doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Take down sporting Martini rifles

I recently acquired a second take down martini sporting rifle. The new one is a Francotte with a hand detachable action and barrel. It joins a 300 Sherwood Westley Richards that came home five or so years ago. The Francotte is much lighter in the barrel than the WR and appears to be in 22 Hornet. Finish is original. Barrel is 26"+. Definitely a 22 centerfire round that seems to be close to 1.5" long.

Pics from the auction are below. It really looks better in person, although the auction house or the FFL responsible for shipping appears to have lost the cocking indicator that was pictured in the listing.

Anyone else have one of these?

CJF,
I couldn't get the photos to open up.
Mike

CJF,
I just saw one of these Francottes, a non-takedown one, last week and had a chance to disassemble and study it. It was a 297/230 Long Morris, had a 25" full octagon barrel (I believe it was cut from 27.5") and has a long wood addition to lengthen the LOP. The cartridge is a center fire that is basically a .22LR ballistically.

I think these Francottes are the best designed miniature Martini that I have personally seen. What is particularly appealing is the action disassembly lever that rotates 180 degrees to expose cuts in the pin that now allow the trigger/action assembly to rotate down around the rear of the action mortise. This tool-less takedown is appealing. Also, instead of the cone at the rear of the trigger/action assembly that mates with the cone in the back of the action the one I examined had a semi-circular transverse cylinder at the back of the action that cuts on the back of the trigger/action assembly mate with allowing the assembly to pivot forward into the action.

I hope I can impose on you to take some photos of the barrel takedown system. I've seen the Greener takedown method of cutting the bottom of the action through the threads and then using a threaded cross pin to squeeze the barrel in place and have a Model 6 and Model 12 BSA actions using the tapered cross pin but it looks like your action uses something different. I am working on a non-takedown Model 12 BSA that I'd like to create some kind of takedown system for.
Thanks,
Dennis

The Francotte action takedown is nice because the screw is captive (same for the barrel.) The Westley Richards action takedown uses a screw in the rear of the action, and that unfortunately can be unscrewed simply by removing the rifle from a gun sock...and then the guts fall out. (I know from experience!). But the barrel takedown on the WR is better both because it appears stronger, and it doesn't need a separate screw (just drop the lever and twist the barrel).

I'll post more pics tomorrow.

Chris

Does anyone have pictures of a Francotte takedown action showing the cocking indicator?

The cocking indicator on my Francotte went missing sometime after the auction house posted the listing pics. I don't know if it walked during the preview or if someone at the shipping dealer was playing around, but it's disappointing, as otherwise the rifle is really nice.

The cocking indicator on the WR Sherwood rifle is different and cannot come out without removing a screw. Pictures to follow.

CJF,
I think I would try a BSA cocking indicator. Numrich Arms might have one. If it doesn't fit, maybe it can be modified to fit. BSAs are common enough that maybe you could borrow one to try, before buying one.
Mike

http://www.gunpartscorp.com/Products/459990.htm
Sold out
BUT call them anyway

Also, look here for drawing
http://www.gunpartscorp.com/Manufacturers/Martini-33382/CadetSmallFrame-37339.htm?page=2

Mike

p.s.
http://doublercustom.com.au/Martini-Cadet-Action-Cocking-Indicator-Lever-USED--P4969228.aspx

Chris,
Here are some images of cocking indicators for the Francotte I mentioned earlier and one of my Model 12 BSAs. I don't know that they will interchange and I wasn't able to try when I took these images.

It would be extraordinarily lucky to come across an original Francotte part and making one is likely the only option you have.

CJF:

You might want to do a chamber cast. The rifle could be chambered for one of the .297-230 rounds, which are a centerfire with similar ballistics to the .22 Long Rifle. The cartridge was initially developed as a subcaliber training round for the Martini-Henry rifle, but migrated into rook rifles as well. There were several variations.

I may receive a lecture for this, but I tried out the rifle with 22 Hornet ammo. Accuracy was decent (roughly 1" at 30 yards with a rest and my aging eyes). But extraction was terrible. It seemed the chamber was just a tiny bit tight. Cases were a little hard to chamber, very hard to extract, but retained their shape after firing (and then entered and exited with ease.) I'm wondering if more cleaning and perhaps a polish of the chamber is needed.

Remington40x, I've never cast a chamber. What product and method do you recommend?