Martini Henry?

[King Johhny]

Ok guys, after my new gun gets here I'm on the hunt for another. Ever since seeing Zulu I've wanted a Martini Henry rifle. I don't plan on reloading for it or anything probably just blanks. The Francotte ones that IMA has look appealing to a cheap person like me, but I've heard mixed reviews. Almost all the reviews on the website are good, yet I ask in the Martini Henry collector group and they tell me they are trash. I imagine the truth lies somewhere in between, I just don't want to spend $500 on a rifle I'm not going to fire live rounds in. Any input?

EDIT: I just realized this should probably go in the Black Powder forum, admins feel free to move

[awalker1829]

They're being sold as historic pieces, not items guaranteed to be restorable to shooting condition. If you must have a shooter, pay the extra money and get the P-1885. Otherwise, don't be too surprised if you spend more money to get the parts and pay the smith.

[Darryl]

Don't fire the Francotte Martinis.

They don't have the metal that is reliable to take a load.

Any of the British made Martinis are "capable" of being fired. Should check them out very carefully first. I fire mine all the time. I don't fire Civil War or older firearms. It's not good for their value.

I fire Sniders, Martinis, Trapdoors all the time. I load my own ammo, so I can start off low and work up to it.

Dolk

[Cj556]

If I were you Id save money and get a real british MKIV from IMA. They occassionally have sales and the MKIVs tend to be in the best condition.

[Junk Yard Dog]

IMA's Nepalese rifles are just well used and poorly stored, they are relics of history and not appealing to some collectors who only want history that still shoots. Remember that Rorke's Drift- 22 Jan 1879 would have seen the use of the Mark I and II Martini Henry, these are the short lever rifles later updated to MK IV after the war was over. Sniders of all marks would have also been around as well as Mk I M-H carbines. M-H's in good condition will set you back $700-$1200, these are original British military issue rifles, not Nepalese or Afghanistan imports that are better used for display. Die sets for .577-450 M-H are available special order ( expensive even from Lee) Lee makes their classic cast single stage press, the only one I can think of that will accept the huge dies, bullet molds are available as is brass. You can shoot these rifles if the rifle is in good condition. The other option is the chamber converter Old Western Scrounger used to, and still might sell allowing .45 LC to be fired in these rifles.

[Darryl]

I use the Lee loader to load all my "large cal." rounds like Martini, Snider, and 45-70's. Like Jim said, works great on large cal.