Martini-Henry cracks... worrisome?

[Member 75122]

Hi everybody, I recently got a Martini-Henry Mk. IV from International Military Antiques and I noticed a sizeable horizontal crack on the underside of the stock. It's underneath the lever so it's hard to see until you pull the lever down. It looks like a small piece of metal was drilled or punched across the length of the crack. I also noticed a small vertical crack near the butt plate and noticed that when you close the breech it looks like it doesn't completely cover the chamber? I've attached photos of all of these to the best of my ability but I apologize if they're blurry or poorly lit. As you might imagine I don't plan to shoot this much but I would like to eventually load my own ammo for it. It would be quite a challenge! I'd like to take it to a gunsmith and disassemble it for a deeper cleaning but I appreciate any advice y'all can give. I've collected a number of antique and C&R firearms so I know how careful one needs to be when doing any kind of maintenance on them.

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[Yarome]

The wood areas are easy to repair, but the simplest is simply to patch them with wood epoxy and prevent them from worsening. Lowest cost, least technical and DIY.

The other route would be to repair them. Drilling out the affected areas and "plugging" (circular crack) or doing a burn in process on the butt crack.

[he said "butt crack"]

If you have the tools and the know how, that is peferrable, but it will cost a pretty penny to have someone else do it and, honestly, the epoxy route preserves some of the character of the rifle that is desierable to some. Moreso the butt crack than the lever action area crack (that's a bit ugly), but that one isn't blatantly obvious and easy to get away with.

A bit of prep work will be required though cleaning out debris and deteriorated wood before epoxying. Colored wood expoxy is readily available so the final result would be fairly unnoticeable unless someone was looking for it.

 

[Member 75122]

The wood areas are easy to repair, but the simplest is simply to patch them with wood epoxy and prevent them from worsening. Lowest cost, least technical and DIY.

The other route would be to repair them. Drilling out the affected areas and "plugging" (circular crack) or doing a burn in process on the butt crack.

[he said "butt crack"]

If you have the tools and the know how, that is peferrable, but it will cost a pretty penny to have someone else do it and, honestly, the epoxy route preserves some of the character of the rifle that is desierable to some. Moreso the butt crack than the lever action area crack (that's a bit ugly), but that one isn't blatantly obvious and easy to get away with.

A bit of prep work will be required though cleaning out debris and deteriorated wood before epoxying. Colored wood expoxy is readily available so the final result would be fairly unnoticeable unless someone was looking for it.

I have a lot of hand tools and some basic woodworking experience so I'll likely go the epoxy route. Thankfully the ugliest crack is on the underside of the stock and is concealed by the lever so even though it's an eyesore it has the courtesy to not be terribly visible, lol.

 

[Yarome]

I have a lot of hand tools and some basic woodworking experience so I'll likely go the epoxy route. Thankfully the ugliest crack is on the underside of the stock and is concealed by the lever so even though it's an eyesore it has the courtesy to not be terribly visible, lol.

Exactly. Without closer examination it's difficult to tell, but it looks like a plug that was nailed in place.. that split the plug. The little bit of grain you can see though seems to kind of blend as if it's one piece, but the direction the crack is going would be inconsistent since it's across the grain.

If it IS a plug then it would be easy peasy to just drill it out and replace it (sans nail... that was a pretty shoddy idea).

The back end I wouldn't do anything with but clean it up and fill/replace material. Burning it in would be the most attractive end product, but epoxy will do ya.

Burn In Products

Burn In Products

www.mohawkproducts.com

I can vouch for their burn in products.

Process:

This one isn't bad either demonstrating some finish grain work.

They also sell some epoxy fill sticks. The sticks don't "bind" as well and act more as a filler, but it's an option. A commercial grade wood epoxy would be better.

 

[Member 75122]

Yeah it's definitely some kind of plug. Stamping on the stock indicates that the rifle was sent to Rawalpindi in 1908 so there's no telling what kind of "repairs" got done there. Thankfully there are no cracks in the wrist or behind the tang, and the metal and bore are in great shape with only some very light pitting on the trigger guard.

 

[PommyB]

Apologies for resurrecting an older thread, but I might be able to shed some light on the OP's questions:
The plugged hole in the underside of the stock suggests that the butt was originally intended for an Enfield-Martini Mk.I rifle. These rifles were chambered in the new .402 Enfield cartridge, which was intended to replace the .577/.450 Martini-Henry cartridge of the then standard issue Martini-Henry service rifle. However, the E-M rifles were never issued, & were converted to .577/.450 M-H, fitted with a longer lever (hence the plugging of the short lever cup) & renamed the Martini-Henry Mk.IV. As the adoption of the .303 caliber Lee-Metford Mk.I as the new front-line rifle was imminent, the M-H Mk.IV was relegated for issue to colonial & volunteer forces, the majority being sent to India.
That Rawalpindi Arsenal stamp is actually from when this rifle was refurbished at that location before being sent to Nepal in 1908 (another batch of M-H's, mostly Mk.IIs, was sent in the late 1890s). There should be a NS over NEP stamp on the barrel, close to the rear sight, this is an abbreviation for Native State - Nepal, & was applied at the British-Indian arsenal prior to being sent to its new home.
If the OP can post some photos of the markings on the receiver & buttstock I may be able to add some more details about this rifle's history.