SlowShooter
SeaWaves not TigerStripes
First, I want to say that I love the Queen of England and I also have great respect for her subjects. I do have a small collection of English military small arms (not just Mosin Nagant rifles) and Martini Henry (MH) Mrk IV rifle is one of them. The image of British soldiers in red coats holding the MHs in movies such as Zulu and Zulu Dawn helped me to understand the words MAGNIFICENT and GLORY.
I acquired my MH from Gunbroker a year ago and I really enjoy making the ammo and shooting them. My version of the ammo is cheap to produce and accurate enough for steel gong at 100 yards. I was extremely happy with this rifle until last weekend when I decided to fire form 10 blemished cases left from 24G shot shell to MH case forming process using Lee die. I am not new to the case fire forming. I have done it a zillion times with other rifles that I own especially the French’s Gras rifles. For large cases like Gras and MH, I normally use 8gr of Titewad and fill the rest with wheatmeal. The cartridges are capped with toilet tissues. Nothing fancy.
last weekend, my MH was jammed after 80 reduced loads and 10 fire form loads. It happened right after the very last shot. At first, I did not know what really happened to the rifle. I could not eject the casing out of the chamber. I fought with the problem all night and I failed. The MH action was something I did not know too much about. I did disassemble the rifle once when I first got it for inspection. I had a hard time putting it back so I had not field stripped it for a year. The next day, I knocked on top of the breech block with a piece of wood and the brass was ejected, but the smile did not stay on my face for long when I discovered that the action now stop working. At this very moment, the disappointment started flooding my soul. I put the rifle down then walked upstairs. If I stayed in my basement a minute longer, The MH would be in pieces.
The next evening, I disassembled the MH action. Again, I did it the wrong way; I removed the trigger group first than the breech block. When the breech block dropped out of the receiver, I saw something wrong with the tip of the striker. I than dissembled the breech block; after everything came apart, I found the striker broken in half.
I spent a couple of days searching for MH striker issue on the internet and I did not see anyone complaint about it. I also found that the replacement strikers could be found in some UK websites and at International Military Antiques (IMA) for $40 and up. After I ordered the $40 second grade type III striker form IMA, I discovered that they also have type II strikers. The original type II striker are selling for $80 and a Nepalese made can be had for as little as $20. After I read the description and the review for several times, I decided to buy a Nepalese made striker also. I believed that I can make it to work in my MH.
While waiting for the replacement parts, I have questions for the folks who own the MH rifles out there. How often striker and striker spring are broken in MH rifles? How to prevent these mishaps from happening again? Where can I find cheap replacement striker? Is there anyone out there let the Chinese manufacturing knowing that MH owner communities around the world need strikers and striker springs?
I acquired my MH from Gunbroker a year ago and I really enjoy making the ammo and shooting them. My version of the ammo is cheap to produce and accurate enough for steel gong at 100 yards. I was extremely happy with this rifle until last weekend when I decided to fire form 10 blemished cases left from 24G shot shell to MH case forming process using Lee die. I am not new to the case fire forming. I have done it a zillion times with other rifles that I own especially the French’s Gras rifles. For large cases like Gras and MH, I normally use 8gr of Titewad and fill the rest with wheatmeal. The cartridges are capped with toilet tissues. Nothing fancy.
last weekend, my MH was jammed after 80 reduced loads and 10 fire form loads. It happened right after the very last shot. At first, I did not know what really happened to the rifle. I could not eject the casing out of the chamber. I fought with the problem all night and I failed. The MH action was something I did not know too much about. I did disassemble the rifle once when I first got it for inspection. I had a hard time putting it back so I had not field stripped it for a year. The next day, I knocked on top of the breech block with a piece of wood and the brass was ejected, but the smile did not stay on my face for long when I discovered that the action now stop working. At this very moment, the disappointment started flooding my soul. I put the rifle down then walked upstairs. If I stayed in my basement a minute longer, The MH would be in pieces.
The next evening, I disassembled the MH action. Again, I did it the wrong way; I removed the trigger group first than the breech block. When the breech block dropped out of the receiver, I saw something wrong with the tip of the striker. I than dissembled the breech block; after everything came apart, I found the striker broken in half.
I spent a couple of days searching for MH striker issue on the internet and I did not see anyone complaint about it. I also found that the replacement strikers could be found in some UK websites and at International Military Antiques (IMA) for $40 and up. After I ordered the $40 second grade type III striker form IMA, I discovered that they also have type II strikers. The original type II striker are selling for $80 and a Nepalese made can be had for as little as $20. After I read the description and the review for several times, I decided to buy a Nepalese made striker also. I believed that I can make it to work in my MH.
While waiting for the replacement parts, I have questions for the folks who own the MH rifles out there. How often striker and striker spring are broken in MH rifles? How to prevent these mishaps from happening again? Where can I find cheap replacement striker? Is there anyone out there let the Chinese manufacturing knowing that MH owner communities around the world need strikers and striker springs?