doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com My Martini

1st remember I am an amateur. Here is my Martini-Henry.

It started life as a military grade (non-military) rifle I bought imported from South Africa. I did all of the work myself. It is as follows:
1. Cut and crowned the barrel.
2. Soldered on the front sight and barrel band sling ring. (I learned to solder)
3. Mounted the rear peep sight. (No choice hear, this is what I needed for my eyes)
4. Stocked it from a piece of cherry.
5. Checkered it.
6. Figured out how to attach the forend. (Yes, my holes are oblong)
7. Mounted the pad and covered it with leather.
8. Installed the rear swivel post.
9. Rust (water) blued the gun. I had a tough time with the receiver and to some extent the barrel. It took 3 times to get it even. I have done a bit of water bluing before.
10. Added a forend tip.

My goal was to learn and to create a gun that resembled a sporter from the period. I sure would like to own an original, but Sherman Bell seems to own them all.

It may not be perfect, but every day I spent working on it, my life got longer, not shorter.

Now, I just need to bag a hog with it� oh dam, need a non-lead bullet to do that legally. Dam California.
Jerry

In this august company, I'm kinda glad I can't post pictures of MY amateur efforts. By amateur standards, this seems like a great shooter that has some of the features of classic Martini sporters. Since that--and a lot of learning--were your goals, a very good job!

Is this a .450 still, or a .303? Not sure if any of the non-lead bullets are available in a size that will work for .303, but if it's a .450, you might look at the non-lead bullets made by Barnes (and others?) see if there are any of an appropriate size. Most for the .45 Colt may be too light to stabilize in a .450, even if you can match the bore size close enough. But as I remember, Barnes used to make .458 all-copper solids, perhaps those could be sized (by a gorilla?) to your bore. (Maybe they make .318 solids that could be sized down to fit a .303, if that's what you have?). Failing that, there ARE piggies outside our mythical condor zone.

Thanks for sharing!

Mike,
it is still a .450/.577. The lead I shoot thru it is about .461. I have had a little luck before I began this project with patched .458 barnes bullets. The good thing about this is, if all copper slugs are hard on these old barrels, by patching them, it should prevent any potential damage.
I cheated a little and use teflon pipe tape for the patch material.

Jerry

Don't blame you for cheating a little bit: I find making paper patches easy....it's getting them on the bullet properly that I find hard. (Maybe I SHOULD have taken that "Origami for Geezers" class at the Senior University!).

My small bore Martini.

Hopefully JD.Steele will post some pictures of his martini's As IMO he has built some great ones.Including a Fields paten he did for me.But am not able to post picture on here. Just can't get it to work. whitey

Having bought my first Martini-Henry 577/450 Service rifle over 45 years ago so I have some experience in reloading them and making pp bullets.

The steel used in these barrels is soft and wasn't intended for anything but lead bullets. Jacketed bullets will wear it out very rapidly indeed. The bore is tapered from the chamber to the muzzle so as jacketed bullet will not 'bump up' to fill the bore perfectly as a lead bullet does. The bullet should be bore dia, patched up to groove dia. The paper patch patch should be cut by the rifling as the bullet travels through the barrel and seperate from the bullet in the first few feet of free flight. Failure of the patch to detach or only partially detaches will result in very poor accuracy indeed.

Applying the patch is fiddly at the start but you soon get into the swing of doing it. The turnover of the patch at the base of the bullet should not exceed 1/8" to 3/16", Don't make it over long and never twist the ends into a pigtail. If the parch is slightly damp (use a plant misting gun)a very light spray will help the patch to adhere to the lead and it will shrink and tighten when drying out. Standing the patched bullet upright after patching will hold the paper turnover in place while the patch dries. Ideally use a smooth bullet without grease grooves. PP bullets always had a grease cookie below the bullet.

Have fun reloading.

Harry

Gerald, here is Jani's.
No comments, clearly a very special one:


Regards,

JC

Aw, I have to make at least one comment!

I greatly prefer the earlier short-lever models, this was a good choice!
Regards, Joe

JC or Jani,
Where did that come from?! Looks like it could tell some stories of some Maha Raja or something like that.
Providence is as interesting as the gun.

Jerry

Harry,
I believe the bore is about .458. I will have to slug it again. That is what gave me the idea. It think I tried the plain .458 copper slug and it went all over the place. So if that is so, shouldn't it be safe to shoot in the gun?

Also, you guys missed my wink about the copper slugs. In the middle of 7000 acres, it may be hard for the warden to see what shell I am shooting.

PS I did see 2 condors Friday of closing weekend and they are magnificent birds to see.