The Martini Cadet is a
centrefire
Two rounds of .357 Magnum, a centerfire cartridge; notice the circular primer in the center
A centerfire cartridge is a firearm metallic cartridge whose primer is located at the center of the base of its casing (i.e. "case head"). Unlike rimfi ...
single-shot
Single-shot firearms are firearms that hold only a single round of ammunition, and must be reloaded manually after every shot. The history of firearms began with single-shot designs, then multi-barreled designs appeared, and eventually many ce ...
cadet rifle
Springfield Model 1922 cadet rifle
A tangent sight on a CZ 452 rifle, with calibrated markings for ranges out to 300 meters
Australian Air Force Cadets using the CZ 452 during firearms training
TOZ-17
L81 A2 Cadet Target Rifle
C12A1 Canadian ...
produced in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
by
BSA and
W.W. Greener
W.W. Greener is a sporting shotgun and rifle manufacturer from England. The company produced its first firearm in 1829 and is still in business, with a fifth generation Greener serving on its board of directors.
History
The history of W.W. Gre ...
for the use of
Australian
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal Au ...
military Cadets. Although considered a miniature version of the
Martini–Henry
The Martini–Henry is a breech-loading single-shot rifle with a lever action that was used by the British Army. It first entered service in 1871, eventually replacing the Snider–Enfield, a muzzle-loader converted to the cartridge system. ...
, the internal mechanism was redesigned by Auguste Francotte to permit removal from the receiver as a single unit. Chambered for the
.310 Cadet
The .310 Cadet, also known as the .310 Greener, or the .310 Martini, is a centerfire rifle cartridge, introduced in 1900 by W.W. Greener as a target round for the Martini Cadet rifle. Firing a 120 grain heeled lead projectile at 1350 ft/s the ...
cartridge (aka: .310 Greener), it was used from 1891 to 1955. They were also sold to the public thereafter, as the BSA No.4, 4a, 4b and 5 in other calibres like the .297/230 and
.22 rimfire. The rifles will often chamber the similarly sized
.32-20 Winchester
The .32-20 Winchester, also known as .32 WCF (Winchester center fire), was the first small-game lever-action cartridge that
Winchester produced. and fire with some accuracy. However the 32/20 is actually 0.312 cal and the 310 is 0.323 cal. Due to this 10 thousandths difference the accuracy of a .32/20 round cannot be guaranteed.
After being sold by the Australian government many were converted to sporting or target rifles, often re-barrelled to calibres like
.22 Hornet,
.218 Bee
The .218 Bee is a .22 caliber centerfire rifle cartridge designed for varmint hunting by Winchester in 1937. The cartridge was originally chambered in the Winchester Model 65 lever-action rifles, which may have ultimately led to its lack of po ...
,
.25-20 Winchester
The .25-20 Winchester, or WCF (Winchester center fire), was developed around 1895 for the Winchester Model 1892 lever action rifle. It was based on necking down the .32-20 Winchester. In the early 20th century, it was a popular small game and ...
,
.222 Rimmed
The .222 Rimmed is a centrefire rifle cartridge, originating in Australia in the 1960s as a cartridge for single shot rifles, particularly the Martini Cadet action. Performance is similar to the .222 Remington on which it is based however loads ...
,
.357 Magnum
The .357 Smith & Wesson Magnum, .357 S&W Magnum, .357 Magnum, or 9×33mmR as it is known in unofficial metric designation, is a smokeless powder cartridge with a bullet diameter. It was created by Elmer Keith, Phillip B. Sharpe, and Douglas B. ...
and others to
.22 rimfire by gun makers like
Sportco.
Rifleman UK
/ref>
See also
*British military rifles
The origins of the modern British military rifle are within its predecessor the Brown Bess musket. While a musket was largely inaccurate over , due to a lack of rifling and a generous tolerance to allow for muzzle-loading, it was cheap to prod ...
*Martini–Henry
The Martini–Henry is a breech-loading single-shot rifle with a lever action that was used by the British Army. It first entered service in 1871, eventually replacing the Snider–Enfield, a muzzle-loader converted to the cartridge system. ...
*Martini–Enfield
Martini–Enfield rifles were, by and large, conversions of the Zulu War era .577/450 Martini–Henry, rechambering the rifle for use with the newly introduced .303 British cartridge. Whilst most Martini–Enfields were converted rifles, a numbe ...
*Sporterising
Sporterising, sporterisation or sporterization is the practice of modifying military-type firearms either to make them suitable for civilian sporting use or to make them legal under the law.
Modifying for sporting use
Modifying for sporting use c ...
References
External links
sportco.org.au
* {{URL, http://www.martinihenry.com/
Early rifles
Falling-block rifles
Hunting rifles