| Year of introduction | System | Calibre |
| 1861 | Westley Richards M1861 Monkey Tail | .450" (PBRL.) |
| 1866 | Snider-Enfield (conversion) | .577" Snider |
| 1871 | Martini-Henry | .577-450" M-H |
| 1888 | Lee-Metford | .303" Black Powder |
| 1891 | Martini-Metford | .303" Black Powder |
| 1895 | Lee-Enfield | .303" Cordite |
| 1895 | Martini-Enfield | .303" Cordite |
| 1913 | Pattern 1914 | .303" Cordite |
Remarks about the table above:
The purpose of the table is to give an overview of the development of the systems that were issued to the land forces. The model designations, mentioned by the system names are indicative. Different model designations but with the same system and calibre, are not mentioned separately. Calibre modifications can be relevant for showing the technical borders of a certain system. Therefore calibre modifications are mentioned. PBRL stand for Percussion Breech Loader.
The Westley Richards Monkey Tail was issued as a carbine only.
A Martini-Henry Mk III rifle, calibre .577-450" M-H.
The receiver of a Martini-Henry MK- III infantry rifle. The year 1879 on the receiver is not the production year but the year of approval of the Martini-Henry Mk III Rifle. The factory serial numbers on Martini-Henry rifles were always stamped on the action body, barrel, and rear sight leaf and sometimes also on the breech block and lever. The rifle on the photo bears serial number 7284 and is manufactured at Enfield.
In the Danish-Prussian War of 1864 the Prussians made a short but decisive action, armed with the Dreyse needle fire rifle. These encourage the British service to adopt the breech-loading principle. In the year of 1864 the Ordnance Select Committee (OSC) was funded who started a price competition to gun makers and others to propose for the production of the most perfect military weapon. Later on the OSC reconvened as Special Committee on Breech-Loading Rifles (committee) and after seven years of extensive trails and modifications the Secretary of State ordered the Martini-Henry Mark-I Infantry Rifle, first pattern on 13 April 1871.
Frederick Hitch, VC, 1856-1913 was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions during the engagement in the Zulu War at Rorke's Drift. He served with the 2nd Battalion, 24th (2nd Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot. Hitch was medically discharged from the army as a result of his injuries received in the battle. He worked the remainder of his life as a taxi driver in London. The rifle on the photo can be identified as a Martini Mk I or MK II Infantry Rifle because of the large cocking indicator.
Source: http://freespace.virgin.net/sean.farrell/index.htm.
The Martini-Henry rifle lends its name form the inventor of the action, Friedrich von Martini and the designer of the barrel, Alexander Henry.
On 22 July 1868 Frederich von Martini, of Frauenfeld, Switserland took the British patent number 2305 for the invention of "improvements in breech-loading firearms. This patent describes the Martini action that closely resembles the action on the sketch below.
The interior of a Martini. Only the Martini-Henry Mark I rifle has a trigger action different from all the other Marks. Source: "Die Handfeuerwaffen" by Rudolf Schmidt, 1875.
Much of the success of the accuracy of the Martini-Henry (M-H) arms could be attributed to the barrel rifling, designed by Alexander Henry who expanded the basic design from Joseph Whitworth. It was the same Sir Joseph Whitworth also who brought about the standardization of screw threads in England. In personal correspondence W.E. Metford remarked that it was commonly considered that the Henry merely added small grooves to Joseph Whitworth rifling in order to circumvent patent rights! The bore of the muzzle loader Whitworth rifles will soon become filthy, especially at hot weather.
The left picture displays the Whitworth lands and groves in comparison to the rifling of the Henry barrel in the right picture.
The British Patent issued to the rifling of Alexander Henry was No.2802 on 15 November 1860 and the system was described as a polygonal bore. With the Henry rifling the bullet requires less expansion to fill the planes than conventional rifling, which touches the centres of the planes only. Whilst the planes with the Henry groves have more power to insure the proper rotation of the bullet.
It has seven grooves of a right hand uniform twist, with one turn in 22 inches.
Drawing with the measures of the Henry barrel.
As issued, Henry's barrel had a nominal bore of .450", obtained by allowing a .449" plug to run whilst rejecting one of .451". Besides, the bore is relieved for the first eight inches. For this the Henry's barrel was slightly enlarged at the breech end, so that a .451" plug would run in 4 inches and one of .450", eight inches. From this point to the muzzle the bore was cylindrical. See the drawing above.
