SNIDER and MARTINI HENRY AMMUNITION

Incurable Collectoer said:
Martyn from X-ring services ships to Canada becase he uses 24 gauge Magtech to make his cases they can be shipped as shotgun brass and there is no problem in getting them up here. I use Magtech cases in my Martini and they hold up very well.
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I have been in touch with Martyn and will be buying his dies and brass. Looking at an RCBS rock chucker single stage to get me started.
Also been in touch with Rob from "Britishmuzzleloader". Looks like I'm in good hands so far. For bullets since I won't be casting (just yet), I was told Jet bullets in AB.
 
katazone said:
Hi,

I ended up buying a 45LC adapter just to have it and possibly give it a go. And although it fits, I cannot close the action. So I am selling it.
Thought I's provide the link for anyone who might be interested.

See below:

https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/2101346-Selling-577-450-Martin-Henry-to-45-Colt-Caliber-Adapter
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Instead of selling it, run it into a sizer die, as far as it will go. I had to do that with mine.

I also had to thin the rim a bit, by about .015in.

One other thing I have to do with mine is lube the cartridge case, or they can be difficult to push out.

Mine isn't polished, inside or outside. No problem with extraction though.
 
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Thank you for the tip. I will look into it.
You don't think the fact that it's stainless will be an issue in the sizer?
Seems that the issue is the neck. It's ever so slightly off.
Pretty sure, just thinning the rim ever so slightly will do the trick.
 
katazone said:
Thank you for the tip. I will look into it.
You don't think the fact that it's stainless will be an issue in the sizer?
Seems that the issue is the neck. It's ever so slightly off.
Pretty sure, just thinning the rim ever so slightly will do the trick.
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Mine isn't stainless and I purposely used a lot of lube on it when running through the die.

Sounds like your Martini has a small chamber. Do a chamber cast and measure, then get the neck/body turned down to match.

My rifle had issues loading resized 577/450 brass. The shoulder was pushed forward during firing and I was trying to go easy on the brass during resizing and only sizing the neck. The shoulder needed to be bumped back, to get the case walls to get small enough diameter to easily chamber the hand load.

The Bertram brass I have springs back after resizing and tends to be tight, so it's full length resizing if I don't want to give the case a bit of a shove to get it into the chamber.

You may have to trim both the rim and the neck diameter.

Those are nice looking inserts, nicely polished. Should work really well, once you sort our the chambering issues. But, that's half the fun of shooting these old rifles, which were most hand fitted.
 
bearhunter said:
Mine isn't stainless and I purposely used a lot of lube on it when running through the die.

Sounds like your Martini has a small chamber. Do a chamber cast and measure, then get the neck/body turned down to match.

My rifle had issues loading resized 577/450 brass. The shoulder was pushed forward during firing and I was trying to go easy on the brass during resizing and only sizing the neck. The shoulder needed to be bumped back, to get the case walls to get small enough diameter to easily chamber the hand load.

The Bertram brass I have springs back after resizing and tends to be tight, so it's full length resizing if I don't want to give the case a bit of a shove to get it into the chamber.

You may have to trim both the rim and the neck diameter.

Those are nice looking inserts, nicely polished. Should work really well, once you sort our the chambering issues. But, that's half the fun of shooting these old rifles, which were most hand fitted.
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Thank you.
 
So with that blued steel 7/8" insert removed the press is still threaded for 1 1/4" dies? I also have an older Rockchucker. Will be given a Snider carbine perhaps this summer from the farm house.Dominion of Canada marked I think?
 
Just be aware that the formed Snider brass X-Ring sells are sized to hold a bullet in the .575" range. With the Lee dies the mouth is flared a bit and the lubed bullet squeezed in (pretty tight fit). After firing you can then use .60's with no loading equipment required. Personally I now make Snider ammo with .575 minies and with .60's as each offers some advantages. The .60's are definitely the way to go for best accuracy BUT getting adequate lube on them is challenging and the best shots tend to dip the bullet nose in some gunk called "udder creme" before firing. The minies have the advantage of being much more historically meaningful and, for me at least, seem to work well with only the lube carried in the grooves. Using pure beeswax I find that fouling doesn't change from the third shot to the fourtieth. In it's time the Snider was noted for it's ability to fire hundreds of rounds of Boxer ammo with no deterioration in accuracy. Plus, the accuracy obtained with sub-bore minies in the old days was as good as the current experts are getting with .60's squeezed hard into the rifling.

milsurpo
 
tacfoley said:
I have a short rifle from the Québec Garrison Artillery that has NO DC in diamond, having been acquired and issued before Confederation. My other Snider, bought from a very kind gentleman here a few years back, makes up for it by having TWO - one on each side of the stock.

