Need a little help with what I've got here

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Ryan112929

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Recently I had a blast with my son restoring a No1MkIII* Enfield. My dad thought I might like to have a crack at fixing up my grand fathers old rifle. I'm told it's an 1890's Martini Metford. It's a .303 but I can't find any markings on it to tell me it's story. Any help would be awesome!




 
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search facebook pages lee enfield 303 pages have a lot of mill collectors on other sites they can point you in wright direction
 
It is a commercial version of the Martini Metford as used by militia. These were manufactured by many different companies in Great Britain and other countries.

Yours appears to have British proofs. We would need to see the any and every little stamped marking that you can find on its components. We might be able to determine the maker or possibles.

Originally, it would have full length wood almost up to the muzzle with a nose cap and barrel band. Grand Pa might have modified it for his hunting needs. Great rifle as it is, or, it could be restored back to its original military style configuration.
First step is to strip it and clean. I suggest nothing more than extra fine steel wool (0000 grade) and lots of gun oil used very lightly to remove any surface rust. Raw linseed oil and a cotton rag to clean off the wood work.

Antiques are a different ball game to the run of the mill milsurp. With an antique arm of this vintage, it is way too easy to hurt collectability and $ value by cleaning too much. At this stage, minimal is best, just enough to stop any active corrosion. Clean the loose grime but leave the patina.

Nothing there that could not be restored.
 
That's really great to know englishman_ca! All that I've done to it is what you've suggested. The metal underneath the gunk is actually in pretty decent shape. Any idea where I might find replacement wood for it to bring it back to original shape? I've looked around and it seems to be much harder to find than my Enfield was.
 
Original wood would be quite difficult to find, but not impossible. The internet is your friend, there are a few makers of reproduction wood, but nobody with much of a catalogue to browse. Probably a one off by a stock maker would be the way to go, but $$$.

There are repop fore ends around for the 577/450 MH, your barrel is of slimmer profile, the larger barrel channel would need to be addressed.

Your existing wood looks to be solid, it could be repaired. A front section could be spliced onto your cut down fore arm with the joint hidden underneath the barrel band. Probably the easiest and most viable route and if done right, undetectable unless you strip the rifle.

The metal nose cap and barrel band can be found with a bit of time and effort.
 
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I was just working on mine this afternoon after a long absence. Got it many years ago.The original barrel - as I discovered after running 2,847 patches down the barrel and using several gallons of Wipe Out - was shot out. I had Epps replace it with a barrel from an SMLE Mk.III. The first .303 Martinis were intended for the original black powder cartridge, with Metford rifling, but by 1895 they switched to Enfield rifling.

Mine doesn't have a complete forend; can't remember what happened to it or what it was like when I got it but it's shorter with no barrel band. I bubba'd it a bit after replacing the barrel by soft silver-soldering a #10 nut to the bottom of the SMLE rear sight and putting a bolt through the forend. I should look for a proper forend at some point. Another interesting alternative is to get a full Mk.III front wood set and make a "platypuss". Can't remember where I got this pic but it might have been from one of the Gunboards forums. An occasional poster here, John Sukey, from Arizona, did one like this.

View attachment 100039

Mine has a really heavy trigger pull- not uncommon for these, I'm told. They're a bear to work on as you have to disassemble, fiddle, reassemble, then disassemble... But they can be improved with sufficient time and skill (more than I possess), as I also have a Parker-Hale "Parkerrifled" rebuild on the same action c.1933, chambered for .22 Hornet and the trigger is excellent. I had it apart when I first got it and the guts have been very nicely polished. It's possible they put in a lighter striker spring as well.
 
That's pretty cool josquin. Thanks for sharing. I think I'll try and keep it as original as possible. I'd love to have the wood to do the forend but if I can't find it it's just a great part of my family history. A bear to work on is sure right. I had a cast iron b__ch of a time getting it back together the first time! Once all the gunk was cleaned up and the action oiled its really very smooth! The trigger pull is heavy though. Overall I've been very pleasantly surprised. The bore looks great and all the metal seems to be in remarkable condition concidering it's age.
 
Ryan112929 said:
...I had a cast iron b__ch of a time getting it back together the first time!...
Click to expand...

Amen to that. Presumably The Almighty Google-Net provided the trick to reassembly, which seems to require three hands to simultaneously pull the trigger, push the indicator lever forward, work the lever and push down on the back of the block until it gives up and seats itself. Then there's the "which is a screw and which is a split pin" question. I had to reacquaint myself with the reassembly procedure and even then, the last time today required an above-normal expenditure of swearing.

I haven't really shot mine much and have no idea what accuracy it's capable of, nor indeed what was expected of it when new. I have a bunch of Bullet Barn 200gr. hard lead bullets that might be fun to experiment with. If you do get yours shooting, you'll find brass lasts longer if you neck-size only. Also, keep its brass separate from what you shoot in any other .303 as the chamber dimensions of each are likely very different.

They're curiously addictive rifles and there are several forums on them. The one on Gunboards is pretty good. There are people there (like "The Double D" who know these rifles and their variants inside out. (I see that CGN's "englishman_ca" is there as well).

:)

Addendum: You'll be wanting to see the classic "Martini" movie: Zulu, and re-read the story of Rorke's Drift.
 
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Lol. I hear you. There was a YouTube video which helped. If I hadn't watched that I wouldn't have known the split pin/screw difference... I'll check out the Gunboards forum. Thanks for the tips! I have been on the fence when it comes to reloading but I'm getting to the point where I shoot enough that it's definitely worth it so that's coming too.
 
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