"W.Hunter, H.T. Arbuthnet, "M-H Inspecting and gauging instructions"
Information about the internal dimensions of the Henry barrel were obtained
from the "M-H Inspecting and gauging instructions" of W.Hunter, H.T. Arbuthnet,
An original document from 1880 that was published on
http://www.britishguns.net. This website is no longer available. Click on the icon above to download
the document "W.Hunter,
H.T. Arbuthnet, "Inspecting_and_gauging_M-H.pdf".
(Size: 1703 kB).
"Martini patterns.pdf" More than 40 different military
service patterns were made, using the Martini action. Prototypes and civil
versions are excluded form this number. Click on the icon above to download the
document "Martini patterns.pdf" for a complete overview. (Size: 21 kB)
You can view this file with Adobe Reader.
.
Click on the
left icon to download the latest version.
When the back sight leaf is raised it is inclined at an angle of 1 deg 6 min with the vertical line of the axis of the bore. This inclination is intended to correct the permanent deflection due to the rifling.
This photo shows a Martini-Henry Mk IV on the left next to a Martini-Henry Mk III on the right.
Notice the slight, chequered hollow, cut out in the upper rear part of the Mk III body on the photo. This hollow should receive the thumb of the right hand when firing. This alteration was suggested by the committee in their "Long Chamber Rifle and Other Trails" final report. This report was presented on 8 February 1871. This was probably after complains of the Portsmouth 46th Regiment and the Portsmouth HMS Excellent (a naval shore base, not a ship) during the trails. The chequered hollow must prevent that the thumb of the right hand is placed across the head of the stock, this in some cases, results in a bloody nose caused by the recoil. The chequered hollow is placed on the body of all Martini-action rifles and carbines, except the Martini-Henry Mk IV rifles.
Martini-Henry rifle practice of a Burma Regiment.
Source : P. Warner, "Army Life in the '90s" London, Great Brittain 1975.
Pattern Produced Year Factory
M-H Mk III 20,941 1888 ENFIELD
27,000 1881 ENFIELD
5,010 BSA & M Co.
3,340 LSA Co.
1,650 NA & A Co.
19,833 1882 ENFIELD
2,668 BSA & M Co.
2,666 LSA Co.
8,000 NA & A Co.
15,182 1883 ENFIELD
3,900 BSA & M Co.
2,600 LSA Co
1,500 NA & A Co.
33,245 1884 ENFIELD
3,900 BSA & M Co.
2,600 LSA Co.
29,100 1885 ENFIELD
3,900 BSA & M Co.
2,600 LSA Co.
32,000 1886 BSA & M Co.
16,000 LSA Co.
1 1887 ENFIELD
4 1888 ENFIELD
14 1890 ENFIELD
________________________________ +
Production total 232,320
ENFIELD : The Royal Small Arms Factory (RSAF) at Enfield Lock
BSA & M Co. : Birmingham Small Arms & Metal Company Ltd.
LSA Co : London Small Arms Company Ltd.
NA & A Co. : National Arms and Ammunition Company Ltd.
The figures are for the British government contracts only. Direct orders from colonial governments or by trade are excluded.
The receiver of a Martini-Henry MK IV A-Pattern rifle in calibre .577-450" M-H.
The factory serial number on this M-H Mk IV A-Pattern rifle is 5250. The serial number is remaining the same as on the former original E-M Mk I First Pattern. The factory serial number 8287 on the rear sight blade is not identical to the rest of the rifle. This means that the rear side blade is stripped from another rifle. Later on there is also a number 3862 stamped on right side of the body. On the butt is a number 2683 stamped. Is this the work of an analphabetic workman? 1887 on the left side of the body is the year of approval of the E-M Mk I First Pattern, not the year of conversion. This rifle is no longer part of my collection.
On 28 October 1880 the Director of Artillery and Stores forwarded a minute to the Surveyor General that states the following: "at the time the Martini-Henry arm was introduced it was superior, as a military weapon, to any other arm in either Europe or America, but this is no longer the case". On 9 December 1880 a Committee on Martini-Henry Rifles and Ammunition was formed. After extensive trails and modifications the Enfield-Martini Rifle, Mark I, First Pattern was approved on 17 April 1886. The Enfield-Martini Rifle, Mark I, Second Pattern was approved on 13 May 1887. These E-M rifles differ from the M-H rifles in many respects. The main feature of the E-M rifles was the .402" bore with reverse ratchet rifling.
