to allow for muzzle-loading, it was cheap to produce and could be loaded quickly. The use of volley or mass firing by troops meant that the rate of fire took precedence over accuracy.

Beginning in the late 1830s, the superior performance of the new rifles led the British military to phase out the venerable .75 calibre Brown Bess musket in favour of smaller-calibre muzzle-loading rifles. Early rifles were non-standard and often used components from the Brown Bess, including locks and stocks adapted to new rifled barrels. It was not until the late 19th century that the rifle fully supplanted the musket as the weapon of the infantryman.

Rifles before 1800 Civilian rifles had on rare occasions been used by marksmen during the English Civil War (1642–51). In the 1750s, a few German rifles were used by British light infantry regiments in the Seven Years' War.

Pattern 1776 infantry rifle

In January 1776, 1,000 rifles were ordered to be built for the British Army. A pattern by gunsmith William Grice, based on German rifles in use by the British Army, was approved for official issue as the Pattern 1776 Infantry Rifle. This weapon was issued to the light company of each regiment in the British Army during the American Revolution; these were probably present at most battles in the conflict in the American Revolution.

Ferguson rifle

Also in 1776, Major Patrick Ferguson patented his breech-loading Ferguson rifle, based on old French and Dutch designs of the 1720s and 1730s. One hundred of these, of the two hundred or so made, were issued to a special rifle corps in 1777, but the cost, production difficulties and fragility of the guns, coupled with the death of Ferguson at the Battle of Kings Mountain meant the experiment was short-lived.

Baker rifle

The Baker rifle was a muzzle-loading flintlock weapon used by the British Army in the Napoleonic Wars, notably by the 95th Rifles and the 5th Battalion, 60th Regiment of Foot. This rifle was an accurate weapon for its day, with reported kills being made at away. At Cacabelos, in 1809, Rifleman Tom Plunkett, of the 95th, shot the French General Colbert-Chabanais at a range allegedly of . The rifle was in service in the British Army until the 1840s. The Mexican Army, under Santa Anna, used British Baker Rifles during the 1836 Texas-Mexican War.

Brunswick rifle

The Brunswick rifle was a .704 calibre muzzle-loading percussion rifle manufactured for the British Army at the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield in the early 19th century. The weapon was introduced to replace the Baker rifle and weighed from over without its bayonet attached, depending on the pattern. The weapon was difficult to load but remained in production for about 50 years (1836 to 1885) and was used in both the United Kingdom and assorted colonies and outposts throughout the world.

The Brunswick had a two-groove barrel designed to accept a "belted" round ball. There are four basic variants of the British Brunswick Rifle (produced in .654 and .704 calibre, both oval-bore rifled and smoothbore). They are the Pattern 1836, the Pattern 1841, the Pattern 1848 and the Pattern 1840 Variant.

Early Enfield rifles

Throughout the evolution of the British rifle, the name Enfield is prevalent; this refers to the Royal Small Arms Factory in the town (now suburb) of Enfield, north of London, where the British Government produced various patterns of muskets from components manufactured elsewhere beginning in 1804. The first rifle produced in whole to a set pattern at Enfield was the Baker rifle. Brunswick rifles were also produced there, but, prior to 1851, rifles were considered speciality weapons and served alongside the muskets, which were issued to regular troops.

Pattern 1851

In 1851, the Enfield factory embarked upon production of the Pattern 1851 Minié rifle using the conical Minie bullet, which replaced the Pattern 1842 .753 calibre smoothbore musket as the primary weapon issued to regular troops. The Pattern 1851 was referred to as a rifled musket and was longer than previous production rifles, conforming to the length of prior muskets, which allowed for consistency in standards for firing in ranks and bayonet combat. Relatively few of these were produced since a new design was adopted within two years. The rifle used the lock and bayonet mount from the Pattern 1842, with a barrel.

The new Minie ammunition allowed much faster loading, so that rifles were no longer slower to load than smoothbore muskets. Previous rifles, such as the Baker and the Brunswick, were designated for special troops, such as skirmishers or snipers, while the majority of shoulder-arms remained smoothbore muskets.

Pattern 1853

The Pattern 1853 Enfield used a smaller .577 calibre Minie bullet. Several variations were made, including infantry, navy and artillery versions, along with shorter carbines for cavalry use. The Pattern 1851 and Pattern 1853 were both used in the Crimean War, with some logistical confusion caused by the need for different ammunition. The Pattern 1853 was popular with both sides of the American Civil War; the Confederacy and the Union imported these through agents who contracted with private companies in Britain for production.

Pattern 1858 The Pattern 1858 naval rifle was developed for the British Admiralty in the late 1850s with a heavier 5-grooved barrel. The heavier barrel was designed to withstand the leverage from the naval cutlass bayonet but may have contributed to accuracy.

