38_Cal wrote on Jan 26
th, 2010 at 4:27pm:
If it was a military carbine, the right side would have the maker's mark...and most civilian arms also used the right side for that purpose. It could still be military...look for proof marks on the barrel's underside forward of the action. Civilian proof marks will usually be mostly above the wood line. Photos?
David
David is partially correct. A British Military 577/450 would be marked on the right. Since .303 Martini is a converted 577/450, a .303 Will bare the original .577/450 markings on the right and the .303 markings on the left.
There is no "always" rule for commercial Martini Henry patterns. Commercial or volunteer patterns are more likely to have maker marking or trade name on the left but not always. If the gun was sold to a government then the government name or marks on the right. This is a most of the time thing and not an all the time thing.
Hate to be last post on a page....
That's not a carbine at all. It is a cut down rifle. I normally always and anally say restore! But in this case you need the two most difficult part to find to restore; a barrel and fore stock. Not impossible to find, but it will take a bit to find.
I suggest you offer the barrel and stocks with hardware for sale and use the action for building some sort of sporter. A nice .450 Musket or even .375 2 1/2" Flanged NE for instance. Why even a 45/70.
When you need to find Martini stuff look at the Martini Link list at
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