Martini Henry
577/ 450 Martini Henry
Antiqued English Pewter 1/6 mounted replica of the Martini Henry rifle along with the 577/450 round (deactivated) and a short information panel.
On black baize, with green mount and housed in a walnut coloured frame.
size (glass) 295mm x 215mm
Panel Reads :-
This was a breech loading, single shot, lever action rifle adopted by the British military, combining an action worked on by Friedrich von Martini with the rifled barrel designed by Alexander Henry. It first entered service in 1871 replacing the Snider-Enfield and variants were used throughout the British Empire for 30 years. In their original chambering, the rifles fired a round nosed, tapered head .458" soft hollow-based lead bullet, wrapped in a waxed 'paper patch' giving a wider diameter of .460", weighing 485 grains. It was crimped in place with two canulas (grooves on the outside neck of the case), in front of a concave felt and glazed card wadding. This sat on top of the main powder charge inside a rimmed brass foil cartridge, ( known today as the .577/450), a bottle neck design, with the same base as the .577 cartridge of the Snider-Enfield. It was loaded with 85 grains (5.51 g) of Curtis and Harvey's No.6 coarse black powder, notorious for its heavy recoil. The cartridge case was ejected to the rear when the lever was operated.
