African Hunting Gazette – July 2019

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.