The rifle remained a popular competition rifle at
National Rifle Association meetings, at
Bisley, Surrey, and (NRA) Civilian and Service Rifle matches from 1872 to 1904, where it was used up to 1,000 yards using the standard military service ammunition of the day. By the 1880s the .577/.450 Boxer Henry round was recognised by the NRA as a 900-yard cartridge, as shooting the Martini out to 1,000 yards or ( of a mile) was difficult, and took great skill to assess the correct amount of windage to drop the 485 grain bullet on the target. But by 1904 more target shooters were using the new .303 cal. cartridge, which was found to be much more accurate, and thus interest in the .577/450 fell away, to the point that by 1909 they were rarely used at Bisley matches, with shooters favouring the later
Lee–Enfield bolt action magazine rifles.
Ballistics and battlefield effectiveness In 1879, however, it was generally found that in average hands the .577/450 Martini–Henry Mk2, although the most accurate of the Martinis in that calibre ever produced for service life, was really only capable of hitting a man-size target out to 400 yards. This was due to the bullet going subsonic after 300 yards and gradually losing speed thereafter, which in turn affected consistency and accuracy of the bullet in flight. The 415-grain Martini Carbine load introduced in 1878 shot better out to longer ranges and had less recoil when it was fired in the rifles, with its reduced charge of only 75 grains of Curtis & Harvey's. It was found that, while the rifle with its 485 grain bullet shot point of aim to 100 yards, the carbine load when fired in the rifles shot high at the same range, but then made up for this by shooting spot-on out to . These early lessons enabled tactics to be evolved to work around the limitations of this large, slow, and heavy calibre during the Zulu War. During most of the key battles, such as Rorke's Drift and the
Battle of Ulundi, the order to volley fire was not given until the Zulus were at or within 400 yards. The ballistic performance of a .577/450 is somewhat similar to that of an American .45/70 Government round, as used prolifically throughout the American Frontier West and by buffalo hunters, though the .577/450 has more power due to its extra 15 grains of black powder inside the cartridge case. It is clear from early medical field surgeons' reports that at 200 yards the rifle really came into its own, and inflicted devastating wounds on the Zulus in the
Anglo–Zulu War. The MK2 Martini's sights are marked to 1,800 yards, but this setting was only ever used for long-range mass volley firing to harass an artillery position or a known massed cavalry position, prior to a main fight, and to prevent or delay infantry attacks. A similar "
drop volley sight" whereby the rifle's bullets were dropped long range onto the target was employed on the later .303 Lee–Enfield rifles of WW1, which had a graduation lever sight calibrated up to 2,800 yards.
Foreign production and variants The Nepalese produced a close copy of the British Martini–Henry incorporating certain
Westley Richards improvements to the trigger mechanism but otherwise very similar to the British Mark II. These rifles can be identified by their Nepalese markings and different receiver ring. A noticeably different variant incorporating earlier Westley Richards ideas for a flat-spring driven hammer within the receiver in lieu of the coil-spring powered striker of the von Martini design, known as the Gahendra rifle, was produced locally in
Nepal. While generally well-made, the rifles were produced substantially by hand, making the quality extremely variable. Though efforts were being made to phase out these rifles, presumably by the 1890s, some 9000 were still in service in 1906.
Later service The Martini–Henry saw service in World War I in a variety of roles, primarily as a Reserve Arm, but it was also issued (in the early stages of the war) to aircrew for attacking
observation balloons with newly developed
incendiary ammunition, and aircraft. Martini–Henrys were also used in the African and Middle Eastern theatres during World War I, in the hands of Native Auxiliary troops.
Greener shotgun A shotgun variant known as the
Greener Police Gun,
Greener EG (for "Egyptian Government"), or the
Greener Prison Shotgun was chambered in a 14.5-gauge -inch (18×73mm) full-length brass shell used only by this gun. That would make the weapon useless to anyone who stole it, as no other cartridge could be loaded. It was used by prison guards and police in Egypt, Burma, India, and Australia. Over 60,000 had been produced by the time production ended in the 1960s. The gun was originally designed to replace the
Egyptian police's obsolete Martini–Henry rifles, which they usually loaded with brass shotshells. The Mark I/14 ("14" for the gun's gauge), first produced in 1918, had a full wooden stock and a large metal nosecap over the muzzle. The Mark II/14 lacked the nosecap and had a full hunting-style stock. It was discovered that criminals in Egypt were jury-rigging shotguns they had captured or stolen by wrapping common civilian 16-gauge shells with thick paper to allow them to fit the bore. Greener responded in 1932 by coming up with a redesigned gun and new shell design to prevent this. The Mark III/14 Shotgun had a three-pronged firing pin and its cartridge had a unique recessed primer well (much like that of the Lebel rifle) to prevent the firing of standard shells. The cartridge also had a bottle-necked tapered wall and corresponding shotgun breech that would prevent the insertion of other shells. In addition to the cocking indicators found on military Martini-Henry rifles, the Police Gun features a safety lever that automatically engages when cocked. An example can be seen at the
Royal Armouries Museum in
Leeds. Greener also used the Martini action for the GP ("General Purpose") single-barreled shotgun firing standard 12-bore or -inch ammunition, which was a staple for gamekeepers and rough shooters in Britain. The GP was built from 1922 to 1964 by W. W. Greener, and from 1965 to the 1980s by
Webley & Scott. The front end of the receiver is split and the barrel is secured via a takedown screw, which enables the barrel to be removed by rotating it 90 degrees after loosening the screw. Unlike the Martini-Henry or the EG, the GP does not feature a cocking indicator but retains the automatic safety. Two models of the GP were produced, Mark I and II, with the only major exterior difference being a bulkier safety lever and reversing the takedown screw's orientation. Internally, the Mark II employs circlips to retain various pins instead of keeper screws, and as a result the internals are not interchangeable with the Mark I due to the design change done to accommodate the circlips. The rifle is referred to as
Aynalı Martin in the Ottoman Empire and is featured in several famous
folk songs. Beginning in 1879, Romania decided to replace its old model 1867 Peabody rifles with the Martini–Henry rifles. An order was made to
Steyr for 130,000 rifles which were delivered into the early 1880s. These rifles were also used in the
First World War, with 142,906 rifles and 8,724 carbines being registered in service on 15 August 1916. Significant numbers of the basic design, with variations, were also produced for the Boer Republics, both in Belgium and, via Westley Richards, in Birmingham, as late as the late 1890s. During the
Second Boer War, many of the Boers used the Martini–Henry rifle, since over 34,000 of these had been purchased. == Mechanical issues ==