More About the Characteristics of the Martini-Henry Rifle

General Viscount Wolseley, writing about the Martini-Henry rifle, said: “All are armed with the M. H. rifle [Martini-Henry], which is issued of 2 sizes, “Long butts” and “Short butts,” 49 ½” and 49” in length respectively without bayonet; when bayonets or sword bayonets are fixed those lengths are 71 ½” and 71”. The wts. without bayonet are 8 lbs. 12 oz., 8 lbs. 10 ½ oz., and 8 lbs. 8 oz.; with bayonet or sword bayonet those wts. are 9 lbs. 11 ½ oz., 9 lbs. 10 oz., and 9 lbs. 7 ½ oz. Wt. of bayonet or sword bayonet 15 ½ oz. and the scabbard 7 ½ oz. The Henry barrel is 33” in length, the diameter of bore is 0.45”; it has 7 grooves. The powder charge is 85 grs. R.F.G.² powder; wt. of bullet 480 grs., and it is 1.27” long. The cartridge is 3.15” long; wt. of bundle of 10, 17 oz. [on page 109 he says 18 oz.]; 12 aimed or 25 un-aimed rds. can be fired from it per minute, and it may be assumed, taking our men all round, 8 rounds per minute is a fair average at fixed target; The rifle is sighted up to 1450 yards, but it shoots well up to over 300 yds. Its muzzle velocity is about 1353 [f.p.s]. The bullet has a penetration 12” or 13” into loose soil. The M. H. bullet goes 500 yds. in 1.46 seconds.” (Wolseley 1886 p. 26.)

Regarding the powder, Wolseley says: “[The powder] used for the M.H. rifle is known as R.F.G.²; its density is somewhat greater than that used for other rifled small arms, which is known as R.F.G. (Rifle Fine Grain)” (id. p. 107).  According to Brett Gibbons of Paper Cartridges dot com, R.F.G. powder was made from Dogwood charcoal and had a mesh of 16-20 squares/inch at first, then was changed to 12-20 mesh for the Martini Henry whereafter it was termed R.F.G.² (see: https://youtu.be/-yjepTZ-lH4?t=769).  For comparison, according to the company web site, Swiss brand 2F powder is 14-19 mesh, and the 1.5F is 14-26 mesh, so either granulation is a reasonable match, a fact confirmed by the muzzle velocities achieved during Captain Gibbons’ testing of his P-53 “Pritchett” cartridges using Swiss powder (see above video at 22:39).

For the ballistics of the Martini-Henry, see my previous blog post comparing it to the Snider-Enfield rifle here.

Source:  Wolseley, Garnet J. The Soldier’s Pocket Book for Field Service. London: MacMillan and Co. 1886.