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Martini–Enfield rifles were, by and large, conversions of the .577/450
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. Mar ...
rifle, rechambered for use with the newly introduced .303 British cartridge. Whilst most Martini–Enfields were converted rifles, a number were newly manufactured as well.


Overview

The Martini–Enfield Mk I was a Martini–Henry Mk III rebarrelled to .303 and with a new extractor installed, whilst the Martini–Enfield Mk II rifles were generally of new manufacture, although there are examples of converted Mk II rifles. Originally (from 1889) Martini–Henry conversions used Metford rifled barrels (and were known as Martini–Metford rifles), which were more than suitable for the first .303 cartridges, which used
black powder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...
as a propellant but wore out very quickly when fired with
cordite Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in Britain since 1889 to replace black powder as a military firearm propellant. Like modern gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burni ...
/nitrocellulose cartridges (introduced in 1895). In 1895, the Enfield rifled barrel was introduced, which was much more suitable for use with cordite based smokeless ammunition. The Martini–Enfield saw service with
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
n colonial forces during the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902). The Martini–Enfield was in service from 1895–1918 ( Lawrence of Arabia's Arab Irregulars were known to have used them during the
Arab Revolt The Arab Revolt ( ), also known as the Great Arab Revolt ( ), was an armed uprising by the Hashemite-led Arabs of the Hejaz against the Ottoman Empire amidst the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. On the basis of the McMahon–Hussein Co ...
of 1916–1918, along with any other firearms they could acquire) and it remained a Reserve Arm in places like India and New Zealand until well into
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Martini–Enfield rifles were manufactured/converted by: * RSAF (
Royal Small Arms Factory The Royal Small Arms Factory (RSAF), also known by the metonym ''Enfield'', was a UK government-owned rifle factory in Enfield, adjoining the Lee Navigation in the Lea Valley. Some parts were in Waltham Abbey. The factory produced British m ...
),
Enfield Lock Enfield Lock is an area in the London Borough of Enfield, north London. It is approximately located east of the Hertford Road between Turkey Street and the Holmesdale Tunnel overpass, and extends to the River Lee Navigation, including the En ...
* LSA Co (London Small Arms Co) * BSA & M Co (Birmingham Small Arms & Metals Co, later simply BSA) * HRB Co (Henry Rifle Barrel Co, later went out of business and taken over by Blenheim Engineering) * NA&A Co (National Arms & Ammunition Co) Martini–Enfield rifles were very well made and are more than capable of handling modern commercial .303 British ammunition, but, as with all second hand firearms, they should always be checked by a competent gunsmith before attempting to fire them. In advance to the Mk VII spitzer bullet introduction, a Mk III proof round with 20% higher pressure was introduced in 1908; rifles modified earlier and proven with previous marks may have a modified blackpowder-era breech block slightly weakened with the insertion of a new face, but the rifles with newly made breech blocks should withstand even WWII military surplus ammo.


Khyber Pass Copies

The
Khyber Pass The Khyber Pass (Urdu: درۂ خیبر; ) is a mountain pass in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on the border with the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. It connects the town of Landi Kotal to the Valley of Peshawar at Jamrud by tr ...
region between Pakistan and
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
has long had a reputation for producing unlicensed, home-made copies of firearms using whatever materials are available-more often than not, railway sleepers, junked motor vehicles, and scrap metal. During the various British military expeditions in the North-West Frontier, the locals acquired examples 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. Mar ...
, Martini–Enfield, and later, Lee Metford and
Lee–Enfield The Lee–Enfield is a bolt-action, magazine-fed repeating rifle that served as the main firearm of the military forces of the British Empire and Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century, and was the standard service rifle of th ...
rifles and began to make their own copies. The quality on such rifles varies from "As good as a factory-produced example" to "dangerously unsafe", tending towards the latter end of the scale. The ammunition used in the region is often underloaded, being made from a variety of powders—or even old film (which contains nitrocellulose, prior to the introduction of saftey film stocks; a key component of
smokeless powder Finnish smokeless powder Smokeless powder is a type of propellant used in firearms and artillery that produces less smoke and less fouling when fired compared to black powder. Because of their similar use, both the original black powder formula ...
). As such, Khyber Pass Copy rifles cannot generally stand up to the pressures generated by modern commercial ammunition, because of the significant possibility of severe injury or death to the operator it is generally advised that such weapons should not be fired under any but the most extremely unlikely rare and desperate circumstances, although some collectors have made mild handloaded cartridges for their Khyber Pass rifles. This practice is not recommended, and anyone firing a Khyber Pass rifle is doing so at their own risk. Khyber Pass Copies can be recognised by a number of factors, notably: * Spelling errors in the markings (the most common of which is a backwards "N" in "Enfield") * V.R. (''Victoria Regina'') cyphers dated after 1901—
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
died in 1901, so any rifles made after this should be stamped "E.R." (''Edward Rex'', referring to
King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...
) * Generally inferior workmanship, including weak/soft metal, poorly finished wood, and badly struck markings. Many different versions of the original Enfield rifles are on sale at UN, United States or
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
-authorized
bazaar A bazaar or souk is a marketplace consisting of multiple small Market stall, stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, Central Asia, North Africa and South Asia. They are traditionally located in vaulted or covered streets th ...
s usually adjacent to or within military or diplomatic installations in Afghanistan. Until that time, it was common to find a great variety of 'Khyber pass' fake weapons. These ranged a gamut of Martini–Henrys, Snider-converted original Enfield pattern 1853s, blatant knockoffs of the Martini–Henry rifles that lacked all British markings completely and were often engraved with popular Middle Eastern geometric and scrollwork designs. After the limitations regarding the loading method cut the supply of these being brought into bazaars went into effect, many of the vendors simply resorted to bringing fake muzzle-loading British pattern 1853 'Tower' rifles to sell as send-home replicas. While some vendors may claim them to be made by Enfield, most usually make no claim at all regarding their authenticity.


References

''Small Arms Identification Series No. 15: .450 & .303 Martini Rifles & Carbines'' (2002) Skennerton, Ian, Arms & Militaria Press, Gold Coast, QLD


External links


martinihenry.com
��An excellent source of information on the Martini–Henry and Martini–Enfield rifles. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martini-Enfield Early rifles Victorian-era weapons of the United Kingdom Rifles of the United Kingdom .303 British rifles Single-shot rifles