Martini Cadet information

[Wildwood-Lake]

I'm needing information on this cadet. The stock seams to have been shorten for the recoil pad and the original sight is missing. And I guess the lyman sight was added.

[Ed in North Texas]

Is it still chambered in .310 Cadet? You are correct that the Lyman sight was an addition, as was the pad. There is obviously no need for a pad to control recoil for a .310, or any of the .32 pistol cartridges these are sometimes rechambered to.

Seems to me that someone altered an original Cadet to make it their "shooter". The Lyman sight would be an improvement for someone with older eyes, but destroys the collector value. I can't say the stock was shortened. Judging from the apparent distance from rear sling swivel to the pad, if it was shortened at all - it wasn't by very much. The pad might have been put on solely to get more length of pull.

Otherwise, it appears to be a standard Cadet rifle. Getting harder to find in original condition these days.

[Wildwood-Lake]

In front of the lyman sight it has 357 mag so I'm guessing that it is rechamber.

[old turtle]

Check the chamber. There were some people who re-chambered them to 32 Win. Special. God only knows why.

[old turtle]

By the way, if someone has a Martini Cadet action or rifle that has problems I am looking for a Cadet action to build a rifle on.

[Wildwood-Lake]

I put in a 357 case in it and it fit like a glove. So it would probably take a 38 also right. Which I don't have.

[David todd]

Interesting, all the martinis i have seen with receiver sights have them mounted at the rear of the receiver!:-|
David

[Ed in North Texas]

Nice little .38 Special/.357 Mag shooter. Have fun with it.

[Wildwood-Lake]

I looked at the gun auction sites and couldn't find one like this for sale. Any ideal what this might be worth?

[Boz330]

Not sure what yours is worth but I paid $350 for a mint one 6 years ago and it was a very good deal then. Any collector value that yours might have had is gone but I have a small action in 357 and it is a fun shooter. That peep sight is ugly as a mud fence though. And the advantage is somewhat mitigated by the distance from the eye.

Bob

[Wildwood-Lake]

I agree about the peep sight but what is my chance on finding a orginal rear sight. For under $50.00

[Ed in North Texas]

I agree about the peep sight but what is my chance on finding a orginal rear sight. For under $50.00

Numrich has them, but not for under $50. They are $55 and change for the complete sight. Adjustable for elevation only.

[Wildwood-Lake]

I looked there, but I want the rear barrel sight. Could not find it there. I'll try the wanted section
here.

Thanks

[Ed in North Texas]

I looked there, but I want the rear barrel sight. Could not find it there. I'll try the wanted section
here.

Thanks

As far as I know, there were only two different rear sights for the Cadet and both were barrel mounted sights. The Numrich sights are the Type 2, but I don't know what you were looking at on their site. The Numrich listing gives the dimensions of the rear sight base, which might be helpful to you. The only picture linked to the page is a schematic drawing of only the receiver, not the sight.

Numrich - Search result page for "Martini Cadet Rear Sight":

http://www.gunpartscorp.com/catalog/Search.aspx?filter=Martini+Cadet+Rear+Sight


This Australian site has both Type 1 and Type 2 sights listed and pictured (without prices). If the Numrich site doesn't help you, you might want to contact them:

Type 1: http://www.doublercustom.com.au/index.php?page=shop.product_details&product_id=748&flypage=flypage.tpl&pop=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1&vmcchk=1&Itemid=1

Type 2: http://www.doublercustom.com.au/index.php?page=shop.product_details&product_id=749&flypage=flypage.tpl&pop=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

[RonE]

A lot of the Martini Cadet conversions to .32 Winchester Special were done by Century Arms in the 1960's. The conversions were done because it was hard to get .310 ammunition here in the States. Another not quite as popular rechamber was to .32-20 which was readily available at the time. I bought a Cadet a couple of years ago that was chambered in .32 Win Spec. and it is in the shop now being rebarelled to 5.6X50R. I have available the barrel with sights, the shortened fore end, barrel band and 5 boxes of .32 Win Spec if anyone wants to buy or trade.

