Enfield Martini Handgun
- Thread starter Norm99
- Start date
This is one of the so called Khyber Pass guns made by hand in the Pakistan Afghan border region. International sold these and .303" Martini Enfields about 40 years ago. The metallurgy is doubtful and they should not be fired. Have seen them advertised as "British officer's howdah pistol".
Yes, they are Khyber Pass guns, and there are certainly questions about quality, however I have owned one and fired it multiple times with reloads, no problem. I would check the bore diameter, because some were like .45 based on the .303 brass, so a loaded .303 round would chamber, but certainly not work. Anyway, it isn't worth much, maybe $200 or so.
Here is me shooting mine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfKEx3kGn5E
Here is me shooting mine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfKEx3kGn5E
Last edited:
- Location
- St. Paul AB
$200 is way more than generous, as you can often find Enfield revolvers for as low as $250-$300. It's a novelty item at best, and a potentially dangerous one that likely won't have antique status as there is no proof of date of mfg (and in all likelihood it's not that old anyway)thus being restricted if there is even an FRT for the thing, (presuming it's not registered now too) and in all honesty it's a pretty plain and uninteresting one at that. I would be shocked if you would get $100 for it. Sorry.
oh and if I was going to consider shooting one, I'd be thinking 100gn bullet over 9 grains of unique.
oh and if I was going to consider shooting one, I'd be thinking 100gn bullet over 9 grains of unique.
- Location
- Pile of Bones, SK
Braver man than me.
- Location
- St. Paul AB
What mess? They looked like they had things under control. Maybe a little out of SAAMI specs, but ####, they're hand building those things.
I see them as truly free people. It's us who are soft as marshmallows.
One culture has no business impressing it's will upon another. That's been shown as bad news time and time again. Go re-watch "Apocalypse Now" (I see you're a fan of it too) and think about what Kilgore's attack on Vin Drin Drop, or Lop... "Damn Gook names all sound the same"
really would have accomplished other than some passable surfing. And that was the point of the show. It wasn't a movie about Vietnam, it was Vietnam. Take a look at who the real bad guys are.And do you really think the Pakistani government would appreciate General Patton breaching their borders? I'm guessing not.
- Location
- St. Paul AB
I know! What a deal!
"Made as China" Still cracks me up.
"Made as China" Still cracks me up.
What mess? They looked like they had things under control. Maybe a little out of SAAMI specs, but s**t, they're hand building those things.
I see them as truly free people. It's us who are soft as marshmallows.
One culture has no business impressing it's will upon another. That's been shown as bad news time and time again. Go re-watch "Apocalypse Now" (I see you're a fan of it too) and think about what Kilgore's attack on Vin Drin Drop, or Lop... "Damn Gook names all sound the same"
And do you really think the Pakistani government would appreciate General Patton breaching their borders? I'm guessing not.
I did not mean to incite a political discussion. I said these people were hard as f**k, as in tough as nails and very resourceful, and that politicians running wars is detrimental to military success. As far as right or wrong, i do not have a public opinion on this matter that im aware of. The Pakistani govt is corrupt and more a part of the problem than the solution. It's hard to do your job with one hand tied behind your back.
Anyways......
I have a Khyber Martini rifle in 303Brit. There are pics of it on Milsurp Knowledge. Other than some strange stamps and engraving, it would be impossible to tell it from a British produced rifle.
It's accurate, extracts reliably, well finished, smooth functioning and the parts are all well finished. Headspace is perfect. The parts also interchange with other Martini action parts quite well. The fit and finish of the stock is as good as anything else I've seen.
As mentioned here, their strength may be questionable. That may be and the word is may. There are millions of these firearms out there and the vast majority of them are still in everyday use. If the videos are correct and they are making 1000+ rifles a day, that works out to at least 3.5 million/year. I figure their methods may be outdated but their skills certainly aren't.
There is no possible way that many firearms can be absorbed into the Pakistani area and surrounding areas population. I know there are a lot of people there but it just isn't possible. On top of that, think of the millions upon millions of rounds of ammunition needed just to proof the arms, let alone keeping the ones they've made well fed. They just aren't geared up to do it. They have to make their firearms to a high enough standard to accept any ammunition they may encounter. If they didn't, there just wouldn't be a market for their weapons.
