Martini-Enfield .303 range day

[rufrdr]

I scrounged some FN .303 blanks and 23 Italian made .303 ball rounds awhile ago and decided to give them a try through the ME .303 rifle today. I fired a couple of the blanks to see if they worked - they did - although the massive smack that the firing pin from the ME gives will ignite any .303 cartridge with a spark of life left in the primer. The Italian .303 ammo all went bang in the rifle and gave the same accuracy as other ball ammo in this rifle which is about 5" at 100 yards. Two things conspiring against accurate shooting for me with this rifle is the extremely heavy trigger pull and the sights that are made for 18 year old eyes. My dimming eyes have problems with the sights. After only five or so rounds the barrel was so hot that it burned my finger tips when they strayed from the fore end. I'd hate to have been a soldier of the day who used it for bayonet fighting after firing five rounds through it!

I managed to get one hit out of 10 on the steel plate at 400 yards shooting from the kneeling position and that was probably sheer chance. A fun rifle to shoot and I get a kick out of dropping the lever and having the empty fly out the back and clatter to the concrete floor of the shooting line. Less recoil than my 577/450 and easier to clean too!

[Alpha1]

Thats a very nice looking piece of kit thanks for posting the picture.

[saddler]

Nice

[idge]

Nice looking rifle , were these intended to be shot with the old 200g 303 bullets or the later 174 g ?

[pe4king]

Nice looking rifle , were these intended to be shot with the old 200g 303 bullets or the later 174 g ?

I shoot Dodgyrogs 210gr cast boollits from mine and run them at around 2000fps, they match the sight settings, and I have used them out to 600yds and hit a 4' screen (good enough for me) which is something as mine is a carbine.
Putting Mkv11 though it is not for the faint hearted.

[idge]

pe4king/ that's definitely fine accuracy how long is the carbine barrel ?

[pe4king]

Its approx 20" I have also used it on a 400yd ETR range and dropped Fig 11s time afer time.
Mine is a Citadel model stamped 1905, it is built on a scrubbed Enfield 1884 reciever with every part being enfield stamped, a real bit of history.
Ill post some pics when I get a chance.

[idge]

Pics would be good really like the look of the old martini rifles and the one above looks in great shape .

[pe4king]

Here is my rifle

[RWSENG]

I have a cracker on the full-bore rifles page of my website, www.thedevizesgunsmith.co.uk, the best Martini-Metford carbine I have seen - I am very tempted to allow it to migrate into my private collection! They are great fun to shoot as well, I load mine with a 170gr cast lead with gas check projectile and a mild load to use them on gallery ranges out to 100yds and with the 215gr jacketed BES projectile for longer ranges.