Pattern 1858 Indian Service There is also the very short-lived Pattern 1858 developed from the Pattern 1853 for Indian service. A consequence of the rebellion, based on British fears, was to modify the native infantry long arms by reaming out the rifling of the Pattern 1853 which greatly reduced the effectiveness, as was replacing the variable distance rear sight with a fixed sight. This became the Pattern 1858, with an increased bore of 0.656" from 0.577" and a thinner barrel wall. Bulging and bursting of the barrel became an issue, as well as excessive flexing when the bayonet was fitted. To remedy this, new barrels were made with a thicker wall and became the Pattern 1859.

Pattern 1859 Indian Service (modified) The Indian Service variant became the new standard issue and, when comparing the P1859 with the P1853, side-by-side, the difference would only become apparent if one was to feel just inside the muzzle for the presence of rifling or not. The British retained the superior earlier pattern for their own use.

Pattern 1860 The Enfield "Short Rifle" was a percussion rifle used extensively by the North and South in the US Civil War. It was generally well regarded for its accuracy, even with its short barrel. It was also used by the British Army.

Pattern 1861 Enfield Musketoon

The Pattern 1861 Enfield Musketoon was an alteration to the Pattern 1853 Enfield Musketoon. The alteration gave the Pattern 1861 a faster twist, which gave it more accuracy than the longer Pattern 1853 Enfield rifle. In Britain, it was issued to artillery units, who required a weapon for personal defence. It was imported by the Confederacy and issued to artillery and cavalry units.

Snider–Enfield rifles

In 1866, the Snider–Enfield was produced as a conversion of Enfield Pattern 1853 with a hinged breechblock and barrel designed for a .577 cartridge. Later Sniders were newly manufactured on the same design.

The action was invented by an American, Jacob Snider, and adopted by Britain as a conversion system for the 1853 Enfield. The conversions proved both more accurate than original muzzle-loading Enfields and much faster firing as well. Converted rifles retained the original iron barrel, furniture, locks and cap-style hammers. The rifles were converted in large numbers, or assembled new with surplus pattern 53 iron barrels and hardware. The Mark III rifles were made from all new parts with steel barrels, flat-nosed hammers and are the version equipped with a latch-locking breech block. The Snider was the subject of substantial imitation, approved and otherwise, including: Nepalese Sniders, the Dutch Sniders, Danish Naval Sniders, and the "unauthorized" adaptations resulting in the French Tabatiere and Russian Krnka rifles.

The Snider–Enfield Infantry rifle was particularly long at over . The breech block housed a diagonally downward-sloping firing pin which was struck with a front-action side-mounted hammer. The firer cocked the hammer, flipped the block out of the receiver with a breech block lever, and then pulled the block back to extract the spent case. There was no ejector, the case had to be pulled out, or more usually, the rifle rolled onto its back to allow the case to fall out. The Snider saw service throughout the British Empire, until it was gradually phased out of front line service in favour of the Martini–Henry, in the mid-1870s. The design continued in use with colonial troops into the 20th century.

Martini–Henry rifles

The Martini–Henry rifle was adopted in 1871, featuring a tilting-block single-shot breech-loading action, actuated by a lever beneath the wrist of the buttstock. The Martini–Henry evolved as the standard service rifle for almost 20 years, with variants including carbines.

Unlike the Snider it replaced, the Martini–Henry was designed from the ground up as a breech-loading metallic cartridge firearm. This robust weapon uses a tilting-block, with a self-cocking, lever operated, single-shot action designed by a Swiss, Friedrich von Martini, as modified from the Peabody design. The rifling system was designed by a Scotsman, Alexander Henry.

The Mark I was adopted for service in 1871. There were three further main variations of the Martini–Henry rifle, the Marks II, III and IV, with sub-variations of these, called patterns. In 1877, a carbine version entered service with five main variations including cavalry and artillery versions. Initially, Martinis used the short chamber Boxer-Henry .45 calibre black powder cartridge made of a thin sheet of brass rolled around a mandrel, which was then soldered to an iron base. Later, the rolled brass case was replaced by a solid brass version which remedied a myriad of problems.

Martini–Metford and Martini–Enfield

Martini–Enfield rifles were mostly conversions of the Zulu War era .577/450 Martini–Henry, rechambered to the .303 British calibre, although a number were newly manufactured. Early Martini–Henry conversions, began in 1889, using Metford rifled barrels (Martini–Metford rifles), which were more than suitable for the first black powder .303 cartridges, but they wore out very quickly when fired with the more powerful smokeless ammunition introduced in 1895, so that year the Enfield rifled barrel was introduced, which was suitable for smokeless ammunition. The Martini–Enfield was in service from 1895 to 1918 (Lawrence of Arabia's Arab Irregulars were known to have used them during the Arab Revolt of 1916–1918), and it remained a reserve arm in places like India and New Zealand well into World War II.

Lee–Metford rifles

The first British repeating rifle incorporated a bolt-action and a box-magazine; this was developed through trials beginning in 1879, and adopted as the Magazine Rifle Mark I in 1888. This rifle is commonly referred to as the Lee–Metford or MLM (Magazine Lee–Metford).