Thread: .577/450 Martini

Check out the British Militaria Forums, there is a Martini Henry section where you will find out all you need to know!

Originally Posted by omark

Thanks for all of the advice guys. I will try and get some Bertram brass and some projectiles to get me going. Does anyone have the contact details for holy smoke. I understand they are located in the huntly area. I will keep an eye out for a mould on TM or at gun shows

I might be able to assist with some of this, I have heaps of SPANZ brass, which makes it a 45/70 basically, no pissing around with necked brass to load, may have a bullet mould and about 3 more 577/450 rifles, if you really get keen.
I’m having a few days in Auck, so not back till next week.

Here is what works for me:

CBE 468" bullet,coated it liquid allox,cast stone hard so it grips in the Rifling,bullet seated long out in the case.Military Martinis have a long throat,almost like a choke but at the other end.

60 Grains 1.5FG with case filled with foam window backer rod,cut off at case mouth

CBC reformed 24 gauge Case

Magnum pistol primer.

Wear a pith helmet when shooting.

This load will shoot to the sights at 100m and still have enough grunt to shoot a Deer I reckon.Personally I have never found any advantage in heavy loads or grease cookies or wad stacks as the Yanks seem to love.I was usung a greased felt wad between to other wads made from milk carton for a while but it didnt help.Sounds like your bore is in top nick so thats going to help.The Military Martinis seem toe very consistent in bore diameter,I have never measured the bore in any of the ones I owned.

If you can scare up a "Sutherland" rear sight,that will improve your shooting greatly as those sights are windage and finely adjustable.They also fit Sniders,P53s and Long Toms,there are a few floating around NZ.

Enjoy your Rifle,its a great way to begin BP shooting .

Generous offer from @Maca49 SPANZ would be the simplest cases to load, some have a step in to prevent the bullet seating too deep

Originally Posted by Marty Henry

Generous offer from @Maca49 SPANZ would be the simplest cases to load, some have a step in to prevent the bullet seating too deep

Except Spanz cases vary wildly in size and just don't fit some chambers and need turning to fit

He's got Bertam coming and can run it full noise like it should be

If you want to run a 577-450 like a 45-70 buy a 45-70

Well of course buy both and then buy a whole heap more

If you run it " full noise" it will shoot a foot high,be less accurate and beat you up.

Since he is unlikely to face a Cavalry charge ,the most accurate load that is comfortable to shoot economically would be the most logical choice. Some BP cartridges do seem to shoot best with a full case,in my experience 577/450 does not.

Originally Posted by akaroa1

Except Spanz cases vary wildly in size and just don't fit some chambers and need turning to fit

He's got Bertam coming and can run it full noise like it should be

If you want to run a 577-450 like a 45-70 buy a 45-70

Well of course buy both and then buy a whole heap more

All good, if you “fit” them to the chambers. I got a few when I bought a 577/450 off a guy in Katikati. VonGruff bought it off me and that’s the one he restocked and boxed, I wish I’d bought it back. The bore was mint, being a full rifle it was heavy to fire from the shoulder and hurt to much prone. I stick to carbines

https://noebulletmolds.com/site/prod...oulds/458-460/
40% off sale on molds.

577-450 ah a caliber I have played with and formed hundreds of cases from 24 gauge for other people

Trouble is I'm very fussy and never had the opportunity to buy a really nice 577-450 sporting rifle


I have Bertram brass
Spanz brass
Multiple bullet moulds including a Spanz mould
Sizers etc etc
But typically I have the cart before the horse and don't have a rifle !

Originally Posted by akaroa1

@omark I would strongly advise the purchase of some Holy Smoke 1.5 FG Cartridge Black Powder for your 577-450
It is commercially made in NZ and of the very highest quality
The 1.5 FG cartridge is perfect in large capacity cases like 577-450

You should use Large Pistol primers for your BP loads

I used FFG in mine and my 45/70s

Originally Posted by Maca49

I used FFG in mine and my 45/70s

Holy Smoke makes a special 1.5 FG Cartridge BP which i use in nearly everything now.
It's fantastic powder and leave clean gray power inside the cases

It really doesn't matter what BP you use
Just don't use that nitro powder that's the work of the devil !

There are some really good buggers on here…
Thanks for all your advice and feedback and a special thanks to Akaroa for sharing all his tips and tricks with me for loading .577/450
I’ve got a few cases and some holy smoke 1.5 f and am going out on Sunday to make some really big clouds of smoke.��

Cheers

Originally Posted by omark

There are some really good buggers on here…
Thanks for all your advice and feedback and a special thanks to Akaroa for sharing all his tips and tricks with me for loading .577/450
I’ve got a few cases and some holy smoke 1.5 f and am going out on Sunday to make some really big clouds of smoke.��

Cheers

Wow I think i didn't do my job very well

You have 577-450 brass
You have 1.5 FG BP
And you are going to make smoke !

I'm sure I told you that you need some bullets or you don't see any holes in the target when the smoke clears

when you clean it
clean it upside down so the shit falls onto the ground and not into the action

For solvent use, room temperature water with a bit of dish soap. Boiling water is an old wives' tale and doesn't work any better than cold water; in fact, it's worse, as it promotes rust
Use damp rags until clean, then a couple of dry ones, followed by a good dose of quality gun oil

most people freak out about BP, but it's easier to clean than smokeless in most cases. id rather clean 5 BP rifles than one smokeless one

For my Martini's I have clamped a bit of garden hose to a funnel,then put a loop of string on the tag off the funnel.

I remove the block,boil the jug,insert the hose into the breech,hold the Rifle inverted over the toilet by the wrist with my thumb through the string loop holding the funnel vertical. Pour 3L of boiling water down the bore,cool and a wet swab with " Ed's Red" bore cleaner,job done.

Rambo is right about boiling water causing flash rusting but I dont care or have seen any negative effects.It washes out any old lube that I wanted to get rid of anyway.Some of my shooters are from the 1700's so a bit more Patina is hardly emotional.