Thread: Old Single shot rifle

Originally Posted by gundoc

HRB Co stands for Henry Rifle Barrel Company that did the conversion to .303 in 1898. AC II stands for Artillery Carbine Mark II. The fore-end is incorrect but is similar to the first pattern .303 carbines but it is too short between the band and the nose cap. I suspect that the barrel has been shortened, the correct carbine front sight refitted, and the fore-end shortened to be the correct length for the bayonet. The separate nose cap is from a .577/.450 Martini-Henry carbine. there could be other discrepancies that would be more obvious from a physical examination.

Thank you for the HRB co info. What does the ICI on the other side stand for?
The barrel hasnt been shortened, it is the factory artillary carbine length, the fore wood is from a rifle length ME that had the front cut off and shaped without the end cap. This is why the barrel band is further forward. A common mod done by local armorer's for the cadets/schools. I added the nose cap and have been hunting for the correct mkII fore wood that doesnt have a barrel band to replace it at some stage.

It looked like this:



It should and will eventually look like the one at the bottom of this pic: