Blast from the past

[zzr1100]

Had a few shots with an original martini Henry tonight .. Big smiles !

[huntervixen]

I had the pleasure of shooting both the Mk4 and the Cavalry carbine a few weeks ago at Bisley, superb...also P53, P56 and Snider... Happy days!

[rufrdr]

I had my MkIV to the range this past Friday. Did 20 rounds of my handloads (not the best quality I am sure). Grouped about 6" @ 100 yards with 10 rounds. Some rounds touching but some flyers. Consistent hits on the steel plate targets to 225 yards but the plates @ 400 yards were merely intimidated by my misses.

[450 Martini]

I started out with just shooting the Martini Henry service rifle on the range, I then looked into the story of the men behind them. This led me to re-enactment. There is nothing quite like the sound of a full section volley of these amazing rifles. In the picture below i'm in the rear rank second from left.

[zzr1100]

the owner of the rifle said it was 45-70 but that doesn't seem to tally with what I have read ??

[450 Martini]

577-450 is what the calibre is called these days but originally it was called .45 boxer-henry. Some reloaders use the bullet mould for a 45-70 but some find them slightly undersized.

[FredB]

The Martini has a long, tapered throat ahd bores and chambers are usually oversize. The original cartridge was made from coiled brass, easily damaged and it was important that it actually fitted under battle conditions. The 577-45 is not a well designed round---the case is too big, even for a black powder charge. They can be made to shoot very well and there is lots of information on how on www.britishmilitariaforums.yuku.com
Fred