Thanks B.A., I appreciate the invitation. If I ever get to travel to Austrailia, I will certainly take you up on it. A friend of mine used a big frame Martini as a basis for a very heavy barrel target rifle. It's pretty wild. If he will let me, I will photograph it and put it on the website along with my single shots. I broke down and bought me a digital camera today. I will be flooding this site with pics in the coming days.
A GUN THAT'S COCKED AND UNLOADED AIN'T GOOD FOR NUTHIN'........... ROOSTER COGBURN
On a par with the Martini as a favourite is this original Alex-Henry 577/450 sporting rifle made 1876
Handy hint on getting to Australia cheaply; swim to Indonesia, grab a refuge boat, holiday on Christmas Island for a month, the gummint then gives you $AU12 g's spending money and fly's yo to Australia. . . . . . .
Hold Still Varmint; while I plugs Yer!
Neat rifle Mr. Wallace !! I like it
Jack
Since this thread started with reference to firearms issued in NSW (Australia) here is another Alex-Henry carbine issued in 1878 to the New South Wales Mounted police. To avoid having a hammer poking out when carried in a scabbard on the RHS, these guns were ordered as LH actions and the hammers rode flush with the horses flank.
Hold Still Varmint; while I plugs Yer!
Well, I'll be hornswaggled - I finally found one !
I ran across this BSA Model 12 Takedown in .22LR at a New Hampshire funshow, and couldn't jump on it fast enough !
What's not to like: Parker-Hale globe front & rear P-H peep sight, an ultra-fine trigger, and case ejection that tosses empties waaay out of the rifle when I snap the lever down.
The acuracy's decent enough, that for the nonce, I'm shevling my plans to open up the chamber to .22WMR & reducing the forend to a smaller AH / sporter style.
.
Now I lay me down to sleep
A gun beside me is what I keep
If I awake, and you're inside
The coroner's van is your next ride
Found only one? I thought they would be a dime a dozen
Hold Still Varmint; while I plugs Yer!
The Martini Cadet was an English made rifle (BSA and Greener, I don't know about others). It was used for school cadets. The 310 Cadet is a puny cartridge with a heeled lead bullet. Puny it may be, but my first centrefire was a Martini Cadet and I flattened a lot of small and medium game with it. Similar in size and performance to the 32/20. I have an original BSA in the safe, had it for many years, I bought it to compete in military rifle matches (we have Cadet matches here) but never got around to casting and loading for it. I also had a sporterised one in 22K Hornet. I shot well, but I was not fond of the poor ejection which normally resulted in the case laying on the block and having to be cleared with your finger, so I traded it off.
They are an beautifully made little rifle, but they don't float my boat so to speak. My mate has one in 30/38Special using an old target barrel and a scout scope. With cast boolits it punches way above it's weight.
"I'll help you down the trail and proud to!" Rooster Cogburn.
"Slap some bacon on a biscuit and let's go! We're burnin' daylight! " - Will Anderson (John Wayne) "The Cowboys."
SASS Life Member No 82047
http://s89.photobucket.com/albums/k228/4fingermick/
Psycholigist to Sniper; 'What did you feel when you shot the felon Sargeant?'
Sniper to Psycholigist; 'Recoil Ma'am.'
From my Irish Ancestors: "You've got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was."
I love this stuff guys, would love to have one one of those little Martini's. JW
The 32-20 is a good conversion for the 310 Martini Cadet, however the groove diameters in the 310s are excessive by 32-20 standards. My groove diameter is .316 and that is tight compared to other 310s. I shoot a custom cast bullet sized to .318 in mine, as a standard diameter 32-20 lead bullet is woefully inaccurate in it. To convert 32-20 cases they have to be shortened of course and the inside of the rim has to be turned down to the correct thickness. Bertram makes an excellent case for the 310.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |