Is this soldier carrying a Martini-Henry?

[Monac]

This article starts with a short video, which you don't have to watch: https://abcnews.go.com/Internationa...nt-protests-after-increase/story?id=101480937

Below that are some still photos. In the first still, there is a soldier running ahead of a group of civilians. He has a pistol in one hand and a long gun in the other. To me, the long gun looks like a Martini-Henry but I am not sure, because I am not that familiar with them. Also, I thought it looked a bit small, so that it could be a cadet rifle of some kind. WHY he has one is a whole different question I don't expect anyone here to be able to answer. But just knowing whether that is one would be interesting to me

I guess I should have started by saying the photo was taken in Kenya on July 19, 2023. Below that first still are some pictures of security forces with weapons that date from at least the 20th century.

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

Judging by the stock and the size of the muzzle end, I think it is a Greener Martini police shotgun.



It's surprising what you can do with one of these:

 

[Skoghund]

I've seen those Greener shot guns used by the Indian police for riot control in old news footage. Many years ago I had a Greener GP with the Martini action that was fitted with multi chokes. That was many years before multichokes became main stream. About 20 years ago I had a Greener GP with a full choke 32" barrel that was not the most pleasant gun to shoot.

 

[Monac]

Thanks, Dave DeLaurant and Skoghund! That is exactly the information I wanted to find out. I had no idea that Martini action weapons were still in police/security/para-military use today.

 

[Skoghund]

Here's a Greener GP with multi choke. https://www.gunrestoration.co.uk/guns/guns-for-sale-details.asp?GunID=426
It must be over 50 years ago I bought the one I had and it was a old gun when I bought it.

 

[natman]

It's a Greener GP police shotgun. It was developed for guard / police use by British colonials. A single shot shotgun is a pretty good deterrent for a guard, but is unlikely to be turned against the colonizing government. To hinder unauthorized use, the shell is a 12 ga brass or plastic hull necked down to 14 ga. To make it even harder to use standard 12 ga shells, there is a further obstacle in two bumps on the breech that keep the firing pin from reaching the primer. GP ammo has a trench around the primer that the bumps fit into and allow the firing pin to reach the primer.