EDIT: Changed the photo host to Imgur because Photobucket decided to become useless and limit everyone's bandwidth.


I recently got a Mark IV Pattern A Martini-Henry from IMA and have been cleaning it up.  This video from IraqVeteran8888 was extremely helpful.  He uses a giant ultrasonic cleaner on the whole gun but I only have a tiny ultrasonic cleaner that I used on the small parts so I did most of the cleaning by hand.

Here's the rifle right after I took it out of the box and bubble wrap:



There are lots of warnings on the IMA website about missing parts and bad condition but mine appeared to be intact and included a proper cleaning rod.  The lever also operated.  The preservative used by the Nepalese is dried out and like a thick wax.  Disassembly is an undertaking and requires a bit of heat to minimize damage to the screws.



This screw holds the buttstock into the receiver and was covered in wet preservative, which is what I imagine the crap looked like before it dried out on the rest of the gun:



My rifle's cleaning rod was completely stuck.  I was able to twist it a bit and it had some movement but I could not get it out.  I tried soaking it with penetrating oil for days and then put a screw driver in the slot and tried to twist it free.  This resulted in the end of the rod snapping off:



The barrel bands won't come off unless the rod is out so I had to bend the broken end away from the barrel and then cut it off.  I then got the handguard off and tapped the rod out from the back (the rod is threaded for attachments but is not threaded into the gun):





As you can see, the gun was absolutely filthy:


I basically just threw shop rags down on the cement floor and cleaned it there to save my work bench from being covered in crud.  I went through plenty of nitrile gloves as well.




After some cleaning:



And more cleaning:






Surprisingly I found a broken cartridge stuck in the chamber:


I made a batch of "gunny paste" (1/3 parts each of melted beeswax, boiled linseed oil, and turpentine) and applied it to the wood after cleaning:






End result:



Now to get a replacement cleaning rod, do some stock repair around the recoil plate, and get a set of dies to start forming brass from 24g shot shells.  I'll be loading them with Goex blackpowder.

Thanks for sharing. Still working up the courage to get one myself. I'm just terrified it'll come with damaged wood because I don't know jack about stock repairs.

beautiful job. by chance you going to use it for hunting? possibly a deer or two? great looking rifle.

I've actually never done a wood repair either but am going to use YouTube as a guide. It  doesn't seem to be too difficult for small repairs.

The part that seems to need repaired the most is the recoil plate and it seems to be forgiving with different types repairs. The rest of the wood was in much better condition than I expected. The metal was in excellent condition.

Unfortunately I know almost nothing about hunting, I just happen to be a gun nut. The bullet on these is .45 caliber but can be pretty heavy and use a stout charge so it should work well if you wanted.

Tagged, you better post a shooting video

I have wanted one of these for some time.

I keep putting it off because I'm afraid I will get a total pile of one.

yours looks pretty damn good!

I have one that I bought on GB (so not quite site-unseen) that I haven't even opened yet.  And today Brown delivered an untouched Brunswick rifle from IMA's sale last week.  I have some projects to work on this spring!

Rob

How much of a crapshoot is it? It would be a bit of a stinker to drop that kind of money on a wallhanger. 

Pretty much all of the MK IV's I have seen posted about were in fairly good shape. I bought one last year and did the same cleanup as the OP. I bought 60rds of ammo from here at a cost of $3/rd but still have not fired it yet.

I updated the photos on this thread to use Imgur because Photobucket is entirely worthless now.

Is that barrel as good looking in person as in the pic?  

Thanks for sharing, very cool project.

Yep, the rifling and bore look great considering how poorly the rifle was stored for a century.

one thing you can say about Brit rifling it was built to last.

I remember reading in American Rifleman in the 1990's about that cache being found and not believing anything could be salvageable upon seeing the pictures of how these weapons were stored.  It's nice to see people are getting such diamonds out of coal.

Bought one as well, really cool stuff.  Looking at getting a Snider from there but kinda curious how the Nepalese Sniders compare to the Enfield ones.

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Cleaned right up!

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Markings and proofs still look great.

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Even the markings on the stock look new

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I'll have to try that boiled linseed oil and beeswax concoction you whipped up, because the wood on that Martini-Henry of yours looks awesome.  Is that the stuff the CMP recommends?  I know I've read of that somewhere else before.

