rebarrel martini henry

garyk · March 30, 2010, 08:45 AM

I've got a Mk. IV Martini Henry, its in great shape, bore is a little dark in places otherwise it's about what you would expect. It's not a recent import, in fact it was found in an antique shop. They had a 20% off sale on everything in the store and that made it fairly reasonably priced. Then I bought 60 rounds of ammo, and found out the drawbacks of that particular cartridge. The bullet diameter for one, the case capacity for another, paper patching the bullet,over powder wads, grease cookies,etc. etc. and I'm sure there are other things I've left out. Those of you that shoot the .577/.450 M.H. know what this is all about. My question is should I rebarrel this to .303, or should I just trade the gun off to some unsuspecting poor guy that wants to have a Zulu gun?
What say you?
Gary K

mapsjanhere · March 30, 2010, 10:39 AM

If it's in reasonable original condition the rebarreling sounds like sacrilege. Maybe ask the question at a more specialized forum.

Scorch · March 30, 2010, 01:26 PM

If it is a Mark IV, sure no problem, but not a Mark I or Mark II. I know of very few smiths that will rebarrel a Mark I to 303 British because the receiver is made of cast iron. But you can't shoot milsurp 303 ammo in it, it was made for lower pressure ammo. Better yet, rebarrel to 45-70.

You can rebarrel to 45-70 very easily, we do a few every year. I am actually working on restocking 2 of them right now, a Mark II and a Mark IV.

March 30, 2010, 08:45 AM	#1
garyk Junior Member Join Date: March 30, 2010 Location: New England Posts: 1	rebarrel martini henry I've got a Mk. IV Martini Henry, its in great shape, bore is a little dark in places otherwise it's about what you would expect. It's not a recent import, in fact it was found in an antique shop. They had a 20% off sale on everything in the store and that made it fairly reasonably priced. Then I bought 60 rounds of ammo, and found out the drawbacks of that particular cartridge. The bullet diameter for one, the case capacity for another, paper patching the bullet,over powder wads, grease cookies,etc. etc. and I'm sure there are other things I've left out. Those of you that shoot the .577/.450 M.H. know what this is all about. My question is should I rebarrel this to .303, or should I just trade the gun off to some unsuspecting poor guy that wants to have a Zulu gun? What say you? Gary K

March 30, 2010, 10:39 AM	#2
mapsjanhere Senior Member Join Date: August 6, 2009 Location: Albuquerque Posts: 2,832	If it's in reasonable original condition the rebarreling sounds like sacrilege. Maybe ask the question at a more specialized forum. __________________ I used to love being able to hit hard at 1000 yards. As I get older I find hitting a mini ram at 200 yards with the 22 oddly more satisfying.

March 30, 2010, 01:26 PM	#3
Scorch Senior Member Join Date: February 13, 2006 Location: Washington state Posts: 15,248	If it is a Mark IV, sure no problem, but not a Mark I or Mark II. I know of very few smiths that will rebarrel a Mark I to 303 British because the receiver is made of cast iron. But you can't shoot milsurp 303 ammo in it, it was made for lower pressure ammo. Better yet, rebarrel to 45-70. You can rebarrel to 45-70 very easily, we do a few every year. I am actually working on restocking 2 of them right now, a Mark II and a Mark IV. __________________ Never try to educate someone who resists knowledge at all costs. But what do I know? Summit Arms Services