doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Another fix for my Martini habit: Comments?

I just bought another Martini on gunbroker. The auction number is T144543929. This one is a Francotte in .218 Bee. I don't know if it's a reline or not. Haven't received the gun yet. The seller says that the bore is not good, so I'm thinking of relining to .25-20, as I have a custom .218 in the works. Can anyone tell me what's going on with the pins on the lower front of the action? Any other comments about putting it back to work would be appreciated.

Tried to use that number, no joy. How about a link or pics? I inquired about a Francotte 218 Cadet on GB last month, it had a long target scope on it. Same?
Regards, Joe

144543929 is the number. I'm not sure where the "T" came from. No, it isn't the scoped gun. It looks like an original gun with a relined barrel.

The lowzer one is the action retaining pin, a bit of a split pin - which normally shouldn't ned the top screw, which is a pin retaining screw, normally used with solid pins, not split pins. Maybe installed afterwards?

You did quite well getting that rifle for that price. I'd suggest have the barrel rebored and rechambered to either .25-20 or .32-20, both of which are excellent small game cartridges and use the same basic case as the .218 Bee, which means no other modifications would be required. I've had some success with reboring done by Dan Pedersen, whose web site is http://www.cutrifle.com/index.html.

I'm a bit of a small frame Martini nut myself (have two rimfires and three centerfires currently) and think they are a lot of fun to play with.

I'm thinking .25-20 as I already have a Remington 25 in that caliber.

I'm really getting worried about my Martini addiction. I just bought another one rechambered to 32 Special, aperture rear sight and ramp front sight, new bluing, and it has been restocked in really, really good curly maple. Curly maple is my other addiction, so I couldn't very well pass this gun, could I?

Wish I could find a good Francotte cadet, have a nice CF BSA No 12 thickwall to trade....
Regards, Joe

That sure doesn't look lik a .218 bore?

I wondered about the bore size myself. But since the bore is shot it'll be rebored or rebarreled anyway. I will receive the rifle tomorrow if UPS is telling the truth.

What are the differences between the BSA and the Francotte cadets?

No major dimensional differences at all, in fact the parts will usually interchange with no trouble. I've found a few minor tolerance differences between individual parts, such as one would find in any mass-produced item made in various factories in various countries over a 50-year period (1880s-1930s).

The major noticable difference is in the retention pin that holds the lock mechanism in the receiver. The earliest Francottes (1880s) had a solid pin retained by an additional small thumbscrew; later this was changed to a semi-solid pin with a small spring built into the side of it, to help retain it in the rifle. This second variation also used an additional small slotted screw for retention instead of the thumbscrew. The later BSA variations used only a split pin to retain the lockwork, this is the most-commonly-encountered variation and was used on most of the 310s made in the UK. The final variation, used on many commercial rimfire cadets, is a threaded pin with a knurled and/or coin-slotted head. The major visual difference is the presence of the additional retention screw on the left side of the Francottes, absent on the BSAs.

I'm certainly no expert, I hope that The Double D or MartiniBelgian will chime in here and make any corrections and additions necessary. Meanwhile I'll try to get some pics of the various pins and receivers.
Regards, Joe