Because of the adoption of the .303" Lee-Metford magazine rifle in 1888, all the, about 65.000, Enfield-Martini rifles were restricted for use. From logistic point of view it was undesirable to have a third different calibre besides the old .577-450 M-H and the new .303" M-M calibre. On 15 September 1887 the Martini-Henry Rifle Mark IV with a .577-450" calibre was approved.
All Enfield-Martini Mark I First Pattern Rifles were converted to Martini-Henry Mark IV A-Pattern Rifles. All Enfield-Martini Mark I Second Pattern rifles were converted to Martini-Henry Mark IV B-Pattern rifles. Only the M-H Rifle Mark IV C-Pattern rifles were new manufactured. Besides E-M arms used for conversion, there were also E-M parts used from store to create M-H Mk IV arms.
The Martini-Henry MK IV Rifle is in certain ways different from the M-H Mark III rifles. The lever is lengthened 3" so as to increase the power of extraction. Also the form of the butt and body are modified and there is placed a brass liner between but plate and stock to prevent corrosion. The butt screws are made from brass for the same reason.
A Martini-Henry Mk III rifle and below a Martini-Henry Mk IV rifle. Notice the longer lever of the Mk IV.
Notice the differences in but and body between the Martini-Henry Mk III and Mk IV rifles. Notice the small brass horizontal stripe on the knox of the Mk IV barrel. Once the short range back sight of the E-M MK I First Pattern rifle was placed on this position.
The easiest way to distinguish an M-H Mk IV A-Pattern form the M-H MK IV B-Pattern and M-H Mk IV C-Pattern rifles is to look at the front sight. The M-H Mk IV A-Pattern has the same front sight as the M-H MK III rifles. The B-patterns and C-Patterns have the block of the front sight furnished with an inclined plane. The short range back sight of the E-M MK I First Pattern rifle is removed and replaced with a small plate, braced on the top of the knox form of the M-H MK IV A-Pattern. The hole in the butt that located the old short lever catch block is filled with a wooden insert, which is another identifying mark of the M-H MK IV A-Pattern. The long lever was already introduced on the E-M Mk I Second Pattern. The easiest way to identify an M-H Mk IV B-Pattern from the C-Pattern is by the designation on the right side of the body. On M-H Mk IV B-Pattern rifles is stamped I.V. Hence the dot between I and V. M-H Mk IV C-Pattern rifles are stamped IV.. The barrel and knox form of the B-Pattern is also 0.125" / 3 mm shorter than the barrel of the C-Pattern. This is due to the conversion of the calibre form .402 M-E to .577-450 M-H.
This photo shows the muzzle and cleaning rod of a Martini-Henry Mk III rifle on the left. Notice the differences with the cleaning rod of the Martini-Henry Mk IV A-Pattern rifle next to it.
Pattern Produced Year
E-M Mk I First Pattern 21,725 1887
E-M Mk I First Pattern 7 1888
___________________ +
Production total 21,732
M-H Mk IV A-Pattern 21,185 1888
M-H Mk IV A-Pattern 570 1889
___________________ +
Total converted 21,755
Pattern Produced Year
E-M Mk I Second Pattern 21,487 1887
E-M Mk I Second Pattern 21,415 1888
__________________ +
Production total 42,902
M-H Mk IV B-Pattern 3,040 1888
M-H Mk IV B-Pattern 39,862 1889
__________________ +
Total converted 42,902
Pattern Produced Year
M-H Mk IV C-Pattern 16,203 1888
M-H Mk IV C-Pattern 19,141 1889
__________________ +
Production total 35,344
The photo illustrates a sword bayonet Pattern 1887 MK III made on May 1893 by Wilkinson Sword Company, London. The bayonet has serial number 9570. The scabbard has serial number 11512.
From all M-H Mk IV Rifle patterns only the A-Pattern has a front sight that is suitable for attachment of a socket bayonet. For this reason a new sword bayonet Pattern 1887 is supplied for the M-H Mk IV Rifles. This was the first bayonet specially intended for use on M-H arms to be given a pattern/year designation.
| Sword Bayonet Pattern 1887 | Fullered blade | Bolt spring | Grip attachment | Approved |
| Mark I | yes | flat | 4 small rivets | 13-5-1887 |
| Mark II | yes | spiral | 2 rivets with washers | 10-7-1888 |
| Mark III | no | spiral | 2 rivets with washers | 22-6-1888 |
|
Mark IV |
yes | flat | 4 small rivets | 1-6-1891 |
The pattern 1887 Mark I bayonet was simply the E-M Second Pattern bayonet with the muzzle guide and false foresight removed. The Mark II and III Pattern 1887 bayonets were an attempt at cheapening the manufacture. The original E-M First Pattern bayonets, intended for the Enfield-Martini MK-I Rifle, were later converted to Sword Bayonets Pattern 1887 Mark IV.
