Interesting Finds...

[St. George]

Brit Rifles From 1880 Massacre Found

June 25, 2008 The Independent

British soldiers serving in Afghanistan have recovered weapons taken from the bodies of their Victorian forebears.

Rare Martini-Henry rifles lost in the bloody defeat at Maiwand in July 1880 have been retrieved 128 years later by troops fighting the Taliban and al-Qa'ida in Helmand province.

Two of the rifles, dated 1874 and 1878, are currently on sale in a Sussex antique shop for 1,100 apiece.

Mark Hawkins, co-owner of The Lanes Armoury, Brighton, said: "When we first fought the Afghans, we kept sending out armies who lost. The Afghans killed our chaps and took their weapons.

"Now British officers are finding these guns, recognise them for what they are, and are getting permission to bring them back. We've had a few through. I think a soldier might pick up a couple, keep one as a souvenir of his time in Afghanistan, and bring the other to us."

Peter Smithurst, senior curator of historic firearms at the Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds, said: "The Martini-Henry was the first purpose-made breech-loading rifle introduced into British service. It is an iconic rifle."

The Martini is particularly popular with collectors, he said, because of both its place in the development of firearms technology and for the role it played in the famous battles of Britain's colonial campaigns.

Smithurst said Afghanistan was increasingly a source of antique firearms. "I have been getting quite a few email inquiries from British servicemen and the American forces as well."

Hawkins said: "The Martini-Henry is a very, very collectable gun - almost entirely down to Michael Caine and the film Zulu. Everyone who has seen that film has seen the Martini-Henry and knows it is the rifle used by the British in that era."

Unlike the successful defence of Rorke's Drift in 1879, as featured in Zulu, the battle of Maiwand a year later was one of the worst British defeats of Queen Victoria's 63-year reign. A 2,500- strong Anglo/Indian force was routed by an Afghan army of about 12,000 men.

Among the 1,000 British and Indian dead were 286 men of the Martini-armed 66th (Berkshire) Regiment, who made a last stand in a walled garden in the village of Khig. When only two officers and nine men of the 66th remained alive, they charged the hordes of tribesmen surrounding them.

An Afghan witness described the end: "These men charged from the shelter of a garden and died with their faces to the enemy. So fierce was their charge, and so brave their actions, no Afghan dared approach to cut them down. Standing in the open, back to back, firing steadily, every shot counting, surrounded by thousands, these British soldiers died. It was not until the last man was shot down that the Afghans dared to advance. The behaviour of those last 11 was the wonder of all who saw it."

The weapons they wielded so gallantly could finally be returning home.

******

There's a caveat, here - and that's the fact that Martini-Henrys (and just about everything else) has been replicated by the native gunmakers in that land and in Pakistan - down to the acceptance stamps and dates.

They've been doing this since they'd captured their first ones,and the object of the exercise was to sell a rifle to a tribesman that 'looked' exactly like the ones he'd just seen.

Naturally, their conditions vary as does the quality of work, but the Bazars in Northern Afghanistan usually have them available, and at reasonable prices.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[spbirdsall]

I spent some time in Afghanistan and Uzbekistan where I got to meet with some of the purveyors of only the finest British rifles in the entire world, most taken from the clasps of the Tommy who died with it.  I was unable to bring anything back with me so I bought one of the Martini-Henry's from Southern Ohio Gun.  I'm old enough to be not mistaken as having been born yesterday but SOG must have really thought I was wet behind the ears.  They were advertised as being "British-made" but they were far from it.  OK, so the markings looked like they were stamped letter by letter, the sights were maybe not even up to SASS standards, the wood was fairly crude, but the classic was the innards!  One of the ones I disassembled and sent back had a fring pin with a replaceable tip!  Yes, the enterprising individual drilled into the main firing pin body and inserted a cut off nail.  Being a little suspect I sent it back in the vain hope of getting a "real one".  They sent me another one - hand picked - because they wanted to make nice I guess.  This one wasn't much better but it was the take down version - yes, the barrel unscrews by hand -in two pieces in the box!  That was a nice feature if only the sights weren't upside down and the extractor cut out was to the side.  Here I thought I had a nice MK II made in 1915.  Wow, MH's were's made after some time in the late 1890's if my memory serves me right.  About this time I figured I was hosed with a real piece of ...wall art!

Beanie Boy

Anybody want to buy an authentic Martini?