Another rifle from the museum
The author with a Martini-Henry rifle designed for sport shooting. This is not a military model (there was already an article about this military model rifle on VO), so it is very elegantly finished and has some purely sporting improvements. Nevertheless, this rifle did not seem light to him at all, and holding it in his hands for a long time and at the same time aiming with it was quite difficult! Penza Regional Museum of Local Lore. Author's photo
“But seeing that we, terrible people, not afraid of his patented English Peabody and Martini rifle, kept climbing and climbing forward, he was horrified. When he wanted to leave, some little man, whom he could have killed with one blow of his black fist, jumped up and stuck a bayonet in his heart.”
"Four days". V. M. Garshin
"Four days". V. M. Garshin
stories about weapons. This rifle first entered service with the British Army in 1871, replacing the redesigned Snyder-Enfield system. After this, the Martini-Henry rifle was used throughout almost the entire territory of the British Empire for 47 long years. The rifle was a “hodgepodge”: the bolt was designed by Henry O. Peabody and improved by the Swiss gunsmith Friedrich von Martini, while the barrel with polygonal rifling of the original shape was developed by the Scotsman Alexander Henry. As happened very often, a special commission was created that tested a dozen and a half different rifles, first selected the barrel, and only then, having tested nine bolts along with it, settled on the design of Frederic Martini.
Martini-Henry rifle, model 1871, from the collection of the Army Museum in Stockholm
The original rifle fired a 0,452-inch soft lead hollow-base bullet with a conical head that was wrapped in paper tape, increasing its diameter from 0,460 to 0,469 inches. The powder charge was inside a cartridge made of thin brass foil with a rim, but later the cartridge case began to be made seamless. The cartridge case was lined with paper inside to prevent a chemical reaction between the black powder and the brass.
These are the bullets this rifle fired...
And these are cartridges for Martini-Henry rifles of different years of production. Photography by Jim Miles
Known today as the .577/450, this Boxer-design cartridge was loaded with 85 grains (5,51 g) of Curtis and Harvey No. 6 coarse black powder, known for its heavy recoil. The rifle was 49 inches (1245 mm) long, with a steel barrel measuring 33,22 inches (844 mm) long. Henry's patented rifling was heptagonal with seven grooves and one turn per 22 inches (559 mm). The rifle weighed 8 lb 7 oz (3,83 kg). There were two types of bayonets: dagger bayonets for non-commissioned officers and needle bayonets for privates. There was also a bayonet with a double row of teeth on the butt, which could be used as a saw. But it was not produced in large quantities and was not standard.
Trunk section
The Mk II Martini-Henry rifle was the most popular modification of the British army, adopted for service in 1877 and most actively used during the Zulu Wars. The sight's firing range was 1800 yards (1600 m). At 1200 yards (1100 m), 20 shots averaged 27 inches (69 cm) off target.
The rifle, which is in the collection of the Penza Regional Museum of Local Lore, is not a military weapon. This is a sporting example, as it has a beautiful “tiger” finish on the butt and stock, not found on military rifles. The fact that this is not a combat rifle, but a sports rifle for marksmanship, is indicated by the special design of the rear part of the butt and the absence of a firing pin cocking indicator on the right side of the bolt box. Penza Regional Museum of Local Lore. Author's photo
In 1879, the Mk III rifle, unified with the Martini-Henry carbine, was adopted for service. In the late 1870s, the British military decided to standardize ammunition for rifles and machine guns (both were .45 caliber, but were chambered for different cartridges), while the .577/.450 cartridges for the existing box magazines turned out to be inconvenient for machine guns.
Close-up of the same rifle. Right view
Bolt box and "sports stock". Left view
At the same time, in 1880, the development of a new cartridge with a lighter bullet of approximately 0,4 inch caliber began. In April 1886, a new version of the rifle was approved for it, designated “Enfield-Martini”. In total, more than 21 thousand of these rifles were produced, and a year later a new order was added to them. But even before it was completed, the decision was made to replace single-shot Martini-Henry rifles with bolt-action .303 Lee-Metford rifles - the same ones that Louis Boussenard satirized in his anti-British novel "Captain Rip your head off."
View of the open shutter
Consequently, in order to avoid the use of rifles of three different calibers, the Enfield-Martini rifles were discontinued, re-barreled in 0,45 caliber and called Martini-Henry Mk IV models "A", "B" and "C" " Some versions of the .0,303 black powder carbines, known as Martini-Metfords, and even .0,303 cordite carbines called Martini-Enfields (the former named for the action type and the latter for the rifling pattern) were also produced.
