Which Antique Rifle to Buy?

H

heft

Member
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
What's generally considered the superior single shot rifle. The Remington Rolling Block, or the Martini Henry? Assume that the Remington is chambered in 50/70 Gov't.
Thanks.
 
I want to say Martini Henrys have better resale value over time... but then I’m a Winchester guy so not super certain.
 
the Martini henry is the stronger action and easier to find but the .577-450 cartridge can get expensive first the brass has to be made or bought the last Jamison brass I seen was $15 a piece and the bullet is not standard .458" they like .468" to .470" diameter bullets with a 480gr weight you can get a mold or jet hunter sells them.


the original rolling block in .50-70 will not be an easy find trade ex had a bunch in 12.7x44 but they dried up
 
tacfoley said:
IF the M-H gets your interest, then you'll need to talk to Martyn at X-Ring Services in Spokane WA. He has everything to get you shooting, and HIS cases are not $15 apiece.
Click to expand...

Agreed. If you’re interested in a M-H or a Snider and you haven’t dealt with Martyn, you’re missing the boat.
 
My vote would be for a rolling block because you can clean them from the breach. 50-70 brass can be made from 348 Winchester shells. The 50-70s that I have had, had a long chamber and by far shot best with a Loverin style bullet because the full diameter portion was closer to the start of the rifling. Both government style and Loverin style were loaded as far out in the shell as was practical so it was not a case of just seat the bullet farther out

As noted by Antique Guy, the 450-577 bullet is much larger than a 45-70 slug although some people do shoot 45-70 shells out of them using a chamber insert. The insert has to be a very close fit to the chamber because otherwise the 45-70 shell which is longer than the thick portion of the insert, will flare out a bit when fired and be difficult to knock out of the insert

cheers mooncoon
 
OP, both of the rifles you describe are desirable, usually well made and if in VG to EXC condition, shootable as well as functional. With proper due diligence, they can be hand loaded to be surprisingly accurate.

You don't state whether you're interested in carbine lengths or musket lengths, both of which are available in the types you mentioned.

The Martini is a bit easier and quicker to use and it's a later design. With a bit of research, parts are mostly still available.

The Rolling blocks are of earlier design, a bit more awkward to load/unload and again, parts are available but more difficult to find, if you don't know where to start looking.

That being said, you may also want a specific contractor for either rifle, say US, Swedish, British and others.

What it will boil down to might be factory cartridge availability.

In the end, the rifle you should acquire should be the design that most suits YOUR sensibilities. It should appeal to you aesthetically as well as ergonomically. Those two priorities have always motivated my decisions when I've had to choose which one I will acquire.

The Remington Rolling Block is relatively easy to find brass/dies and even factory cast bullets for. The Martini, usually in 577-450 isn't difficult to procure components for but sometimes you will have a long wait for the orders to be filled.

Martinis are also available in 303 British and the original cartridges for them were loaded with BLACK POWDER. They come with both Metford and Enfield style rifling. They can be a hoot to load with heavy cast lead bullets and a compressed charge of 4f black powder.

Still, my advice is to purchase the type you like the look and feel of. Some folks don't appreciate the lines of the Remington Rolling Blocks and some don't appreciate Martinis.

RBs tend to generate more recoil, because of the severe drop of the comb on the butt. The Carl Gustov built RBs have a decent sized butt, which helps. Some of the others, not so much.
 
bearhunter said:
OP, both of the rifles you describe are desirable, usually well made and if in VG to EXC condition, shootable as well as functional. With proper due diligence, they can be hand loaded to be surprisingly accurate.

You don't state whether you're interested in carbine lengths or musket lengths, both of which are available in the types you mentioned.

The Martini is a bit easier and quicker to use and it's a later design. With a bit of research, parts are mostly still available.

The Rolling blocks are of earlier design, a bit more awkward to load/unload and again, parts are available but more difficult to find, if you don't know where to start looking.

