Tis not likely that a .45-90 would fit into a martini and a solid wager that a .45-120 will not make the bend.  That being the case, I'd be happy to rebarrel it for him because he will never be able to figure out how incompetent I am at rebarreling when the ammo wont fit.

Brent

joeb,check out the gp shot gun action.

I am assuming that the Martini in question is a British military type.  Still have two large Martini project rifles, one rebarreled to .45/70 and the other to .303 British.  When I barreled the .45/70 the original plan was to chamber for a .45/90 but that would not work out as the straight case jammed when attempting to chamber it.   This problem might be resolved by grinding the rear portion of the loading trough a little deeper to allow a straighter path into the chamber but havn't tried this.  There is a lot of metal in the Martini block and a small amount of grinding would in my opinion not compromise the rifle; but, unless one must have a Martini in .45/90 or larger why do it?  There are any number of other single shot actions that will handle either of these cartridges that allow a straight in feeding path.  the original .577/450 cartridge is quite tapered and loads just fine, a result of the shape of the cartridge

One can adjust the position of the block up or down but, as the diameter (cartridge and rim) of the .45/90 is SMALLER the .577/450 one would want to adjust the position of the block upward so as to allow the loaded cartridge to slide into the chamber rather than have the bullet catch on the bottom of the chamber.

There is no difference in the .577/450 block and the .303 British block other than the fact that the .303 British block has the firing pin hole bushed.  The .303 British rifles were converted from the .577/450s so the feed trough is the same.
Same goes for those rifles converted to .22LR in Britain for the small bore shooting clubs in Britain, if you should rin into one.

deHaas wrote an article on converting the large Martini military action that was published in Guns & Ammo in the early 1960's and ended up showing conversions to .22RF, a rimmed centerfire I do not recall, a .30-06 with a rimless extractor and and a 12 gauge shotgun.  To make the 12 gauge work he ground the loading trough down significantly.  Have the article somewhere.  In his book "Mr. Single Sot's Gunsmithing Idea Book"  a photograph of the .30-06 is shown in Fig. 3-15.  Believe it started out as a short lever (Mk. II)

Hope this helps.

Bill

One might also want to check out S. Durren's series on building a long range rifle on the Martini action in the SSRJ beginning in 2005.

Bill

Quote:



Not true at all.  There are at least four different  577/450 breech blocks and two different for the  .303. (In theory there could be 5 different blocks for the .303, but 2 is more likely)

Mk I has no tumbler clearance in the bottom and the feed trough is wider for the larger 577/450 cartridge. These blocks were supposed to be replaced with MK II block and most likely won't be encountered.

MKII has tumbler cut out and wide trough.

Mk III wider front, larger striker hole, wide trough.

Mk IV was a thinner block (top to bottom-shorter?) with rounded top corners for a new heavier extractor with wide trough.

The ME  block was made for the .303  and  has a smaller striker and narrow feed trough. This breech also is of the original taller height of the Mk I Mk II and Mk III blocks.

The modified .303 breech block has a plate dove tailed in its face to bush the striker hole.  They were made from old 577/450 breech blocks and have a wider troughs.

The ones with the wider troughs should work with the 45-90 as it is a shorter skinnier cartridge than the longer fatter Fat Boy 577/450.  The 45/90 may not fit in the ME .303 breech block but may fit the modified .303 breechblock.

I have long been a fan of Frank Dehaas and corresponded with him for several years before his death. He did inpsire me to learn.  I would have loved to discuss with him the Instruction for armourers for the care, repair , &c of the the Martini-Henry Rifle found in Ian Skennerton's  SAIS 15 and extracted from the Army Circulars dated 1st January 1877.

Frank liked new ideas or discovering old.  The original instructions contradict some of what Frank wrote and I think he would have been the first to say the old way was best!

They sure make assembly and disassembly a snap!

Hi,

I just found Vic Samuel's website as a friend of mine in England sold him some Martini Actions a while ago.

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You can get all his details there.

Best wishes,

Pete Luton
Marylebone Rifle & Pistol Club
London
England

Jim Wasmundt out of Oregon also does a splendid job.  He is listed on the resource list posted by DoubleD.  He has worked on a couple of mine and it was all excellent work.