Author Topic: Rebarrel Large frame Martini Enfield. (Read 6088 times)

Gaz-52 · « **on:** December 23, 2011, 04:47:44 PM »

I acquired a 1830 Martini Enfield chambered in .303 Brit.in fairly reasonable condition . However , following intense effort to remove the accumulated crud from the bore I find it has minimal rifleing,( .312 bullet inserted from the breech will rattle half way down the barrel ) and serious pitting . I am unsure whether to rebarrel in .303 Brit or something different . I would only use it for "paper punching"and wringing the gong from time to time .
Any suggestions ?
Gaz.

Hank08 · « **Reply #1 on:** December 24, 2011, 07:24:41 AM »

I have 3 of them, one in .219 improved Zipper(necked down, blown out 30/30) one in .225 Winchester and one in 30/40 Krag. They all shoot well but the two .22s both shoot 1/2" groups.
H08

jedman · « **Reply #2 on:** December 24, 2011, 08:04:05 AM »

You could have the present bore drilled out and epoxy in a 44 cal. barrel liner in and have it chambered in 44 special. The extractor from the 303 will work on a 44 case and thats the hard part if you have it rebarreled to a different caliber is fitting a extractor on a Martini.
Jedman

sobeit · « **Reply #3 on:** January 10, 2012, 09:41:54 AM »

What is a 1830 Martini ? Can you attach a pic?
?

AkMike1 · « **Reply #4 on:** January 10, 2012, 12:42:15 PM »

The 1830 has got to be a typo. They were still using front loaders then.
The 450/577 had a taiper bore on them. I wonder if they carried that over to the 303 also?

Gaz-52 · « **Reply #5 on:** January 11, 2012, 01:14:16 AM »

Quote from: AkMike1 on January 10, 2012, 12:42:15 PM

The 1830 has got to be a typo. They were still using front loaders then.
The 450/577 had a taiper bore on them. I wonder if they carried that over to the 303 also?

Sorry guys , should have been 1880

. It probably started out as a 450/577. Going by my interpretation of the armorers marks it was converted to .303 in 1893.
I believe the barrel wear is probably due to corrosive primers used in the old military ammo and little or no cleaning .
The .44 special would be great for cast bullets , although It would set me back around $750.00 .for a barrel + fitting . Barrel liners are as rare as rocking horse s%#t here

.

jlwilliams · « **Reply #6 on:** January 11, 2012, 01:36:45 AM »

When the 22 hornet was developed the guys at Springfield used 1903 actions and Martini actions as the test platforms. So the Martini and the Hornet kind of have a historical link. You could rebarrel the Martini to 22 hornet and you'd have a pleasant little shooter with a bit of historical feel.

Going hornet also eliminates any worries about pressure. Sure, it worked fine in 303. It was a hundred years younger when it was converted to 303. Now your action may well be strong enough to take the punishing of a snappy smokeless round like 303 or 44 magnum, but then again it's old. Why whip on the old war horse? Barreling in a mild little round like the 22 hornet ( per inch pressure like a 38 special, with less volume and less base therefor less total pressure and breach thrust) would give you a usable target/varmint gun that is so under pressured that it may likely last another hundred years.

jedman · « **Reply #7 on:** January 11, 2012, 01:50:46 AM »

Gaz, You can buy a barrel liner thru Track of the Wolf or others for around $ 5.00 a inch, but If you had someone with a lathe you can buy a good quality 44 rifle blank from Green Mountain for 30 to 35 dollars plus shipping.
The reason I mentioned the liner route is if you are somewhat handy with tools, drill, files, ect. the liner could be done by a person without a lathe or milling machine.
Going with a liner is nice because the original barrel doesnt need to come off and the finished rifle still looks the same as before, plus sights dont have to be remounted ect.
Do a search on Gun Parts Inc. for barrel liners , sometimes they have them in stock for about 1/4 of what others want for them, when they have them they sell out quick.
Jedman
..

AkMike1 · « **Reply #8 on:** January 11, 2012, 10:08:33 AM »

His biggest problem is going to be getting a liner sent from the States. He's in Oz and that isn't a short eared bunny rabbit in his avatar.
I'll PM you my suggestion.