After many years in the City of London, a large order of the British Government prompted the Wilkinson Sword Company of London to start looking for a larger factory, which it finally managed in 1899 when Wilkinson Sword moved to Oakley Street, Chelsea. Source: http://www.wilkinson-swords.com.
.577" Boxer cartridge
The famous Kolonel E.M. Boxer improved the design of G.H.Daw, which led to a lawsuit, before the Boxer cartridge was adopted by the English for their Enfield-Snider conversion.
Below, from left tot right:
- .22 Long Rifle cartridge (for comparison only).
- .577" Boxer cartridge Mark VII for the Snider rifle.
- .577" Boxer cartridge Mark IX for the Snider rifle.
.577-450" Cartridge Small Arm, Martini-Henry
The prototypes of the small bore .450" Martiny-Henry rifle initially used a tapered cartridge. The tapered shape made it necessary to make a very long cartridge to get enough volume for the large powder charge. The trails with these so called long chamber rifles did not satisfy, so Eley developed a new shape, the so called bottle neck cartridge.
Below, from left tot right:
- .22 Long Rifle cartridge (for comparison only).
- .577-450" Cartridge Small Arm, Ball Martini-Henry rifle with rolled case Mark I. Notice that the bullet has 1 cannelure.
- .577-450" Cartridge Small Arm, Ball Martini-Henry carbine with rolled case Mark I. Notice that the bullet has 2 cannelures.
- .577-450" Cartridge Small Arm, Buckshot Martini-Henry rifle and carbine Mark II.
- .577-450" Martini-Henry cartridge with case of solid drawn brass.
The paper patch did not always unwind sufficiently fall off. To rectify this problem , three longitudinal cuts , 0.5 inch long were made in the paper on the side of the bullet. The paper patch of this mark is red coloured.
Cartridge, Small Arm, Blank, Martini-Henry and Snider Arms
Below, from left tot right:
- .22 Long Rifle cartridge (for comparison only).
- Cartridge, Small Arm, Blank, Martini-Henry and Snider Arms Mark IV converted pattern 1.
- Cartridge, Small Arm, Blank, Martini-Henry and Snider Arms Mark IV.
- Cartridge, Small Arm, Blank, Martini-Henry and Snider Arms Mark IV converted pattern 3.
The Mark IV converted blank cartridges were made from rejected rifle or carbine rolled cartridges cases or complete rounds.
Boxer service cartridges for both the Snider and the M-H, and also the life rounds, have no head stamps. The only exception were the cartridges made at the Royal Laboratories, Woolwich Arsenal. Cartridges made at the Royal Laboratories had two small government broad arrows stamped in the flange of the primer pocket. See the photo below.
Below, from left tot right:
- head stamp of a .577-450" Martini-Henry cartridge with case of solid drawn brass.
- head stamp of a .577-450" Cartridge Small Arm, Ball Martini-Henry rifle with rolled case.
.303 Cartridge - Cartridge S.A. Ball .303 inch Cordite Mark VII
Below, a .303 Clip with "Cartridge S.A. Ball .303 inch Cordite mark VII". In 1910 the 174 grain spitzer pointed Mark VII bullet was adopted and the muzzle velocity was increased to 2440 fps. This mark of bullet remained the standard ball round for the remainder of the .303 cartridge's service life. "R > L" on 10 o'clock indicates that this cartridge was made by Royal Laboratories in 1944 (year of manufacture on 2 o'clock). The cartridge mark designation "VII" can be found on 6 o'clock.
B.A.Temple, I.D. Skennerton, "A treatise on the British Military Martini, The Martini Henry 1869-C1900", Kilcoy, Australia 1983.
B.A. Temple, I.D. Skennerton, "A treatise on the British Military Martini, The .40 & .303 Martinis 1880-C1920", Burbank, Australia 1989.
B.A. Temple, I.D. Skennerton, "A treatise on the British Military Martini, Manufacture, Training Arms & Accessories", Kilcoy, Australia 1995.
Major F.Myatt, M.C., "Geillustreerde encyclopedie van de 19de-eeuwse vuurwapens", London, UK 1979. (Dutch language).
The website of Martini-Henry specialist Jason Atkin http://www.martinihenry.com/.
B.A. Temple, "The Boxer Cartridge in the British Service", Wynnum Central, Australia 1977.