.45 Colt Chamber Insert For .577-450 Martini

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GCBurner

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I picked up an old Martin-Henry at the gun show the other day, as I posted in the Firearms Research Forum. Mechanically, it seems in good shape, but before it was sold, the Brits de-milled it into a drill rifle by making a thin saw cut through the chamber area of the barrel.
MH2.jpg

I've heard of people using chamber inserts from someplace like Old Western Scrounger to shoot .45 Colt ammo in these old guns. I'm wondering if anybody here has experience in using these, and whether the insert is long enough to go past the cut area of the chamber, allowing a cowboy type .45 load to be fired safely? The 1877 rifle is pretty much original, and the bore, other than the cut, is in excellent condition. It would be a shame to just have it as a decorator item, but I don't want to mess up a real collectible by a modern rebarreling.

These are kind of neat guns, as well as being historic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1csr0dxalpI
 
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Well, talk about a blast from the past. I picked up one of those adapters quite a few years ago. The adapter I have is about 2 3/8" long. You would need to measure the distance to see if the cuts were made less than that amount. However I echo Articaps advice. As I recall the accuracy was mediocre at 50 yards. It is likely that it could be improved by handloading, perhaps with heavier bullets, other powders etc. The rounds I shot were a few factory .45 Colt cartridges. I only shot a few in my M-H before I was made a offer on the rifle I couldn't refuse. G
 
Your accuracy will be poor to awful.

Most of the M-H's have bore around .456 - .460
The 45LC bullet is.452 - .454.

Slug the barrel and measure first.
 
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