Martini Henry....? or maybe Enfield....?

[Dorian Gray]

alright guys i've got a question that i can't seem to find the answer to. i've googled and googled but i havn't learned very much from it. so tonight i was over at a friends house and he tells me he's got this gun but he doens't know what it is. so me being rather curious i got him to go get it. as soon as he pulled it out i thought it was a martini henry because of the way it looks. but now that i've checked it out online i'm pretty sure it's a martini enfield but i don't know. there are a few markings on the gun and they are as follows:

1. on the barrel it says .303 nitro proofed (self explanitory) and there is a crown with a NP underneath it. i take that to mean nitro proofed again.

2. there are a few A's stamped into the buttstock. 2 in fact. and there is also another A stamped into the reciever. these marking as a mistery to me.

i'd love to hear from anyone who has any info on this gun. my friends grandfather who is now deceased found the gun stuck in the dirt in a field he was walking through 50+ years ago. the front part of the stock is missing. such a shame, i know. anyway let me know whatever you can please. thanks

 

[bdft]

It sounds like a Martini Enfield. If its been nitroproofed I doubt that its a Martini Metford. They were the BP verson of the 303 Martini. Martini Henry's were reworked to 303 for use by colonial troops when the #1 Mk 1 became the British front line battle rifle. Can't let the wogs have more than one shot at a time, can we.

 

[john@]

Did you see the makers mark / Sovereign's Cypher on the receiver? That should be easy to identify it, compare to the markings that are indexed on http://martinihenry.com/metalmarkings.htm