Martini-Henry Artillery Carbine Mk.I

[DuncaninFrance]

A friend of a friend asked if I could help him ID a martini-Henry he bought it an auction in the UK for £445 last year. I went round and discovered a very nice, tight Artillery Carbine, Mk.I. dated 1888.
Having told him what he had he asked if I know where he could get some rounds for it. After telling him how many hens teeth he would have to find before he came up with some original ammo I offered to make him up some dummy rounds. This I did and delivered them to him. He thanked me, gave the bayonet mentioned in my Ruby Wedding post and then said he was thinking of selling it and concentrating on collecting Derringers.......
- would I be interesting in the Martini at the price he paid for it. Stupid question

I went home and decided to try and sell my Pedersoli Copy P58 to fund the Martini so advertised it last night......Sold this afternoon at the asking price to a guy in Poland

Looks like my collection is moving away from muzzle loaders and into cartridge rifles.

Images to come soon.....................

[DuncaninFrance]

Well I picked it up yesterday.

When I initially saw it I thought it was an Artillery carbine because of the sling swivel on the butt. Closer examination however confirmed it as a Mk.I Carbine dated 1887.

It has had some rough use in it's life but the bore is great and when shaken nothing rattles!













Seems as though the load was reduced from the rifle cartridge of a 480 grns bullet and 85 grns of powder and was "pleasant to shoot"!
A 410 grain bullet with 70 grains of powder.

[DuncaninFrance]

Endoscope bore images, looks good................

[Niner]

Did you look on the reverse side of that disk on the butt on the offhand chance it had been reversed?

[DuncaninFrance]

The edge is slightly chamfered and the screw hole is countersunk so it will only fit one way. They built rifles in those days

[Niner]

I was thinking it was a unit disk and maybe instead of a blank on both sides replacement that maybe the disk was more or less original and the other side would show a military unit the rifle was used by once upon a time.

[DuncaninFrance]

It is possibly original as the hole it sits in shows clean wood under it and the brass has little verdigris because of the tight fit.

[Miller Tyme]

Don't know if they can ship ammo across the pond Duncan, but these people seem to have it from time to time, but it is pricey.

https://www.libertytreecollectors.com/p ... ategory=12

[DuncaninFrance]

Thank's Walt. That is outrageous, even for collector ammo.
Luckily I make my own from Magtech Brass and cast bullets

[DuncaninFrance]

As it has obviously had a leather rear sight cover fitted in the past ( screw holes below the sight ) I thought I might try and make one.
I have some dimensions from a much earlier post on here which should allow me to create one .



Raw material has arrived.

Need to cut out a paper pattern now.....................

[englishman_ca]

This is a commercially rebuilt and scrubbed Mk.I IC1 that I restored.
Although the receiver was scrubbed, there were enough factory inspector and other marks on the rest of the gun to determine that it was manufactured at RSAF Enfield circa 1888.

It shoots like a charm.

[DuncaninFrance]

Nice piece...........
Not sure when I will get to load up some rounds for mine it but very soon I hope........

[ArchFluffy]

NICE!

I love the look of the stock. That's a great find

410 grain bullet. You could throw it and really hurt someone. Ha ha.

-ArchFluffy

[DuncaninFrance]

Range day tomorrow................



Carbine Food!!

Unless the world ends I am going to the range tomorrow with my 1887 Mk.I Carbine and hope to hit something.

25 rounds, 70 grains of fffg 482 grain cast bullet



Previous fillers for cases have included cotton wool, paper, maize flower and kapok but backer rod is the best as far as I am concerned. You buy it in an OD nearest to your need and then just cut it to length

[Aughnanure]

Have you tried lint from the clothes dryer?

Environmentally friendly recycling of a waste product

[DuncaninFrance]

Eoin---------------- backer rod WORKS and is easy to use plus it's consistent. Navel fluff is not

Anyway, when I got to the range and tried to shoot the Carbine all it did was click.....broken firing pin! That's about £45 for a replacement

[DuncaninFrance]

New pin ordered - £44 delivered.

It is confirmed that this was the way that the guns were deactivated in the dim past. Pin was cut off and the face was ground. At the same time, some rifles had a cut made in the top of the barrel, just in front of the knox form. Luckily mine hasn't

[DuncaninFrance]

Removed the forend wood to check the barrel had not been cut as had the firing pin.





No problem and well marked. Minimal amount of surface rust.

[DuncaninFrance]

And finally the fore end wood - in very good condition ...

[DuncaninFrance]

Pin arrived this morning

[Niner]

That was fast....considering your other gun related orders. The pin piece end looks narrow and perhaps shaped already to correct dimensions too. How does it fit?

[DuncaninFrance]

Protrudes OK from the block but I am not going to fit it until Monday because we are going round to my pals for drinks tomorrow and I wanted to show him the difference,

[DuncaninFrance]

Fitted it yesterday and put a couple of empty cases with new primers through it to make sure it works - it does...........

[Niner]

Are you going to strap it to a tree and put a long leash on the trigger and test fire it from a distance with real ammo to see what happens? Or are you confident enough to put that stock right up to your cheek and pull the trigger with your finger?

[DuncaninFrance]

Just load up and pull the trigger, it is, after all British

[Niner Delta]

"it is, after all British".......... so does that mean it leaks oil.......

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[DuncaninFrance]

No Vern, not a BSA/Triumph/Norton

[Niner Delta]

Or MGB or Triumph TR4A-IRS.........

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[Niner]

But they were good looking toy convertibles, I'd give them that.

[Niner Delta]

Yes, they were fun, although I think my wife drove them more than I did.
I remember that I sat so low that I was at eye level with the lug nuts on a semi.....
Kind of a odd feeling.. .. when doing 75mph on the freeway.

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