Gaz-52 · « **Reply #9 on:** January 11, 2012, 11:46:34 PM »

I emailed Track of the wolf asking if they can ship barrel liners to Aus. I have access to a good lathe and mill, but I am not too hopefull regards the barrel liner / shipping. I already have 2x .22K hornets. a Handi and a Martini Cadet . A .222 Rimmed might be another option $:-\$ .
I am blown away by the helpfull comments posted on Greybeards forums daily . There must be a million plus years of collective knowledge and experience here and I would like to thank you all for your input.
Cheers Gaz.

sobeit · « **Reply #10 on:** January 12, 2012, 09:00:56 AM »

Forget the liner. Cut the barrel leaving about a 4 inch stub. Bore and resleeve (thread or silver solder) to almost anything you want. The old Martini's have quite a bit of "strength"......44mag...45-70....even 303...just find a barrel...how about 20ga.

AkMike1 · « **Reply #11 on:** January 12, 2012, 09:40:41 AM »

IIRC the barrels will swap out with the SMLE pipes too if you want to stay 303. Same thread, length taiper ect.

tallyho · « **Reply #12 on:** February 12, 2012, 02:06:52 PM »

Quote from: AkMike1 on January 12, 2012, 09:40:41 AM

IIRC the barrels will swap out with the SMLE pipes too if you want to stay 303. Same thread, length taiper ect.

I believe AkMike1 is correct. I had a large frame Martini with shortened SMLE barrel. They seemed relatively common when I lived in Canada. I bought it from the guy who did the work. He said it was a pretty simple project. I don't remember the barrel length exactly, but it was a very handy carbine type single shot, and I do love Martini actions.

It is on that list of "Guns I wish I'd never sold!" that most of us have.

Gaz-52 · « **Reply #13 on:** February 15, 2012, 12:10:34 AM »

Quote from: tallyho on February 12, 2012, 02:06:52 PM

Quote from: AkMike1 on January 12, 2012, 09:40:41 AM
IIRC the barrels will swap out with the SMLE pipes too if you want to stay 303. Same thread, length taiper ect.

I believe AkMike1 is correct. I had a large frame Martini with shortened SMLE barrel. They seemed relatively common when I lived in Canada. I bought it from the guy who did the work. He said it was a pretty simple project. I don't remember the barrel length exactly, but it was a very handy carbine type single shot, and I do love Martini actions.

It is on that list of "Guns I wish I'd never sold!" that most of us have.

Hi Fellas.
I have been lucky enough to find a "sporterized" SMLE with a pretty good barrel for sale locally. The barrel will screw into the Martini action just like AkMike 1 said. Now I have to wait patiently

for my old mate to "set back "the barrel thread, ream a new chamber and set the headspace . I might have to resort to bribery and corruption to get him motivated

.
I think the shorter barrel will be an improvement on the original ,certainly lighter and quicker to point. This will bring my Martini collection to 3. including 2 cadets , 1x .22k hornet and 1x.310 . They are a great example of a simple design that has stood the test of time and is still
fun to shoot .

jedman · « **Reply #14 on:** February 15, 2012, 02:05:03 AM »

Gaz-52 Good to hear you found a solution to get your old Martini back to shootin again.
I have 2 different Martinis in a state of being rebarreled. The large frame from a Greener shotgun will be a .375 cal. wildcat built on 45-100 brass and custom curley maple stocks.
The other was a German built target rifle with double set triggers. It is a much smaller action than the Greener and will probably be chambered in 357 mag / max, it also is going to have a 1 piece stock. I would like to have a scope on both of theese as my eyes are about done with sights anymore. With the small German framed rifle I may be able to mount a scope low over the chamber area as the small cartridge would be able to feed and extract but the mount will need to be hand made because I have found nothing thru online searches thats made for bridging over a small Martini frame. I also just love the design of the Martini actions.