The "gunny paste" I first heard about from IraqVeteran8888 on YouTube but read about on other forums later. I really made sure to clean the surface of the wood well before applying. I honestly was shocked how well it looked since I have worked on 20th century Milsurps before and this was my first 19th century gun. I might have just gotten lucky with a nice tiger striped stock.

Looks good, dude

IraqVeteran8888's videos are what got me interested in the Martini-Henry.  Now I have Antique Rifle Syndrome and just ordered a 1837 Brunswick from IMA.  Not sure what it's going to look like, but I'm crossing my fingers!

I just got a Brunswick rifle and P1858. About to order 2 EIC Model F muskets.

Nice

How was the condition of the Brunswick?  I have still yet to see mine, it's sitting at my parents place in a box.  The sword bayonet is what sold me on the damn thing in the first place.  I thought the condition is a worthwhile gamble.

I bought a Brusnwick early in the year and haven't started cleanup on it yet.  I posted pics on the British Militaria Forums.

Brunswick


Rob

You should look at British muzzle loaders channel he will give you actual worth while info over that hack you watched before.

They are really great guns.

The British Muzzleloaders channel is great, I also contribute to his Patreon.  Very cool stuff.

This thread seemed like a good place to get info on this so here goes.
those of you who are reloading for the 577/450, what are you useing for case trimming?
I saw iraqveteran8888's video and he was useing a little lathe and he kind of mentioned that case trimmers dont really work for trimming the 24ga shot shells.
Anyone have experience with this? Whats everyone using to trim their 577/450 brass?

I'm sure there's an easier way, but I used a Dremel cutoff wheel to get close, and a custom LEE case trimmer pilot to get final length and a square neck. On LEE's website you can order custom trimmer pilots for a few bucks. Get one for a .45-78 Wolcott (which is listed in COTW, and is nothing more than a 2.31" inch long .45-70). Do NOT ask for a .577/450 trimmer pilot: since LEE no longer makes the dies, they won't make the pilot or anything else associated with .577/450, per Richard Lee himself. No, it doesn't make sense, but that's what he said.
Screw your custom pilot into your large body cutter (the one for .50 BMG, etc.), and hold the case head against a steel plate to give the end of the pin something to stop against. It's a bit of a kludge-up, but it works, and it's not like you're going to be making 1000 cases.

is anyone making dies for it anymore? The only ones ive seen are the lee dies. If no one else makes them I should pick up a set sooner than later

Man I love this thread and now I want to clean one of these up but from what I can see on IMA's website, it looks like the long levers are $625 untouched??  Am I looking at the wrong thing?  This concerns me as my luck, they would send me one covered in rust with a barrel that's slicker than a frog's cooter...  Thanks OP for posting this!

DFM

The prices on these have been slowly going up. I got mine on sale which they occasionally have.

Also I have the Lee dies.

FYI, Midway has the LEE dies on sale this week:
577/450 LEE dies

Ordered.

Thanks for looking out.

Thanks m14fun for re-hosting the pictures on this thread. I had bookmarked it long ago to read later, and by the time I came back, the great Photobucket debacle had happened...glad to see it back up and running. I really should have ordered one of these rifles when they were first available, what a fascinating piece of history. Wonder if there are any currently still out there at reasonable prices.....even if I have to clean it myself. Guess I'll have to check IMA...if anyone knows of other sources, post or let me know.

ETA: When exactly did these first hit the market and what were they selling for then?

Everyone, be VERY careful buying the 450-577 guns.  The ones I see pictured here are legitimate British made rifles, that are real Martini Henry rifles.  Most I see around here are Nepalese (or even Khyber Pass) copies of the Francotte rifle that looks similar.  Nepalese clones run a gamut from excellent to dangerous rattletraps.  The 450-577 is NOT a round to mess with in a homemade gun made from car parts and railroad steel beat with a hammer and filed with a handfile.  I have a Nepalese Sharps, and it's somewhere in the middle.  I plan on shooting with a somewhat reduced load of black powder, a .535 Minie Ball, in handrolled paper cartridges.  The first shops will be in a rifle rest strapped to a table, with me about 20 feet away.