Range Report 4/10/21--Martini Henry Mark IV

Finally, after long months of hassle and effort, I got my beloved Mark IV Martini-Henry rifle to the range.  I only made ten rounds of ammunition because I wanted to see how it performed before loading the rest of it just in case I was doing something wrong.  The rifle, made by Enfield in 1886, came from IMA of New Jersey, and I cannot say enough good things about my dealings with them.

The cases were formed from Magtech 24-gauge brass shotgun shells by Martyn Robinson at X-Ring Services.  The bullets are hardened lead, paper patched, 540-grain, 0.468" and were made by Blue Falcon Bullets (they can be found on Gunbroker.com).  I loaded them with 85 grains of Swiss 1.5F black powder, which is a very close match in performance to the R.F.G.2 powder of the originals.  I used one-quarter of a cotton wad as filler, then put in a waxed card disk, followed by a one-quarter-inch thick "grease cookie" made of equal parts beeswax and olive oil, followed by two more waxed cards, followed by the bullet.  I loaded the cartridges using a custom Martini-Henry die set also purchased from X-Ring Services.  I followed the loading procedure demonstrated here by Rob Enfield of British Muzzleloaders.com.  I believe this process resulted in an almost exact match for the drawn-brass cartridges as issued in period.

I fired all ten rounds at a target 18" wide by 23.25" high with a 3 inch bullseye at 100 yards from an offhand position.  I used a half-sight picture and a 6:00 hold.  This is a picture of the target (the extra holes on the paper are the result of a neighbor on the firing line with a shotgun who couldn't keep his fire in his own lane):

I first calculated the String Test Measurement to judge my overall accuracy.  That procedure is described in full here.  The string measurement was 46.5", which, divided by the number of rounds, gives a measurement of 4.65 inches/round--good enough to qualify for a Berdan Sharpshooter unit in the Civil War (had I done it with a muzzle-loading rifle and at 200 yards instead of 100).

I then determined the precision of the rifle and load by determining the Figure of Merit or "mean radial deviation," the same procedure used during the Victorian era for determining the precision of a weapon and its ammunition.  The procedure for calculating is described in full here.  I used the spreadsheet system created by Rob Enfield as discussed in the link above.  This yielded a Figure of Merit of 4.39, and a group size of 15.92".  The Grouping Diagram shown below is taken from Mr. Enfield's spreadsheet.

I also took the opportunity to fire one of the Kynoch .577/.450 cartridges given to me by a friend.  These cartridges were made in the 1960's, and I was warned that the ammunition, while safe, would exhibit a huge hang time.  I discovered that the warnings were well justified.  The cartridge did fire, but the hang time was so great that I was unable to hit the target at all.  I will keep the rest of the Kynoch cartridges as antique display pieces, and will not be shooting them.

Conclusions

I am extremely pleased with the ammunition I made, the components from which I made them, and with the excellent antique rifle from which I shot them.  My shooting has deteriorated significantly as I have gotten older, but I should be able to significantly improve the results described above with time and practice (and a new pair of glasses--my eyes have gotten truly horrible, and that was a contributing factor).

While the String Test should be performed offhand as I did here, the Figure of Merit should be determined from a bench rest (as discussed in the link above) since it should be a test of the rifle and ammunition rather than the shooter.  I will be revisiting this in the future.

Overall, however, I am thrilled with the performance I achieved here in my rifle's Maiden showing--the first time it has been fired in more than 120 years.  While I believe I can significantly improve my numbers, the fact remains that these results are adequate for what was expected of a British military rifle of the late Nineteenth Century, if not for the target shooting of the period.

Future tests will be shot at targets designed to simulate the official targets depicted in British musketry manuals of the period, and I hope to be able to find a longer range so that I can test my skills at the same kinds of ranges which were specified in those manuals.