That being said, you may also want a specific contractor for either rifle, say US, Swedish, British and others.

What it will boil down to might be factory cartridge availability.

In the end, the rifle you should acquire should be the design that most suits YOUR sensibilities. It should appeal to you aesthetically as well as ergonomically. Those two priorities have always motivated my decisions when I've had to choose which one I will acquire.

The Remington Rolling Block is relatively easy to find brass/dies and even factory cast bullets for. The Martini, usually in 577-450 isn't difficult to procure components for but sometimes you will have a long wait for the orders to be filled.

Martinis are also available in 303 British and the original cartridges for them were loaded with BLACK POWDER. They come with both Metford and Enfield style rifling. They can be a hoot to load with heavy cast lead bullets and a compressed charge of 4f black powder.

Still, my advice is to purchase the type you like the look and feel of. Some folks don't appreciate the lines of the Remington Rolling Blocks and some don't appreciate Martinis.

RBs tend to generate more recoil, because of the severe drop of the comb on the butt. The Carl Gustov built RBs have a decent sized butt, which helps. Some of the others, not so much.
Click to expand...

the Martini Enfield's in .303 can handle off the shelf ammo as well as smokeless reloads the martini action is probably one of the strongest military action I know it can take more than a Lee Enfield at least the British ones can can't speak for the Nepalese made ones and I wouldn't even think about shooting a Khyber pass gun
 
My limited experience with Nepalese muzzle loader has been that the bores are somewhat less than perfect. I don't mean pitted but rather not uniform in diameter from front to back

While I recommend and prefer rolling blocks, recognize that they come in a variety of calibers, only a few of which are currently commercial and in many cases you have to form the shells from either basic brass or from a commercial shell of a different caliber.

cheers mooncoon
 
As I have both and enjoy both, what do you plan on doing. The martini is nice for hunting and sport shooting but the rollers are accepted for BPCR competition. 50-70 brass is easy to get, 577-450 not as much. Rollers are in a lot more cartridges. Just sold one in 30-40 Krag. No wrong answer.
 
Springfield Trapdoor in .45-70 . Then you have no ammo. / Brass problem .Mine has a good barrel & can shoot 3" groups @ 200 yds.
with my 385 gr. lead bullet over 12 gr. of Unique . Collectable , shootable ,,,,,, what more do you want ???
 
I have a few rolling blocks, they are nice. The martini is more fun to load and shoot. The Mauser 71 (1871) in .43 Mauser is my favourite. They are very well made and i prefer bolt mechanism over the other styles. I like them so much i have three, haha, there usually only a few hundred so they wont break the bank. You have to reload though...
 
.....and don't forget about Highwalls n Hepburns n a few other less common ones. If you are shooting mostly off a bench at the range the rolling blocks and Hepburns are real nice because you don't have to move them to open and close the action as you do with the lever operated guns.
 
brettmt said:
I would consider them both to be really cool options

Personally, I would look for a rolling block for that cool factor but considering rolling blocks are much more rare, expect much higher prices to be attached with them and as mooncoon explained, it is very nice to be able to clean from the breach. The rolling block also has less moving parts in comparison to the martini. In general I favour the rolling block but that might be because I love 19th Century firearms.

The martini is a great option as well and I have never personally owned one but I have heard awesome things. Usually, there is often consignment options at gun stores that are in pretty nice shape and I consider the Henry to be more of a milsurp-style of availability and price.

In the end I say flip a coin and while it's mid-air, think about which side you want it to land on and then you know what you want
Click to expand...

the martini has maybe 1 more moving part than the rolling block but its a dead simple design and not much to go wrong
 
Buy them both and you won't be disappointed, that's been my motto of late when trying to figure out which antiques rifles to buy.
I just purchased a sav model 1920 and model 1914 a little while back, they were in the same rack and I just couldn't walk out of the store without them even though I new the wife would notice the bank account was a little low...lol😅
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom