The Goose
10-05-2013, 03:06 PM
I have had this rifle for a few months now, but just have not shot it very much. Now I am getting into and thought you guys might find it interesting. This is an I. Hollis & Sons of Birmingham, England Martini in 577/450. The barrel has Henry rifling. It was made in the 1880's and has a South African provenance. It has the folding leaf sights that were very popular in that part of the world at the time. I think it is a very handsome rifle and it is a lot of fun to shoot.
The brass is made from 24 gauge shotgun brass (very labor intensive) with a magnum large pistol primer. The load is 85 grains of Goex Cartridge with some shredded cotton ball on top (instead of the traditional carded wool) a .030 Walters vegetable fiber wad then a grease cookie of SPG and another .030 wad. The boolit is cast from an aluminum Accurate mold and is sized to .470 with a sizing die from BACO and SPG lube. It is interesting to note that although the brass has been fire formed it fits interchangeably with my Martini Henry MK IV and uses the same diameter boolit. However, it will not chamber in my Martini Henry MK II and that rifle likes a .468 boolit.
I hit the range yesterday to play with it. At 100 yards my best groups were around 3" after I got the sighting down. I think the front sight may not be original. It is very tall such that the 200 yard leaf sight hits dead on at 50 yards and the 300 yard leaf hits on at 100 yards. It does not really matter as there is still plenty of elevation and I cannot see much with iron sights past 100 yards or so. (old eyes)
I would love to know the real history of this rifle. It has good honest wear and was obviously well used, but taken care of. Who carried it? What game did they take with it? What battles did they fight? I will never know, but given where it came from I bet it could tell some tales!
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l299/sgoselin/pix582192813_zps937021d8.jpg (http://s99.photobucket.com/user/sgoselin/media/pix582192813_zps937021d8.jpg.html)
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l299/sgoselin/pix752245921_zps3dfe2245.jpg (http://s99.photobucket.com/user/sgoselin/media/pix752245921_zps3dfe2245.jpg.html)
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l299/sgoselin/pix892332622_zps2f870ad8.jpg (http://s99.photobucket.com/user/sgoselin/media/pix892332622_zps2f870ad8.jpg.html)
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l299/sgoselin/pix574500626_zps8b13975d.jpg (http://s99.photobucket.com/user/sgoselin/media/pix574500626_zps8b13975d.jpg.html)
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l299/sgoselin/pix880159868_zps43b1d50f.jpg (http://s99.photobucket.com/user/sgoselin/media/pix880159868_zps43b1d50f.jpg.html)
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l299/sgoselin/pix955428658_zps109f1a89.jpg (http://s99.photobucket.com/user/sgoselin/media/pix955428658_zps109f1a89.jpg.html)
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l299/sgoselin/HOLLISMARTINI3S_zps44bbefc1.jpg (http://s99.photobucket.com/user/sgoselin/media/HOLLISMARTINI3S_zps44bbefc1.jpg.html)
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l299/sgoselin/577450002_zps4952c3b0.jpg (http://s99.photobucket.com/user/sgoselin/media/577450002_zps4952c3b0.jpg.html)
The brass is made from 24 gauge shotgun brass (very labor intensive) with a magnum large pistol primer. The load is 85 grains of Goex Cartridge with some shredded cotton ball on top (instead of the traditional carded wool) a .030 Walters vegetable fiber wad then a grease cookie of SPG and another .030 wad. The boolit is cast from an aluminum Accurate mold and is sized to .470 with a sizing die from BACO and SPG lube. It is interesting to note that although the brass has been fire formed it fits interchangeably with my Martini Henry MK IV and uses the same diameter boolit. However, it will not chamber in my Martini Henry MK II and that rifle likes a .468 boolit.
I hit the range yesterday to play with it. At 100 yards my best groups were around 3" after I got the sighting down. I think the front sight may not be original. It is very tall such that the 200 yard leaf sight hits dead on at 50 yards and the 300 yard leaf hits on at 100 yards. It does not really matter as there is still plenty of elevation and I cannot see much with iron sights past 100 yards or so. (old eyes)
I would love to know the real history of this rifle. It has good honest wear and was obviously well used, but taken care of. Who carried it? What game did they take with it? What battles did they fight? I will never know, but given where it came from I bet it could tell some tales!
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l299/sgoselin/pix582192813_zps937021d8.jpg (http://s99.photobucket.com/user/sgoselin/media/pix582192813_zps937021d8.jpg.html)
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l299/sgoselin/pix752245921_zps3dfe2245.jpg (http://s99.photobucket.com/user/sgoselin/media/pix752245921_zps3dfe2245.jpg.html)
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l299/sgoselin/pix892332622_zps2f870ad8.jpg (http://s99.photobucket.com/user/sgoselin/media/pix892332622_zps2f870ad8.jpg.html)
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l299/sgoselin/pix574500626_zps8b13975d.jpg (http://s99.photobucket.com/user/sgoselin/media/pix574500626_zps8b13975d.jpg.html)
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l299/sgoselin/pix880159868_zps43b1d50f.jpg (http://s99.photobucket.com/user/sgoselin/media/pix880159868_zps43b1d50f.jpg.html)
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l299/sgoselin/pix955428658_zps109f1a89.jpg (http://s99.photobucket.com/user/sgoselin/media/pix955428658_zps109f1a89.jpg.html)
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l299/sgoselin/HOLLISMARTINI3S_zps44bbefc1.jpg (http://s99.photobucket.com/user/sgoselin/media/HOLLISMARTINI3S_zps44bbefc1.jpg.html)
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l299/sgoselin/577450002_zps4952c3b0.jpg (http://s99.photobucket.com/user/sgoselin/media/577450002_zps4952c3b0.jpg.html)