Jed

Gaz-52 · « **Reply #15 on:** February 16, 2012, 01:54:40 AM »

Quote from: jedman on February 15, 2012, 02:05:03 AM

Gaz-52 Good to hear you found a solution to get your old Martini back to shootin again.
I have 2 different Martinis in a state of being rebarreled. The large frame from a Greener shotgun will be a .375 cal. wildcat built on 45-100 brass and custom curley maple stocks.
The other was a German built target rifle with double set triggers. It is a much smaller action than the Greener and will probably be chambered in 357 mag / max, it also is going to have a 1 piece stock. I would like to have a scope on both of theese as my eyes are about done with sights anymore. With the small German framed rifle I may be able to mount a scope low over the chamber area as the small cartridge would be able to feed and extract but the mount will need to be hand made because I have found nothing thru online searches thats made for bridging over a small Martini frame. I also just love the design of the Martini actions.
Jed

G'day Jed,
I can relate to your eyesight issues, just one of the "joys" of getting older

. I have fitted Lyman and Skinner peep-sights to
almost all of my rifles. Not the perfect solution but it will have to do

. What is the history of the German framed rifle? Sounds interesting , the Germans rarely made a poor firearm, or anything else for that matter.
Cheers Gaz.

jedman · « **Reply #16 on:** February 17, 2012, 05:22:54 AM »

Thanks for your interest in the German Martini. I bought the rifle as a rebarreled and restocked vamint rifle in 22 K hornet. It had alarge 18 x scope that was mounted on blocks that were soldered on top of the barrel and it also had a broken firing pin.
I was not interested in the scope or barrel that was on it but the 1 pc. stock must have cost someone a good penny to have fitted and the action is really stong built. I was able to buy it for a low price and still not sure what I am going to build out of it yet ?
Just this morning I came across a real interesting barrel that might find its way onto this rifle, its a tapered octagonal barrel 30" long and in .257 cal. might just make a nice .256 mag. rifle ?
I took a couple of pics of the action so you can see how massive it is yet made for a smallish round. The complete action weighs 2 lbs. 10 oz. but the complete rifle was quite trim and under 7 lbs. Jed

Gaz-52 · « **Reply #17 on:** February 18, 2012, 01:48:10 AM »

Quote from: jedman on February 17, 2012, 05:22:54 AM

Thanks for your interest in the German Martini. I bought the rifle as a rebarreled and restocked vamint rifle in 22 K hornet. It had alarge 18 x scope that was mounted on blocks that were soldered on top of the barrel and it also had a broken firing pin.
I was not interested in the scope or barrel that was on it but the 1 pc. stock must have cost someone a good penny to have fitted and the action is really stong built. I was able to buy it for a low price and still not sure what I am going to build out of it yet ?
Just this morning I came across a real interesting barrel that might find its way onto this rifle, its a tapered octagonal barrel 30" long and in .257 cal. might just make a nice .256 mag. rifle ?
I took a couple of pics of the action so you can see how massive it is yet made for a smallish round. The complete action weighs 2 lbs. 10 oz. but the complete rifle was quite trim and under 7 lbs. Jed

Would'nt it be great to know the stories / history of these old pieces ? I hope you will give the old girl a good home and dress her up a bit

. With any luck we may get someone chimeing in with a few clues as to age and maker. An octagonal barrel would really look the part and longer barrels were more popular back in the day. Were you able to make a replacement firing pin ?
Gaz

Calaloo · « **Reply #18 on:** February 18, 2012, 05:20:20 AM »

Jedman, I have an action exactly like yours. The lever is a bit different, but otherwise the same. Mine cane as a .218 Bee. the stock was made of laminated walnut and maple. The maple piece was the thickness of the action that fits into the stock. Walnut sides rounded out the stock. These actions are called Zeller Martini actions if I remember correctly.

jedman · « **Reply #19 on:** February 18, 2012, 10:46:36 AM »

Calaloo, Thank you for that tip, since ther are no names or marking on the action I had no idea of the maker. I did a search for Zeller Martini actions and found several photos that looked very similar to mine, the most notable difference my action is wider at the top and sides are narrower where it fits into the stock. I have seen many different lever styles in these, mine has a rather simple lever and I am glad its not more elaborate looking.
The firing pin was a simple design and I was able to make one from drill rod.
Jed

jon f · « **Reply #20 on:** March 21, 2012, 12:09:58 PM »

Gaz,
Check out The Shooters Warehouse web site, they can import liners.
Jon, from Victoria