That video is at least 5+ years old. The prices have probably gone up a bit by now.
The average hillman makes less than $30/mo. Ammunition there is quite expensive. In some cases, even higher than here. An AK47 with a few spare mags and enough ammunition to fill them is more than a years wages for many. If the firearms were falling apart or detonating on them, they sure as hell wouldn't be buying them.
A lot of them must be being built for export only. Who is buying them? Governments? Private brokers? I can remember some Mexican muzzle loaders that were imported 50 years ago as wall hangers. They weren't wonderful and they wouldn't be acceptable today but they were under $10 and were functional. We bought them and played with them for years. We even scraped together powder and ball and fired them. An old friend, long gone, Tom Swift from the Hydro Dam on the Shuswap River, north of Lumby BC, took mine and loaded it with powder, wad, shot, compression paper and tied the rifle to a tire. We fired it several times with pretty extreme loads. Nothing exciting happened other than it stood up to everything we did to it. It was a smoothbore and we couldn't get any accuracy out of it so we used it for a grouse gun. We later found out that the things were made out of ordinary mild steel.
Back to the Khyber rifles. I will continue to shoot mine, my choice for me/not you. I check the fired cases for stretch and expansion rings after each firing. Lots of rounds down the tube and even a few deer taken with it. I've magnafluxed it a couple of times and it looks fine. If it's going to let go, it will do it all at once, without any warning. That's why I won't let anyone else shoot it.
I like it, I'm proud to own such a fine example of workmanship. My hat is off to the fellow that made it. In North America, with modern tools/training, he would make a fortune and be a famous maker of rifles with lots of respect showered on him.
It's accurate, extracts reliably, well finished, smooth functioning and the parts are all well finished. Headspace is perfect. The parts also interchange with other Martini action parts quite well. The fit and finish of the stock is as good as anything else I've seen.
As mentioned here, their strength may be questionable. That may be and the word is may. There are millions of these firearms out there and the vast majority of them are still in everyday use. If the videos are correct and they are making 1000+ rifles a day, that works out to at least 3.5 million/year. I figure their methods may be outdated but their skills certainly aren't.
There is no possible way that many firearms can be absorbed into the Pakistani area and surrounding areas population. I know there are a lot of people there but it just isn't possible. On top of that, think of the millions upon millions of rounds of ammunition needed just to proof the arms, let alone keeping the ones they've made well fed. They just aren't geared up to do it. They have to make their firearms to a high enough standard to accept any ammunition they may encounter. If they didn't, there just wouldn't be a market for their weapons.
That video is at least 5+ years old. The prices have probably gone up a bit by now.
The average hillman makes less than $30/mo. Ammunition there is quite expensive. In some cases, even higher than here. An AK47 with a few spare mags and enough ammunition to fill them is more than a years wages for many. If the firearms were falling apart or detonating on them, they sure as hell wouldn't be buying them.
A lot of them must be being built for export only. Who is buying them? Governments? Private brokers? I can remember some Mexican muzzle loaders that were imported 50 years ago as wall hangers. They weren't wonderful and they wouldn't be acceptable today but they were under $10 and were functional. We bought them and played with them for years. We even scraped together powder and ball and fired them. An old friend, long gone, Tom Swift from the Hydro Dam on the Shuswap River, north of Lumby BC, took mine and loaded it with powder, wad, shot, compression paper and tied the rifle to a tire. We fired it several times with pretty extreme loads. Nothing exciting happened other than it stood up to everything we did to it. It was a smoothbore and we couldn't get any accuracy out of it so we used it for a grouse gun. We later found out that the things were made out of ordinary mild steel.
Back to the Khyber rifles. I will continue to shoot mine, my choice for me/not you. I check the fired cases for stretch and expansion rings after each firing. Lots of rounds down the tube and even a few deer taken with it. I've magnafluxed it a couple of times and it looks fine. If it's going to let go, it will do it all at once, without any warning. That's why I won't let anyone else shoot it.
I like it, I'm proud to own such a fine example of workmanship. My hat is off to the fellow that made it. In North America, with modern tools/training, he would make a fortune and be a famous maker of rifles with lots of respect showered on him.