View of the receiver during reloading
During the Martini–Henry’s service life, the British Army fought in many colonial wars, most notably the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879. The rifle was used at the Battle of Isandlwana and also at the Battle of Rorke’s Drift, where 139 British soldiers successfully defended themselves against several thousand Zulus. During the Zulu War, the rifle had problems extracting cartridges, mainly due to the thin, weak foil-brass cases used. They expanded too much in the rifle’s chamber when fired, to the point that they ruptured inside the chamber. Controls artillery The British Army's Armaments Department found that the main causes of this problem were poorly designed rolled brass cartridges and contamination of the barrel and chamber with black powder residue. To fix this, the cartridge was replaced with a stronger one. And the MK-IV model of the rifle was given a longer reloading lever so that more force would be required to open the bolt in the event of contamination.
However, it was not until the 1920s, when smokeless nitro powder and copper-jacketed bullets were tested in these rifles, that accuracy and 100% reliability in removing cartridges was finally achieved. English hunters on various safaris, mainly in Africa, also found that the Martini, using a cordite charge and a 500 grain full metal jacket bullet, was effective in stopping even large animals such as hippopotamus at up to 80 yards. Cuno's nitro-based propellants in .577/450 brass Martini-Henry cases were used commercially well into the 1960s and have proven to be very reliable. And since the gunpowder is smokeless, the problem of contamination was solved.
The rifle remained popular as a sporting weapon for competitions organized by the National Rifle Association. From 1872 to 1904 it was used for shooting at ranges up to 1000 yards using standard ammunition of the time. But by 1904, more and more shooters began using the new .303 caliber, so interest in the .577/450 caliber dropped markedly.
Carbine based on the Martini-Henry rifle, model 1878. Auckland Museum, New Zealand
In addition to the rifle, there was the Martini-Henry carbine, introduced in 1878, which had less recoil and a smaller powder charge in the cartridges. The enemy was most confidently hit at a distance of up to 400 yards with both a rifle and a carbine. This was reflected in the tactics of their combat use. Thus, during most key battles, such as Rorke's Drift and the Battle of Ulundi, the order for volley fire was not given until the Zulus were at or within 400 yards, at which point Martini rifles would fire. -Henry” soldiers fired at the highest possible rate of fire.
Interestingly, unable to purchase Martini-Henry rifles from the British, since all the production of their factories was used to rearm the British troops, the Ottoman Empire bought weapons identical to the Mk I rifles from the Providence Tool Company in Providence, Rhode Island. USA (which produced a similar Peabody rifle), and used it effectively in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. In the Ottoman Empire, the rifle was called "Aynali Martin" and was even mentioned in several famous folk songs.
Romanian rifle "Martini-Henry" 1879 Army Museum, Stockholm
The Romanian Martini-Henry dates back to 1879, when Romania decided to replace its old Peabody Model 1867 rifles with new Martini-Henry rifles. Steyr received an order for 130 rifles, which were delivered to Romania in the early 000s. These rifles were also used during the First World War. Thus, on August 1880, 15, the Romanian army had 1916 rifles and 142 carbines of this system in service. A significant number of rifles were also produced for the Boer Republics, both in Belgium and by Westley Richards in Birmingham as early as the late 906s. As a result, Martini-Henry rifles were used by many Boers during the Second Boer War as over 8724 were purchased.
Then Martini-Henry rifles were manufactured for a long time by home-grown gunsmiths from the Tribal Zone in Pakistan. Often they were inlaid with mother-of-pearl like this...
The rifle and carbine were loved by the British and were produced until 1904, which was facilitated by both its simplicity and ease of use. The swinging bolt operated in a vertical plane, lowering and rising due to the pull down of the lever on the neck of the stock, which was not a continuation of the trigger guard, as was, for example, done on Winchester rifles. The lever, pulled down, lowered the bolt, the chamber opened and ejected the spent cartridge case. The cartridge was inserted into the chamber and chambered with a finger. After this, the lever rose along with the bolt and locked the chamber with the cartridge.
The rifle did not have a safety lock, but in order for the shooter to determine whether the firing pin was cocked or not, a special indicator lever was installed on the right side of the bolt box. There was also a small slide on the inside of the trigger guard, which could be pushed under the trigger, after which it was no longer possible to fire a shot.
Technical characteristics of the Martini-Henry rifle (1869)
Caliber 11,43 mm
Barrel length 889 mm
Rifling stroke 559 mm
Rifle length 1295 mm
Bullet diameter 11,56 mm
Bullet weight 31,1 g
Charge weight 5,5g
Cartridge weight 46,4 g
The rifle's rate of fire was determined to be 16 rounds per minute.
Information