Royal Small Arms Factory Martini-Henry Mark I Complete Specs and Full Gun Specifications

The Martini Henry Mk1 Service rifle can be described as having three phases, as it was not offically adopted into service for a full three years after its initial sealing as it went through a continual development process, and was not officially designated a Mk1 until 20 October 1871. In tests from Jan 1871-October1872 the Martini Henry rifle was used purely for trials, with a .450” “long” boxer cartridge the features found on the MHR Mk1 (first) pattern are now very rare indeed. These include, safety catch and no knocks form to the barrel. As a result of experiments made by Eley with a bottle shaped round the service rifle was to have the bottle shaped 577/450” round which gave greater velocity.