The origin of the Martini-Henry rifle was the American Henry Pipotti. Henry Pipotti patented the take-off and landing lock in 1862, and the prototype gun appeared in 1864, and cooperated with Providence Tools Co., Ltd. to produce the Peabody rifle. The gun was equipped in a limited number, with a total of 113,000 produced.
In 1866, an Austrian designer living in Switzerland, Frederick von Martini, modified the Peabody's design, removing the exposed firing iron from the Peabody rifle and setting up a built-in firing pin, which only needs to be pulled by the lever behind the trigger to complete a series of actions such as unlocking, shelling, locking and waiting to be fired. With fewer parts and operating steps, a more concise appearance, and an increased rate of fire and reliability, Martini had submitted his own design to the Swiss authorities, but had not adopted it because Switzerland was validating the new Vitali rifle.
In 1867, the same year that the Schneider rifle was officially equipped, Martini submitted the improved weapon to the British committee for the special collection of new rifle designs, and Remington participated in the selection.
The military chose Martini's plan after consideration, but at the same time decided that the rifling design in Martini's plan was not good, so it combined another candidate, Alexander Henry's seven-pointed rifling.
Alexander Henry was a Scottish firearms designer, and Henry's heptagonal rifling was able to fit a cylindrical warhead, using metal fixed-loading bullets. The Alexander Henry M1871 rifle (which was shortlisted) was eventually equipped with colonial forces in New South Wales, Australia, and most of the rest were used as sporting rifles.
Finally, on October 21, 1868, the Royal Arsenal of Woolwich delivered the first Martini-Henry prototype gun combined with the seven-pointed rifled in Alexander Henry.
After being tested, it was approved by the War Department on 6 March 1871, and on 13 April the Martini Henry rifle was officially produced and delivered to the British Army.
In China, when the Beiyang Admiralty purchased the Zhiyuan-class cruisers, each warship was specially equipped with 40 Martini-Henry rifles. The Shandong Machinery Bureau also made its own machine in 1876, imitating it in the same way, and in less than 2 months, it produced more than 120 pieces, and the quality was comparable to that of the British. Later, the Sichuan Machinery Bureau also manufactured such firearms. The Warlords of Kawanaka were also armed with thousands of Martini-Henry rifles during the melee period, and it was not until they ran out of ammunition in stock that they were replaced by Mauser rifles, which were more easily replenished with ammunition.
Main indicators:
1. Automatic mode: non-automatic, take-off and landing bolt, 2. Caliber: 11.43mm, 3. Weight: 3.83kg, 4. Length: 1245mm, 5. Barrel length: 850.9mm, 6.Bullet: 11.43mm black powder rifle bullet, 7. Ammunition supply mode: single-shot loading, 8. Effective range: about 550m.
Firearm Features:
1. Reloading mode: breech loading, smooth reloading.
2. Take-off and landing bolt: There is a hinge above the back of the bolt, and there is a lever support under the bolt, which extends all the way to below the trigger guard. When the shooter pulls down the guard lever, the bolt loses its lower support, and due to the natural drop in gravity, the chamber is exposed, at which point the empty shell is automatically thrown and the shooter can reload new bullets. After reloading, the lever is pulled back and the bolt is lifted to complete the latch.
3. High precision: 1200 yards (about 1092 meters) distance, the average dispersion of 20 bullets is 69.5 cm.
Variants:
The Martini-Henry rifle has four basic models
Martini Henry MK I rifle: The MK I rifle received a large number of negative reviews after being equipped, including poor bullet quality, unstable firing pin, easy rust of the latch block, loose receiver control lever, inconvenient aiming of the gauge, etc. In response to these problems, the British adjusted the design of the Martini Henry rifle in 1872, 73 and 74, so there are several versions of the MK I rifle.
Mass production was repeatedly shelved due to quality issues with the MKI rifle.
Martini-Henry MKII Rifle: Emphasis was placed on improved rulers, handguards, triggers and bolts, as well as lengthened stocks, new light bayonets, and omitted insurance.
Martini Henry MK III rifle: the main improvement was that the lower handguard was no longer connected by pins, but used a hook-shaped device hooked to the front of the receiver, which was more reliable. The indicator to be struck becomes smaller. The wider bolt makes the bolt more flexible in opening and closing. The diameter of the firing pin hole has been increased by 0.05 mm, while a thicker and stronger firing pin has been used.
Martini Henry MK IV Rifle: Designed for firing .402 (10.211 mm) caliber cartridges.
Overall Rating:
A legacy of the post-loading gun era. It was one of the symbols of the Empire at that time when the sun never set.