Martini Henry stock marking information.

[Jon9021]

Hello Gentlemen,

I have acquired another Mark IV MH (my fourth now!).

Would anyone have any information on the stock markings?

Even the guys with the Martini Henry Society, and several other groups I belong too, are having trouble with this one.

The only suggestion so far is Indian Army?

Thank you!

 

[milsurpo]

Jon9021: Very good chance it was in India. The original Indian regimental markings were probably on the right side of the butt and usually accompanied one or more Indian arsenal stamps. Many of these ended up being used by various Indian military police forces along the Northwest Frontier. Others were handed over to "Princely States" like Nepal which usually is indicated by a "N S" stamp beside the rear sight along with an abbreviation of the name of the state. There appears to be sanded earlier stamps on the left butt which reflecting the amount of usage these rifles saw.

milsurpo

 

[Jon9021]

Jon9021: Very good chance it was in India. The original Indian regimental markings were probably on the right side of the butt and usually accompanied one or more Indian arsenal stamps. Many of these ended up being used by various Indian military police forces along the Northwest Frontier. Others were handed over to "Princely States" like Nepal which usually is indicated by a "N S" stamp beside the rear sight along with an abbreviation of the name of the state. There appears to be sanded earlier stamps on the left butt which reflecting the amount of usage these rifles saw.

milsurpo

Thank you!

 

[john94]

Nepal was never a “princely state” though…. Anyhow, if a martini henry is very late production (around or after the adoption year of the Lee Medford, 1888) it most likely was made for the Indian Army. The British liked to keep the Indians one technological generation behind, so the Indians were issued Sniders during the Martini era and upgraded to Martinis in the Metford era.

 

[milsurpo]

Nepal was never a “princely state” though…. .

They may have thought they weren't.........Issue of the Martini to Indian regiments began in 1888 but wasn't complete for another five years. According to material from the Indian Archives, the Indian Government wanted to begin arming the Indian regiments with the Martini as early as 1875 but there really weren't enough to go around, due to the delays in production while trying to perfect the Martini (adopted in 1871 but didn't see its first action until 1875). Part of the value of the Snider was simply that it worked and was available to arm all the colonial troops around the world when nothing else was available.

milsurpo