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My deepest sympathy to you and your family.

Did you order this...
https://www.atlantacutlery.com/p-736-m-1878-martini-henry-short-lever-infantry-rifle-untouched.aspx

Or this......

The bore slugged at approximately .458 so it's smaller than a true British Martini Henry which can be up to .010" larger in diameter.
The Lee mold produces a reasonably consistent .461 diameter but...

Recently traded with another forum member for this...
77403

It's a Nepalese Gahendra Martini Henry rifle built in the late 1800's.
Overall the rifle is in very good condition and from all...

I know it won't fit as is but it can be machined to fit.

People have told me that the breech block is the weak spot on these Francottes.
So I've given some thought to buying another one and installing a breech block for a British Martini Henry and...

Ok, tried another load combination.
The diagram I have of the original round shows a paper sleeve in the case, presumably to reduce the case volume so I thought I'd try to duplicate the original...

Well, I carried that rifle a lot of people told me I'm not supposed to shoot to the range yesterday and shot it.
405 grain hollow base 45-70 bullet, card disk/lubed felt wad, cotton filler, and 50...

Very nice.
Interesting grain pattern on the stock.

They are all Nepalese built.
The top one is a P-1853 Enfield that I basically left the way they sent it to me, it is a more or less "untouched" rifle.
Despite the rough looking condition the...

My Snider/Enfield showed up today and it looks like it's gonna be a shooter.
The rifle is in excellent condition overall with shiney, slick bore and strong rifling from the muzzle to the breech....

Thank's for the write up, as soon as I get time I'm going to give it a go, it may be a while due to having far too many things going on at one time.
My honeydo list is pretty long right now with it...

I'm using Pyro-RS because you can't find real BP around here and so far the bore is shiney, very easy to clean and keep clean.
Shoot it, clean it, oil it, bore cleaner the next day, dry patch...

What bedding compound are you using and is it difficult to use?
I've never bedded a stock nor seen it done but if it'll help with this rifle I'll definately look into it since they went a bit too...

Sounds reasonable to me and a few of the things you mention come to mind right off.
First, the range I shoot at has a covered shooting pavilion with built-in benches and seats, unfortunately, when...

Here's the results from todays brief trip to the range.
Tried out a couple of other barrels but the existing one seems to be the most accurate.
I've bought a couple over the last couple of months...

I live in Alabama so there aren't many restrictions on BP other than being limited to 50 pounds without special permits and storage facilities.
I think the state follows the Federal BATFE...

I suspect a slower burn that might be unseating the minie and making it move before the skirt expands.
Loss of gas pressure due to it blowing past the bullet would explain the reduced recoil, the...

Ok, here's the results using the #11 caps and they aren't very encouraging.
First, I didn't have any failures but I had a noticable delay between the cap firing and the main charge going off and the...

That is one fine looking rifle and one huge chunk of lead.
One thing I noticed about those .584 minies was how symetrical the holes were, even out at the 100 yard target.

I recut the crown on the...

That's a good point, the complete antique rifle shoots pretty far to the left as well but the difference is you can actually see the front sight is out of line with the rear.
It's at least 3 degrees...

I made a flash pan to keep the damage to the stock down to a minimum.
I'm ashamed to say I do combat shooting with my Enfield, as in I don't clean it till I get home from the range.
Main reason is...

Have you noticed any change in accuracy between using musket caps and #11 caps?
The reason I ask is that I ordered #11 nipples to use till musket caps get easier to find and wondered what kind of...

I'm looking at a simple aluminum split collar clamp-on front sight.
Nothing permanent by any means, just something adjustable for testing purposes that I could slide up against the existing front...

Now Ole Betsy is a real 150+ year old Nepalese P-1853 Enfield with an .005" oversized bore that I mounted in a new stock.
I replaced the nipple because it was handmade and the flash hole was eroded...