I know what you mean about holding the light.
I actually have a hole in the roof in exactly the right spot and would've fitted a handle but we ran out of money and it's also JUST to tall to get into the garage, even with the light off.
I may see how to get around that when I have the dosh for a handle and new light to fit it.
The Martini is actually a factory conversion made by Sportco in the early '50s.
They were the first rifles Sportco ever made.
They bought a whole stack of 310 Cadets from the NSW Govt, sold half of them to Golden State Arms in the USA for a bucket load of cash, and rebarrelled the other half to .22lr and .22 Hornet.
Here's a pic:
It is the top rifle and is fitted with a Tasco MagIV 3-12x40AO although the scope in the pic is only an old 4x.
Beneath it is my other Cadet sporter, a BSA in 25-20 that has a custom laminate stock carved by a PO and a Weaver K6 mounted on a Weaver rail.
Martinis are a bit of an addiction.
I have another Cadet action in my safe as well as a large frame Martini Enfield and both will be built into rifles one day.
It isn't that hard to pick up Cadets in gunshops, either in original configuration or sporterised.
The sporters are usually chambered to 22 Hornet or 218 Bee or 222 Rimmed although I've seen them in 219 Zipper, 225 Win, 7.62x39, 30-30 standard and AI, 357 Mag and 44 Mag.
But for around the $300 mark you can usually pick one up in one of the .22 centrefire chamberings.
They've usually seen a bit of work but are fun little pieces.
Both of mine shoot about MOA at 100yds and that's fine with me.
Of course, you can go nuts and get one built in a firebreathing cal but it's a little pointless.
They have weak primary extraction and work best in lower pressure loads.
My advice is to keep your eyes open and see what turns up in country gunshops when you're out and about.
I found 2 old original Cadets in a shop at Cooma.
Both had seen better days but one was a complete Greener Mk1 and the other was a BSA although it was missing it's adjustable rear sight.
The price for these little gems......the Greener was $175 and the BSA $150, Australian dollars that is.
For our US friends, that's about US$117 and US$99.
I would've bought at least one of them but the "home office" was looking pretty unimpressed when I mentioned it and we had a big bill coming in so I decided against it.
Besides, a dealer friend is holding a really nice one for me.