I am not much of a military nostalgia person and believe that the Martini Cadet rifle makes a great single shot varmit rifle. I made my first Cadet into a .218 Bee in the early 1960's in High School Auto Shop after school. (Don't try this in California today).

[bydand]

Saw a cadet at the local gun store yesterday. Very Nice commercial .22 with Parker-Hale target sight and sporting woodwork. BUT someone had rechambered it to .22 Mag.

I just CANNOT see any bloody reason to do that!

Now I did get one that some clown had "sportyized" by chopping the barrel and then neglecting to clean it. Rebarreled it to 256 Win Mag.

[bydand]

By they way, they were rechambered to 32 Win spl because of the bore diameter. Not a good idea since the martini weighs less than a lever action. Newton's third law of motion has NOT been repealed.
32-20 bullets are smaller diameter than .310's

[RonE]

By they way, they were rechambered to 32 Win spl because of the bore diameter. Not a good idea since the martini weighs less than a lever action. Newton's third law of motion has NOT been repealed.
32-20 bullets are smaller diameter than .310's

How right you are! It is a little sharp when you shoot such a light weight rifle, however, it shoots great without over pressurizing the action.

[RonE]

Now I did get one that some clown had "sportyized" by chopping the barrel and then neglecting to clean it. Rebarreled it to 256 Win Mag.

256 Win Mag was another popular conversion.

[Wildwood-Lake]

Thanks, for all the help on this cadet.

[NoDakJak]

My bought my first Cadet in 1962 and it had been rechambered to 32 Winchester Special. I gave $35.00 for it. Recoil was very brisk!!! I had one that had been rebored and chambered to 357 Magnum and still retained the original stock that had been cut down. My standard load for it was Lyman 358429 that was sized to .38 and seated in 38 Special cases ahead of 11.0 grains of 2400. Great load! I tried loading this same boolit ahead of a case full of the original Pyrodex.Accuracy was fair but when you pulled the trigger you were rewarded with a dull thunk sound just as if you had pulled the cork from a large jug. The barrel was the original full length and it has been suggested that that the light load of Pyrodex had burnt out and the boolit was pulling a slight vacuam when it exited the barrel. Possibly my favorite Cadet came from a Canadian estate. It is a Sporter conversion that was marketed by Sportco in Australia. It has a lightweight barrel that is chambered for 25.20 Winchester. It also has been drilled and tapped and has a side mount for a 3/4 inch scope that is stamped "Field". This particular rifle has not had the firing pin bushed and this holds pressured to factory pressures. One of these days when time and ambition coincide I will bush the pin.
A word of caution! Some of the Cadets had been rebored and chambered to44 Magnum back in the early sixties. The barrel tenon is only 3/4 inch and this leaves very little metal over the chamber. I don't believe many of these unsafe conversions were performed but every one that I have observed has jugged chambers. The late Frank De Hass in his great book "Single Shot Rifles and Actions" stated that this action should be reserved for cartridges no larger in diameter than .357. He thought that if a cartridge the diameter of 30.30 was chambered it should be held to factory pressures which if I remember correctly is somewhere around 35,000 psi. due to the small tenon. The 218 Mashburn Bee which is based on the 32.20 casehead is the classic cartridge for the Cadet. Velocities approximate the 222 Remington. The 222R (Rimmed) case was developed in Australia especially for use in the Cadet. My idea of the perfect cartridge would use a 25 caliber barreled with a 25 Copperhead reamer with an extractor groove cut seperately. The 25 Copperhead is simply a 25-222 and can be loaded from 25 rimfire levels up through the 87 grain 250.3000 factory load. That would make an almost perfect rifle/cartridge combination for a beat up old codger like myself. Neil

[Four Fingers of Death]

No Dak, the Field Brand is Australian and long gone. They made scopes (I think) and sights. I have a Field reciever sight for the SMLE downstairs.