Author Topic: Martini pistol (Read 715 times)

kevin.303 · « **on:** February 03, 2005, 05:19:42 PM »

as of last night i discovered how to post pics so don't be surpirised if i go post happy over the next few days.

if it's in .303 or .450/577 it'll be a wrist snapper!

Japlmg · « **Reply #1 on:** February 05, 2005, 01:47:35 PM »

Those Martini pistols are almost all Khyber Pass specials.
They are "work shop" made guns, or in other words they were made in a back yard work shop in Afganistan. All that I have seen are chambered for the 303 British cartridge. The metal they were made from is heaven knows what!
They are not safe to shoot with full power factory ammo, and I would not be willing to shoot mine with even mild handloads.
Regards, Gregg

kombi1976 · « **Reply #2 on:** February 05, 2005, 08:28:16 PM »

Poor thing. :cry:
Deserves a good strip down and being built into a single shot 9.3x74R or 45/70. :mrgreen:
Where did you get it?

kevin.303 · « **Reply #3 on:** February 06, 2005, 05:55:33 AM »

it' not mine but i thought it was neat. there's a guy in quebec with a lot of antiques and other neat stuff going up for auction and this was one of the weirder items.

kombi1976 · « **Reply #4 on:** February 06, 2005, 11:45:00 AM »

Well, if you can get it on the cheap and strip it down and get it fully reconditioned you'd definitely have an action for that martini custom you want to build.
Of course, it just depends on how far gone it is.

kevin.303 · « **Reply #5 on:** February 06, 2005, 02:01:41 PM »

if it's a Khyber Pass special then i don't think i want to use it as a starting point for my .405. i wonder which category of our screwed up system this would fall in to.

S.S. · « **Reply #6 on:** February 06, 2005, 03:32:29 PM »

Well, I thought I had seen pretty much every thing!
I have surely never seen one of those before !
Thanks for sharing the picture.

Oldtimer · « **Reply #7 on:** February 07, 2005, 07:13:18 AM »

As I recall, the reason for the reputation for unreliability came from using nitrate film stock, chopped up, to make propellant for guns. Rebels used to raid movie theaters and steal the flim to make ammunition. Needless to say, it was not a very progressive propellant. I would keep the gun in its original condition. It was probably totally handmade. In the early 80's, Guna and Ammo had a series of articles on guns of the Khyber region.

Oldtimer · « **Reply #8 on:** February 10, 2005, 03:59:27 PM »

I was in a doctor's office and picked up an old National Geographic to kill the time. It had an article on the Okavanga delta, which was real interesting, but later in the issue, it had an article on afghanistan, and included some information on gunmaking, referencing its website. I went to the website and there was a video on gunmaking. The URL follows: http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0412/feature1/index.html. As we have come to expect from journalists, he confused an auto shotgun with a pump, and the look the gunmaker gave him was the same as I would look at a dogpile I had just missed stepping in. It is worth a viewing.

kombi1976 · « **Reply #9 on:** February 10, 2005, 04:30:51 PM »

The link isn't working, Oldtimer. Any other tips on how to get there?

Oldtimer · « **Reply #10 on:** February 11, 2005, 03:50:55 AM »

I cut and pasted the URL, but sometimes the gremlins take over :eek: . I got there originally using this URL: www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/0412.
One word of caution: if you have a slow dial-up connection like I do, it will take about half an hour to load, but it is worth it.

Oldtimer · « **Reply #11 on:** February 11, 2005, 04:06:58 AM »

OK, third time is the charm. I tried to connect to the video and neither URL I gave worked. I then went to www.nationalgeographic.com, clicked on the archives link, and opened Dec 2004. The appropriate issue came up and then I clicked on "ON the Trail of Ben Laden". There was a link to the video on that page. When I clicked on the video link, it came up. The address bar showed the URL that I pasted in my first post, but, as the old farmer said, " You cain't git there from here." Go figure. :shock: