Martini Henry's

[Meaty]

The MkIV that I am looking at has a lot of Indian marks on the stock so could be a similar beast. It has a nice tight lock up and a very crisp bore so hopefully it will turn out to be a good shooter . I hope to have a good look at it when I go down to the Trafalgar in a few days time, so fingers crossed. It will be a while before I get to shoot it as there seems to be a lot to learn before I put it on ticket and I have never loaded for a bp cartridge rifle before-shooting my .451 Volunteer is the closest I have ventured into this field.
Brass is bloody expensive sign01

[targetman]

The 577/450 Martini-Henry is a great rifle to own and shoot. It was my first "collectors" rifle back in the 1970s...a Mkiv Long Lever it cost me £85 and came straight from the armoury in Alahabad India, covered in thick cosmoline, right through the action and barrel.....took me ages to clean it but it came up perfect. It shoots very well indeed.

The barrels do vary enourmously though, the Mkiv I found has a tighter chamber than my Mkii and I think the barrel is also tighter but that may just be the use that they have had. The trigger is also better on the Mkiv.

I also have a Westley Richards made Francotte Patent 577/450 Martini which is one that was made especially for the ZAR during the Boer War....this has an excellent 9 groove barrel (as opposed to 7 groove) a much tighter chamber and a slick trigger, the action is removable with ease (like a BSA Martini small-bore) for cleaning and adjusting. This shoots very well indeed and will hold the black at 500/600 yards with the right sort of load.

Thats where Martini-Henrys can get complicated, generally they will perform well with a wide range of bullet sizes and weights but it all depends on what you want to achieve. If ultimate accuracy is what you want then you will have to spend a lot of time and probably quite a lot of money to get it....however, if you want the experience of shooting such an iconic piece of history and enjoy the sight, sound and smell whilst re-enacting the battle of Rourke's Drift then it is not complicated at all and it is great fun....it is also quite addictive.

Do shop around for your Martini though....the prices do seem to be rising and good ones are getting pricey indeed but then I am tightfisted and don't like paying much....

I can recommend a good book on Martini Henrys...."The Martini-Henry Notebook" by Malcolm Cobb.....lots of history and lots and lots on reloading and shooting them....

[Meaty]

Thanks Target man,
The reason for looking around now is that I have always wanted one but have noticed the prices rising steadily. They may get to a point in the not so distant future when they just wont be viable for me and I will be kicking myself for not taking the plunge. I just hope my good lady doesn't find out how much they cost - I have been leaving old adverts for them lying around the house to try and throw her off the scent! :shifty:
Bugger! I just remembered that she has a day off work today so she will probably be reading this!.......hello darling

[ovenpaa]

Bugger! I just remembered that she has a day off work today so she will probably be reading this!.......hello darling

I hope she has the Barton Road Saturday booked off as well!

[AL8]

I bought one of the "Nepal" MkIVs. On the outside it looked rather dark and battered. The action appeared to be stiff and jammed but, when I stripped it, I found that this was because it contained a solid block of cosmoline - as did the barrel. It turned out that, mechanically, the rifle was in near-mint condition with a sharp apparently untouched bore. Hence I reckon these relatively plentiful MkIVs might be a good shooting option.

The compays that supply them are IMA and Atlanta Cutlery.
I have one from IMA, and am very impressed with it. Its not on my ticket yet but it will be at some stage. IMA have a sale every other week, so sign up to the newsletter. Antique guns tend to be about every other month. When they are on sale its a 20% discount, they ship to the UK.

[targetman]

Meaty......have a look here.....http://www.1879zuluwar.com/t1230-origin ... mk2-rifles

Neil Aspinshaw is something of an expert on Martini Henrys and often has some for sale....I have bought from him and have been very satisfied....prices were good too....