http://www.africanhuntinggazette.com 117
Terry Wieland On Ammo
Father
of them all
Thanks toZulu, theclassic 1964 movie starring MichaelCaine,theMartini-Henry rifleenjoys a
celebrity among citizens at large that is rare among militaryweapons. Tens of millionsof people
haveseen that movie and, if nothing else, learned about rifle drill in the British Army in 1879.
F
or anyonewhomighthavemissedit,
Zulu depicts, with quite admirable
accuracy, thebattle of Rorke’s Drift,
in Natal in 1879. The army awarded 11
VictoriaCrosses;inmyopinion,therecould
have beena twelfth,for theMartini-Henry
certainlyplayeda heroicrole.
TheoldMartini is oneofthelesser-sung
militaryriflesinhistory. It wasnotusedfor
long—about 15 years—andwasreally a
transitionalweaponbetweenthemuzzleloader
andtherepeatingcartridgerifle. Still,it had
anenormousimpactinseveraldifferentways.
Afterit wasofficiallyretiredinfavorofthe
bolt-action Lee-Metford in 1888,stocks of
Martini-Henrysweredistributedtocolonial
troops,militiabattalions,hunters,andtarget
shootersthroughouttheEmpire—andthat
meant,literally,throughout theworld. For
a century afterwards, you could walk into
a farmhouse in Kenya, Rhodesia, Natal,
Saskatchewan, New Zealand, or New South
Walesandfinda Martini-Henrybehindthe
door,readyforaction.
Over the long term, its cartridge, the
.577/.450, was even more influential than
therifleitself. Foronething,its480-grain
bullet set the standard for .45-caliber
dangerous-game cartridgesthatlaststo this
day. Subsequent nitro-express cartridges,
starting with the .450 NE in 1898, used
480-grainbullets. When.450swerebanned
inIndiaandtheSudanaround1905,tokeep
ammunitionoutofthehandsofinsurgents,it
wasbecausethereweresomanyoldMartini-
Henrysinthehandsofthewould-berebels.
Substitutesforthe.450NEincludedthe.470
NitroExpress,.475No.2 NE,andHolland
&Holland’s.500/.465. Moreoftenthannot,
thestandardbulletweightwas 480 grains.
The Martini-Henry proved to be so
durable, reliable, and adaptable that many
wererebarreledto.303Britishafter1888,and
thousands of new Martinis were also made in
ThisEnfield-madeMartini carbine in .303 British compares favorably with the much later Lee-Enfield No. 5 Mk. 1 — the famous
Jungle Carbine.
The original .577/.450 Martini-Henry
(left)withthe.450ExpressNo.1,thelater
.450NitroExpress,andthe.303British.
All .45-caliber English cartridges are
descended, one way or another, from the
.577/.450.