Hey folks,
I recently decided to undertake a new project in the form of a Martini-Henry.
Bought form IMA, took a whole lot of cleaning but it is in phenomenal shape. the rifling is crisp, the bore isn't exactly glowing, but it's clean, the stocks are beat to hell.
Only minor pitting below the wood line.
And the smell reminds me of the first surplus store I ever walked into.
All the research and measurements I've done suggest this could be a good shooter.
I know and understand that this rifle was made before headspace was really a thing, but I looked it up to be sure and bought a feeler gauge, and he checks out as well within spec.
I slugged the barrel three times to be sure, and each time, the slug measures out to .467 This is using the method of rotating the slug within the jaws of calipers to find the greatest measurement.
Since the Henry pattern rifling has an odd number of lands & grooves, measuring from the 'flat' on one side of the slug to the 'point' on the other reads .460
I've done homework and have formed some conclusions, I would like to discuss with you folks here, particularly those with martini experience to see if my conclusions are correct.
From my understanding of the information I have collected, if I were to use a non paper-patched projectile for this rifle, I would be looking at a bullet diameter of .469 Given the tapering bore of the martini, this should swage down and bite the rifling properly. This is using the measurement of .467 gained from rotating the slug in the calipers/micrometer.
Am I using the wrong measurement? should I be looking into a .460 diameter bullet?
Any other considerations I should take into account?
Thanks all for any help you may be able to offer, I'd love to get the old boy talking again, in a big booming voice. Perhaps channel the ghost of Alan Quartermaine.
I recently decided to undertake a new project in the form of a Martini-Henry.
Bought form IMA, took a whole lot of cleaning but it is in phenomenal shape. the rifling is crisp, the bore isn't exactly glowing, but it's clean, the stocks are beat to hell.
Only minor pitting below the wood line.
And the smell reminds me of the first surplus store I ever walked into.
All the research and measurements I've done suggest this could be a good shooter.
I know and understand that this rifle was made before headspace was really a thing, but I looked it up to be sure and bought a feeler gauge, and he checks out as well within spec.
I slugged the barrel three times to be sure, and each time, the slug measures out to .467 This is using the method of rotating the slug within the jaws of calipers to find the greatest measurement.
Since the Henry pattern rifling has an odd number of lands & grooves, measuring from the 'flat' on one side of the slug to the 'point' on the other reads .460
I've done homework and have formed some conclusions, I would like to discuss with you folks here, particularly those with martini experience to see if my conclusions are correct.
From my understanding of the information I have collected, if I were to use a non paper-patched projectile for this rifle, I would be looking at a bullet diameter of .469 Given the tapering bore of the martini, this should swage down and bite the rifling properly. This is using the measurement of .467 gained from rotating the slug in the calipers/micrometer.
Am I using the wrong measurement? should I be looking into a .460 diameter bullet?
Any other considerations I should take into account?
Thanks all for any help you may be able to offer, I'd love to get the old boy talking again, in a big booming voice. Perhaps channel the ghost of Alan Quartermaine.