Martini Day at the Indoor Range

[Dave DeLaurant]

So many fine single shots in this thread.... I actually feel guilty, thinking you all meant a Martini Drink. ( long day, so pardon the misguided comment )

You're not alone -- most mixed drink fans are also unaware that the French 75 was the name of a field artillery piece long before a cocktail was named after it.

Here's a picture of Friedrich Martini, the Swiss dude responsible for the firearm action:



The origins of the cocktail are less straightforward, but one theory is that it was named after the Italian Martini & Rossi wine company in Turin, a brand famous for its Vermouth. This Martini was founded by Alessandro Martini, probably not a direct relative of Friedrich but you never know:



Personally, I prefer fruity cocktails with little umbrellas -- my wife is into Tiki kitsch and I like to play along.



Alcohol and gunpowder do not mix, unless you are determining proof:

https://utreon.com/v/1ez34Tf9wFk

 

[1KPerDay]

Belated update on the Cadet Martini: I removed the crooked front sight base, filled in the D&T'ed mounting hole and sweated a banded 1893 Mauser front sight base in its place. It took a couple tries to get the base properly centered, but the sights are finally zeroed! The Cadet shooting test is the second part of this short video (timestamp 1:23+):

Looks like you're having ejecting problems maybe?

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

Looks like you're having ejecting problems maybe?

Yeah, no doubt due to some aspect of my caseforming/resizing process -- about one case in ten only extracts partially.

Since these are custom-formed cases and the rifle has a custom-reamed chamber, it may take me some time to figure out exactly where the problem lies; I do know that it isn't an issue with my Encore barrel in the same chambering.

I should probably just send my chamber reamer to Lee and have a custom FL resize die made, but so far my instinctive cheapness is holding me back. It's not a big deal -- I keep a ramrod handy at the range.

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

.45 Turkis is a 11.43X55 bottle neck cartridge. One of the possible donors is a .50-90. The chamber is very large! I do not reload and am not going to start for this rifle. It was in a friends family from new, they were from Providence, RI and his Great Grandfather owned it. Probably bought locally after the cancellation of the Turkish contract.

Looks like Buffalo has formed 11.43X55 Turkish cases back in stock. A tad pricey -- good thing its for a single shot!

https://www.buffaloarms.com/11-43x55r-turkish-cases-11-43x55r.html

 

[Ugly Sauce]

Looks like Buffalo has formed 11.43X55 Turkish cases back in stock. A tad pricey -- good thing its for a single shot!

And again, not so pricey when they should last a lifetime. But, "no ammo to be had" kind of tells me Rubone don't reload, so I don't think the old girl is gonna speak again.

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

And again, not so pricey when they should last a lifetime. But, "no ammo to be had" kind of tells me Rubone don't reload, so I don't think the old girl is gonna speak again.

There is another alternative for using factory ammo, albeit a short-ranged one:

1. Acquire one round or a formed case from Buffalo, or make a chamber casting from the rifle. Make sure it chambers and ejects freely!

2. Send it to Ace at MCA Sports in Anchorage, AK with a check for $40 and ask him to make a chamber adapter from it to take a .45 pistol or revolver cartridge (.45 Colt would work nicely with unjacketed lower-pressure cowboy loads.)

http://www.mcaceak.com/index.html

3. Be patient for a month or two.


Last year I had Ace make me a batch of five custom adapters for my 8x58Rd Swedish rolling blocks that take .32 H&R and .32 S&W Long. I prefer to reload, but in a pinch factory .32 Long target wadcutter ammo will work just fine for this purpose. Here's proof that it works, at least out to 25 yards or so:



dh1633pm added some good photos of the setup at the end of this posting:

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/swedish-rb-32-h-r-one-huge-pcc.896238/

BTW, if your rifle had been chambered for 577/450, you could have bought one of these off the shelf:

https://www.theshootersbox.com/577450-Martini-Henry-to-45ACP-Caliber-Adapter_p_35361.html

 

[Ugly Sauce]

Dang it Dave. You got cool stuff, cool guns, and cool solutions. I didn't even know that such adapters could be made. That would sure be a fine solution. I hope Rubone does that, and let's that fine old girl have her say again.

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

Dang it Dave. You got cool stuff, cool guns, and cool solutions. I didn't even know that such adapters could be made. That would sure be a fine solution. I hope Rubone does that, and let's that fine old girl have her say again.

Aw shucks!