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

Gerald,
I found this extraordinary piece in Croatia recently and a friend there was so kind to bought it for me. According to my research it was originaly made circa 1875 as a Turkish contract rifle by the Providence Tool Co., to be later "liberated" and reworked in the Balkans, probably in Tetovo (Macedonia) or thereabout, by a local artisan. "Martina" was a most popular breech-loader of the old Balkans especialy among Albanians till WWI. After WWI quite some were made into 16g shotguns but this one remains in original .450 Turkish caliber.
With kind regards,

Jani

Gerald,
If you slug the bore at an inch or two from the muzzle, then tap the bullet out, then insert the bullet nose foreward in at the breech end it will fall down the barrel anyway from from 1/4 to 1/2 the barrels length there is so much taper on it. Bye the way the Henry Rifling was specifically designed for PP bullets made from lead. You will also have great difficulty in 'miking' the bullet as there are not grooves or lands per see but the rifling is made of hollows and mounds. For loading advice see the Martini Section of the Forum British Military Firearms. See:-

http://britishmilitariaforums.yuku.com/forums/1/Martini-Henry-Forum.

There is also a very large archive of forums available you can access. There is also an excellent book "The Martini-Henry Notebook. Not cheap but worth every dollar.

Harry

Thanks Harry

Jerry

Jerry,

Don't forget to take into account that the typical 577-450 Martini has an odd no. of grooves - so if you use a caliper to measure the slug, you will measure from land to groove - not good... Around .462 would be normal, BUT for the oversize chamber and generous taper at the chamber end. Most of us use a .468 - .470 bullet for good results.