577/450 Martini Henry

[abunaitoo]

Anyone shoot one????
I'm kind of having an itch for one.
Long lever.
Should have gotten one when IMA had those un-touched one's.
Now the Lee has a reasonably priced die set for sale, I want to try and get one going.
What mold is best for it?????

[curator]

abunaitoo:

I have a couple of Martini Henrys from IMA and shoot them several times a year. I have had good results using resized 24 gauge all-brass shotgun shells for cases and .470" diameter lead boolits in the 400-475 grain range. MH bores are not .450, but groove sizes range from .465 to .478 necessitating a special boolit mould. I believe Accurate bullet moulds list several options of the right diameter. The Martini Henry bore has a very long tapered throat that goes from the case mouth diameter (about .480") to the groove diameter in abut 6 inches. Most serious Martini Henry shooter almost never size their brass, just de-cap, re-prime, load powder, wadding and bullet then shoot. You might want the Lee dies but you could just save your money and shot without resizing brass.

Check with these guys about anything related to Martin Henrys, and "Pommy B" for brass and mould suggestions.
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/britishmilitariaforums/martini-henry-forum-f1/

[Bad Ass Wallace]

I have 4 rifles. A week ago I was given an old barrel and asked if I could use it. Got it home and after soaking in solvent for two days, finally could see strong rifling down the tube. Finally test fired it yesterday and it has a very strong rifling and tight chamber

https://i.imgur.com/BtIrPW1.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/WZWCKAM.jpg

Beautiful walnut buttstock

https://i.imgur.com/irOVKtr.jpg

Of course the pith helmet is mandatoty!:kidding:
https://i.imgur.com/a8ibhKX.jpg

[john.k]

Ive found the Lee 480 ruger 400gn mould fills the grooves and shoots well......however the grease grooves are too small for blackpowder......best part is the bullet is snug in a unsized case...Mine casts about 475 dia.....It hits 300 meter pigs real good ,from a sitting offhand ......due to a quirk at the range I go to,the 200 and 400 meter steel targets are just about invisible to old eyes and open sights.

[abunaitoo]

Getting the die set just to from the cases and seat the boolet.
Don't plan on resizing if I don't have to.
Looking for a long lever.
I just like the looks of the longer lever.
Are they harder to find????.

[Bad Ass Wallace]

They can be very accurate once you find the right boolit
http://www.castbulletengineering.com.au/bullet-moulds/rifle/458-calibre/462-500pb-single-cavity

https://i.imgur.com/X53xURL.jpg

[john.k]

Long levers are easier to find ,due to IMA and the nepalese cache.........when I started ,the Mk 4 s were rare as rockin horse dodah.......and I paid a premium to get one...Had I waited a couple of years ,they were selling for $14-95 ex Interarmco.......anyhoo,IMHO ,the long lever sits flat under the fingers ,doesnt cramp the last two ...and the grip is a bit more suitable(smaller).....otherwise they have no advantages.

[Ragnarok]

I've bought three Martini Henry rifles from the Nepal cache....a MkII and a MkIV from Atlanta Cutlery and a untouched MkII from International Military Antiques.

I had to buy a big LEE press to handle the 1 1/4" dies...a bullet mold because these use a weird diameter bullet...gain much patience so I could re-form 24ga shot-shells into brass....these are a learning experience but fun.

[john.k]

Using Lee dies to form cases is not the way to go..........I made my own simple two piece ,two stage forming dies,and crank out cases without loss.......Simply put,Lee dies make the cases too small....why all that effort ,when the neck formed to 1/2" OD is what you want........the designer of the Lee dies states that they were manufactured to fit any rifle,and so are too small for most....And why the Lee dies have a positive stop at the end of the neck is beyond me.......this one feature causes more case collapses than any other,if the case is 010" overlength ,collapse.

[abunaitoo]

Pictures of what you made????
I was also thinking about making some kind of form die.
It loos like the body has a slight taper, so the Lee dies looked like the way to go.

[john.k]

i may be banned for this,but if you want a good design for 2 piece dies for the CBC cases ,have a look at old posts on the GB /Martini Henry forum...around 2011,from memory,or maybe earlier..I dont visit GB much,because they have annoying popup videos ,with the same two idiots all the time.Annoying to the max.

[Idz]

I formed the Magtech 24ga cases with two 2-piece homemade dies. I used 7/8-14 threaded rod for the dies. Die 1 bottom was 1.275" long with a 0.657 straight hole bored through. Die 1 top was .915 long with a tapered section going from .650 diameter to .512 dia over .520 length then a .512 dia straight hole. Die 2 top was 1.280 long with a tapered hole .625 dia to .500 dia over .215 length then a straight through .500 hole. Die2 bottom was 1.280 long with a tapered hole going from .660 dia to .627 dia.
procedure:
1) trim cases to 2.28 length
2) use die set 1 to cone the top 1/4" of lubed case. use 2-3 press strokes and rotate case.
3) anneal case shoulder
4) use die set 1 to form neck on lubed case. 4-5 strokes and rotate case
5) anneal case shoulder
6) use die set 2 to finish forming lubed case. 4-5 strokes and rotate case

[Idz]

I used a lee classic cast press for forming cases. I would run the case into the die until it felt 'stiff' then retract the case and rotate it about 1/4 turn in the shellholder and wipe a little lube on the case with my finger then run in a bit more. Even following my procedure about 1 in 20 cases would get a dent or wrinkle in it.

[john.k]

ive found its better to leave the CBC cases full length (2.1/2"),which eliminates the jump from neck to lede. ,and saves trimming too........dont put long cases in Lee dies tho,the step collapses them.

[cas]

I haven't shot my rifles in several years this point, so my vague answers would be based on fuzzy memory. :(

I have an RCBS mold that I patch up to the right size depending on the rifle.

https://photos.imageevent.com/cas6969/shmisc/websize/topMH.jpg

[abunaitoo]

I was checking to see how much the shells are.
Everyone is out of stock.
They run $22 to $28 for 25. Magtech

[DxieLandMan]

Factory rounds are going to be expensive either way but once you have your brass, you can reload and shoot. I bought a lot of brass for the .577/450 from Martyn Robinson at X-ring services. I've bought dies and brass from him and will again.

[john.k]

I think since the change in Brazil gunlaws,maybe CBC is flatout making ammo for new gun owners.......after all,every new gunowner buys a couple of hundred rounds,then sometimes takes ten years to use it up...So maybe they wont around be anytime soon........incidentally,the Magtech/CBC cases are the best brass ever ,I have many cases that have been fired over a hundred times.........some of the costly cases have a disturbing habit of cracking necks in short order.........out here the "name " cases are $7+ each.

[abunaitoo]

I was looking for the Magtech 24ga shells.
Seems everyone is out right now.
I'll probable just order the Lee die set.
Order some shells when they come back in stock.
Hopefully a rifle will show up.