LeftHandGuy
Well-Known Member
Better than mark1 and mark1 second pattern, Swiss Vetterli repeater, bolt action, Russian Berdan II better cartridge and bolt action, Mauser 1871 better cartridge and bolt action. Turkish Peabody Martini the same action but a drawn brass cartridge instead of a 5 piece copper.
Yes, the rolled foil cases were junk - but you can't blame that on the rifle. A single shot bolt action is no advantage over a Martini, at least not in the context of the "small bore" black powder cartridges of the era, and is actually a disadvantage if you want, or need, to shoot it left handed. The Vetterli offered a magazine that's true, but was chambered for a rimfire cartridge. The Peabody Martini was a clone of the British one but for the chambering (and yes the Ottoman/Turkish drawn brass ammunition was better). Sure the bolt actions showed how developments would lead to magazine fed, charger loaded rifles, which absolubly renedered all the single shots obsolete.
But the sad truth is that if Britain even adopted one of the bolt actions instead of the Martini, they would still have tried to use the stupid rolled foil cases.
I could agree that the Martini was a technological dead-end (the attempts to turn it into a repeater are eye-poppingly bad, terrifying to contemplate as a military weapon), but I don't agree that any of the other rifles available in 1871 rendered it obsolete. Anyway, it's been an enjoyable diversion