TBH, if you read back through the archives here, you don't really need those costy Snider dies - even the cheap Lee versions are not exactly give-aways.

What you DO need is the correct size bullets from Martyn at X-Ring services in Spokane WA, a few of his ready-trimmed cases, some 20g wads. Later, when you've found a good load - something around 60gr of 2 or even 1 FG - you can invest in one of his bullet moulds for the type of bullet you've found shoots best in YOUR Snider. Many, MANY people here shoot their Sniders with great effect, but THE man to watch on Youtube is Rob over in BC - his articles on shooting the Snider are not only stupendously informative, they are great fun to watch, too.

Pukka Bundook is also THE man, especially on another forum that is for the most part muzzleloading, but his knowledge - added to that of Rob - heavily outweighs mine by a factor of about ten-thousand to one.
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+1 (What tacfoley. You can get your bullets, both for fireforming and post fireform for the Snider, from Terry at Jet Bullets here in Canada. Check him out. Lube from Dragon Lube also in Canada if you don't want to make your own. I got wads from Rusty Woods. Brass from Martyn at X-Ring.
 
Mr Katazone - I live in UK, not Canada, so I hope that I might be excused for not knowing about Canadian suppliers. Brass I have running out of my ears, bullets of the suitable shape, as used in my two-band before I got it from the previous owner, I can have for the asking - I was trying to help a fellow shooter with what little knowledge I have.

If I lived in Canada full-time, then you can be sure that I would favour Canadian dealers and their products over all others.
 
tacfoley said:
Mr Katazone - I live in UK, not Canada, so I hope that I might be excused for not knowing about Canadian suppliers. Brass I have running out of my ears, bullets of the suitable shape, as used in my two-band before I got it from the previous owner, I can have for the asking - I was trying to help a fellow shooter with what little knowledge I have.

If I lived in Canada full-time, then you can be sure that I would favour Canadian dealers and their products over all others.
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My bad, I failed to see UK, glanced and saw Ontario. I assumed that since you mentioned Martyn at X-ring that you were on this side of the pond. I was simply trying to help as well. Small misunderstanding. And I did give you the +1 (thumbs up)
 
Are the snider NDFS brass cases any good I recently found ten never fired cases amoungst my muzzleloading gear.I remember at one time planning to get a snider and it never happened so I guess that's why I bought them
 
Hey, Mr Katazone - thanks for the advice anyhow!! When all this carp is behind us we'll be going home to sunny SE Ontario, never fear, and I'll be able, I hope, to make good on your excellent advice!

Martyn's merchandise is world-renowned, of course, and lots of Snideristi over here shoot bullets using his moulds. I hope to do the same.

In a week or so I'll be authorised to put one of my Sniders on my FAC, which comes into force having been renewed. In fact, I've gotten authority for TWO more .577cal rifles and a .451cal rifle. Whoopee!!
 
chasseur said:
Are the snider NDFS brass cases any good I recently found ten never fired cases amoungst my muzzleloading gear.I remember at one time planning to get a snider and it never happened so I guess that's why I bought them
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Well, I shot a few of mine for about ten years, taking care never to be tempted to do any kind of resizing, as they seem to be very fragile around the rim and crack easily. I also dropped them directly into a plastic mild container part-filled with a mix of washing up liquid and vinegar as they came out of the breech. It sure did smell strange, but the usual discolouration you get from shooting BP in brass certainly seemed to have been reduced a great deal. Others here with more experience than I will doubtless have a better plan.

NFDS are now one with Tyre and Nineveh, but their cases do come up from time to time. Seems they priced themselves out of business as their cases appear to have been made by turning down solid bar to the case dimensions - doubtless the swarf outweighed the finished case by about five to one. I have a load of them, unfired, and they are like to stay that way until my Bertram cases die the death.
 
tacfoley said:
Hey, Mr Katazone - thanks for the advice anyhow!! When all this carp is behind us we'll be going home to sunny SE Ontario, never fear, and I'll be able, I hope, to make good on your excellent advice!

Martyn's merchandise is world-renowned, of course, and lots of Snideristi over here shoot bullets using his moulds. I hope to do the same.

In a week or so I'll be authorised to put one of my Sniders on my FAC, which comes into force having been renewed. In fact, I've gotten authority for TWO more .577cal rifles and a .451cal rifle. Whoopee!!
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Let's hope for a better year indeed.
Kevin
 
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