577/450 Practical Accuracy to 500 and the rifle I've never shot...

Jay

Jay

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Hey Guys;

Just came across the 9 Hole Review of the: Martini Henry MkI/II to 500 yds: Practical Accuracy (feat. British Muzzleloaders - Rob)

What a GREAT video!


And I happen to have a Martini Enfield 1886 in 577/450 that was given to me by my father's friend Ed Tucker, a retired Engineer.

The rifle Ed gave me has an interesting history...

The Secret History of the 1886 Receiver
  1. The .402 Enfield Experiment (1886): In the mid-1880s, the British military wanted a smaller, faster round than the massive .577/450, but they weren't ready for the .303 yet. They designed a new .402 caliber cartridge. Because these new rifles were to be built entirely at the Royal Small Arms Factory Enfield, they stamped the receivers with ENFIELD and the date 1886. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
  2. The Sudden Plot Twist: Just as they manufactured thousands of these new "Enfield-Martini" actions, a massive breakthrough happened: smokeless powder and the .303 British round were invented. [1, 2]
  3. The Retrograde Conversion: The brand-new .402 Enfield cartridge was instantly obsolete before it could even be issued. Rather than wasting thousands of newly stamped 1886 Enfield receivers, the factory converted them backward. They fitted them with standard .577/450 barrels and parts. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
  4. The Martini-Henry Mark IV: These converted, recycled 1886 "Enfield" receivers became the famous Martini-Henry Pattern 1888 (Mark IV) rifle.
Embarrassingly, I've never shot my Martini Enfield!!! I have often thought of trying to take a deer with it... Maybe that needs to happen? Here's my rifle...

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I also have one. I assume yours has the bayonet lug on the left side. I’ve shot mine out to 200 at the 6” plate with excellent results I keep trying to find a bayonet for mine but I keep getting out bid at the auctions or something else I want more is at the same auction and I only have money for one.
 
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Snider shooter said:
Watched Zulu a few times when I was younger. The movie that started my interest in Martinis. Have 4 different ones.
The pattern 1887 bayonet fits the mk1V.
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Cool, you're fortunate to have them! My great granddad served all over Africa in the colonial wars, including both Zulu wars..37 years in the British army. I'm sure he loved the rifle as many did and saw many changes in his career regarding armaments.
 
Jay, I have three Martinis in 577-450 and they are a lot of fun to shoot. From the photos you posted it looks like you have some bullet and brass. That covers the harder to find components, so you are almost ready to shoot. I've never tried smokeless with this cartridge but it's a great black powder round. Two of my guns shoot best with a reduced powder charge of 70 grains even though the government load was 85 grains of black powder.
 
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A wonderful day out. As you found out they shoot high with issue sites. I made a new front band and site for acouple of rifles out of brass. My Snider and 71 Mauser. My plan was to make a new front site for the Martini but I ended up finding a 3 D printed one. Compliments of Okay Shooter. Haven’t shot it with the new site as I just put it on. Making a guess which site blade to use.
 

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I came home & cleaned the rifle by pouring boiling water down the bore using a funnel. Followed that with a 50 cal brush & more boiling water and repeated with the 50 cal brush again & more water...

Then I used a bunch of patches & CLP to oil her down. Man am I paranoid about black powder & corrosive ammo! So much so that I only use BlackHorn 209 in our muzzle loaders... I'll be watching this old Martini closely, I don't want to damage her!
 
Jay said:
I came home & cleaned the rifle by pouring boiling water down the bore using a funnel. Followed that with a 50 cal brush & more boiling water and repeated with the 50 cal brush again & more water...

Then I used a bunch of patches & CLP to oil her down. Man am I paranoid about black powder & corrosive ammo! So much so that I only use BlackHorn 209 in our muzzle loaders... I'll be watching this old Martini closely, I don't want to damage her!
Click to expand...
In that first pic of you shooting your martini. At first i thought it was a you Mike venturino.

I loved the zulu movies years ago.

I think it was zulu dawn that showed the big masacure and i forget what the battle was called but i heard a theory that all the martini powder smoke was a big part of the british defeat. Theory is the smoke because of weather conditions the day of the battle. The smoke hung over the british and they couldnt see to shoot.
 
Isandlwana was the battle where the British were massacred. The only bright spot was the fight at Rourkes Drift the next day. A single company held off thousands of Zulus there.
Things went badly at Isandlwana for a variety of reasons. British arrogance, poor position and I've read British quartermasters refused to open ammunition crates and distribute it without proper requisitions during the battle.
 
Snider shooter said:
A wonderful day out. As you found out they shoot high with issue sites. I made a new front band and site for acouple of rifles out of brass. My Snider and 71 Mauser. My plan was to make a new front site for the Martini but I ended up finding a 3 D printed one. Compliments of Okay Shooter. Haven’t shot it with the new site as I just put it on. Making a guess which site blade to use.
Click to expand...
I doubt that these rifles were ever set up to shoot to POA at any distance. The official musketry 3rd-class target (for the shortest ranges) through at least 1875 had a "bull" 2 feet tall. The idea was to use a 6-oclock hold and have the POI hit well up into the bull. For fine tuning you can take a "fine sight" which will lower the POI quite a bit. My own range Martini, with my current 80 grn loads, shoots to POA at 100m if I take the finest sight possible. For the targets I use, a full sight gets me up and into the scoring rings.

milsurpo
 
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Jay,
You don't have to be paranoid about the cleaning. Black power is not corrosive in itself, rather it is hydroscopic it binds with moisture in the air and it's the water from the air that sticks to the fowling that causes all the corrosion in the barrel. As long as you clean out the fowling you are good. The other corrosive compound was the mercury fulminate that was used in early percussion caps and primers. That stuff would eat away at metal spectacularly. Modern primers and percussion caps are mercury free so they are not corrosive. These days shooting antiques is way less damaging on the gun, as long as you take even moderate care of the gun.
 
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