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DateOriginal Topic
28th December 2003Martini Henry at the range
By Joseph
Gentlemen and Ladies,
Just wanted to let you know that I took both my MH's out to the firing range two days ago. One of my rifles is a MkI that I acquired some time ago. The second is a MkII that I purchased through IMA/ Atlanta Cutlery from the cache they found in Nepal. If you don't know about these they are British manufacture and issue, then sold to the Nepalese army. They have been in storage in Nepal for over one hundred years. The IMA MH performed perfectly. I was quite pleased with it and turned a few heads on the firing line as most have never seen a MH or especially one in action. Cheers,
Joseph
PS My offer still stands to personally inspect a rifle from Atlanta Cutlery for anyone interested as I live but an hour away.
DateReplies
29th December 2003Barry Iacoppi N.Z.
Nice looking rifle Grant. My Citadel is one of my favourite Martinis and shoots a whole lot better then I can. I note the brass butt disc. I don�t have one on mine nor have I seen then on the few other Citadels that I have handled. The general opinion was (unproven) that the Egyptians supplied their own wood. Perhaps one of the Enfield collectors on the forum could tell us when the butt discs came into use with the British. Was it after 1907?
29th December 2003Barry Iacoppi N.Z.
OOOPPSS wrong message above. Muck up with cut and paste. Sorry lads.
Well done Joseph. Sounds like you had a good day. I�ve been on the line with eight other Martini Henrys all firing against the clock. Wonderful experience and the closest I�ll ever get to a Victorian battle. On the down side cleaning one M.H. is a chore. Cleaning two must be a real pain.
29th December 2003Joseph
Barry,
No harm no foul! I saw your post where you intended it as well! Yes, cleaning two was a BEAR. Anyone know any "tricks" to getting the breech block back in as easily as it comes out? I was succesful after many attempts. The problem is, I don't know what I did "right " or differently on the attempt when it reseated properly.
Cheers,
Joseph
30th December 2003Adrian Whiting
Barry,

Brass marking discs were introduced into British service in August 1890. A blued steel one was utilised for the Lee Metford MkI* in Jan 1892. They were withdrawn as part of the economies producing the SMLE MkIII*.

Removed marking discs were replaced with a glued in wooden one.

Originally unit markings had been placed on the butt plate tang. This was not possible with the MHR so the right face of the butt was used. Since they then tended to be rubbed away fairly easily the butt plate tang and then the disc was utilised. Given the overlap between MHRs, MMRs and MERs (and carbines) and the LMR and LER discs were frequently used on Martinis too.

Hope the range days go well !

Adrian
2nd January 2004Brian
I too fired my Atlanta Cutlery MH for the first time over the Holidays. Worked great! Seriouly damaged a 5 gallon bucket with three shots.