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*** Does anyone have a "foggy a&$ clue " about this Old blister. Martini large frame action. Raised rib. Martini Henry on one side of receiver , and Field of London on the other side. Raised solid rib with 1-fixed 4 leaf 1-tangent express sight. (wow) Engraved lightly and tastefully. I cannot find any! Cal markings anywhere. Even under fore end. Also I can find very little on the rifle as far as value or history. Any imput would be appreciated. Thx ***
 
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Greener style action (with safety lever) sporting rifle, probably Alex Henry patent rifling in the barrel.
Caliber could be a number of possibles, but very likely 577/450MH, the old British military BP cartridge.
Very nice piece per the photos.
 
I have a reference to Alfred Field & Co, 1890 -1900, a custom gun maker in London. You can probably make a good guess at the caliber by measuring the bore at the muzzle and the base diameter at the breach. The 450 - 577 has a massive base diameter (I'm too lazy to look it up :>) ). You can get a fairly accurate cast of the shell by plugging the front of the chamber (an inch or so into the bore) with a piece of cloth and run a piece of cottom string more or less centered in the chamber. Fill the chamber with melted parafin and when cold, knock it out. The string is to keep the pieces together if the wax cracks. I think locally it would be in the range of $600 - $700 if the bore is good. I have started shooting mine with a chamber insert and 45-70 shells shortened to about 1/2 their length and soft lead slugs which upset into the bore when shot, and smokeless powder

cheers mooncoon
 
if a penny will fit in the rim recess its most likely in one of the .577 or .577 based cartridges it is a greener action so it is a little longer then the normal martini action
 
Google is your friend... Always wanted to say that to you. ;) Thank you for posting pictures.


Here is something similar:
field.jpg


img32.jpg


From this thread:
http://britishmilitariaforums.yuku.com/topic/384/Sidelever-conversion#.U1orWlVdX7E

There is a good discussion about Field and others here: http://www.assra.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?action=print;num=1270411530

Very nice rifle. I am sure that it is a quality piece.
 
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Send it to me, I have Cerrosafe for the chamber cast! In a year or two, I'll send it back with a proper chamber cast (and fireformed brass, load data, shooting impressions, etc.)! :rolleyes: For similar guns, check micksguns.com, in the antique breech loading long guns section.
 
INFO?? Martini Henry" FIELD LONDON Sporting Rifle

Thx guys. Appreciate the imput . Yeah I can send it away to u for a few years np. Lol. FYI havn't done the "gheeewgle is ur bud" for a year or more. Google hasn't been my bud I damn near went nutz trying to find info? Kinda limited as far as I have found . $6-700? Have to ponder on that one. Cheers thx. Ghh
 
It is certainly worth a $1000 or more, sadly (since I want to buy it). Mick's guns no longer has much like yours, the closest is a Charles Osborne, but it is straight gripped and lack all the rear sight bling yours has. My experience says yours will be still in 577/450 MH. Another somewhat popular chambering I've seen is 577/500, but they always seemed to be marked as such. The lack of a chamber marking tells me it is likely the standard chambering.
 
Put the photos and questions up on the British Militaria Forums 'Martini-Henry' and/or 'Sporting Rifles' section(s).
You will likely get all kinds of good informative responses there.
 
INFO?? Martini Henry" FIELD LONDON Sporting Rifle

Thx guys . Had it out at a show today no price. Certainly caught the eyes of decearning collectors. Consensus is 577/450 in the absence of specific marks. One fellow suggested the " Field of London" on the receiver and on the raised rib has nothing to do with them building the gun?? It only indicates they distributed or sold it. I find that strange , however. Something about Fields pat. I think it looks like they cobbled it up IMHO??
 
No, I don't think they cobbled it up. Think of Century Arms - they sometimes bought large quantities of surplus military guns, sporterized them to some degree or another, marked them with their name, and sold them. The gun says Martini patent, so that is the 'makers' name. Field of London would have purchased actions from the maker and then installed their own bits, such as barrel with rib, stock with pistol grip, changed the lever, etc. They can then stamp their name on the other side and sell them. That was the standard game in England at the time, since very few were successfully designing their own new actions. It was always easier to use a military action and re-make it. BSA and Parker Hale did that for decades!
 
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INFO?? Martini Henry" FIELD LONDON Sporting Rifle

Absolutely. That is my take on the gun. Martini action sure dah! No question. But dude was saying " field" did nothing else but just put their name on it. Ok , so, who did the custom work? Martini? Don't think so. Field did, as u say! Thx
 
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Absolutely. That is my take on the gun. Martini action sure dah! No question. But dude was saying " field" did nothing else but just put their name on it. Ok , so, who did the custom work? Martini? Don't think so. Field did, as u say! Thx
Click to expand...

I think that guns were often supplied in the white to other firms to finish as they chose. Since Greener was one of the biggest gun making firms in England around 1900, they could easily have made the gun in the white, as could a number of smaller shops. Field would then have done the finishing and the stocking of the gun and put their own name on it. As an example I have a Webley Pryse revolver which is stamped Wilkinson. I strongly suspect the basic gun was made in the white by Webley and Sons and sold to Wilkinson for finishing and sale under their name

cheers mooncoon
 
Guess I'm down to a chamber cast. NO way around it. It is not, 577-450. Shell End won't even come close to going in. 577 base too big. 45-70 chambers but I am sure it is wiggly in chamber. 50-110 express, no go :( 45 cal sst from my muzzle loader will not seat in muzzle. Had some old lead bullets around. .45 cast might go. .44 is loose. muzzle ( inaccurate i am sure ) measured just under .44. One of these lazy days I will melt some wax I guess. Thx GHH
 
INFO?? Martini Henry" FIELD LONDON Sporting Rifle

Well I finally got up the motivation to pour wax into the beast. As poor a casting as ever could be done :( I am leaning towards 500/450 n2 musket? About the closest I can figure. I have an old! Cartridges of the world book, the pics are actual size , and allowing for some extra length which I am sure started into the bore they are about bookends. Even the slight bottle neck location. Beyond that? Throw one in, sandbag her and remote fire lol. See what remains.
 
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