Oddball Martini

[Taffbats]

Hi Guys

Recently became the proud owner of an oddball martini that was for sale at auction. Do you sometimes see a rifle that ticks every box, or is so niche that it only has your name on it? And to top it off, it's left handed!.. I love martini's and this is my 3rd now. For a long time I had a slot on my ticket for a spare .17 hmr barrel that I was going to machine up and put onto my .22 international, had I got round to doing this I thought I would have been the only guy in the UK with a martini in .17 hmr , but someone beat my to it!!...
Here's some pics.

 

[Heym SR20]

Very nice. Is it a little fiddly to load thanks to the scope?

 

[Smellydog]

How is it off hand?
Nice looking thing.

 

[tim@tcs]

Scopes were around during the International period and some advertisements offered scope mount blocks pre fitted. It’s a true left hander as that loading port cut away is on the correct side to ease feeding the monster!
A lovely rifle, well done!

 

[bullet chucker]

I have a true left handed Martini .22 target rifle, BSA. It is up for grabs if anyone is interested, just PM me.

BC.

 

[Overlay]

Handy little rifle and capable calibre to have in your cabinet, looks tidy as well

Just shows they are out there, nice find matey,

 

[finbar]

Very nice

 

[Rookandrabbit]

@Taffbats You have to love the martini rifles , solid dependable accurate however as they are very underrated and don’t have chassis systems with masses of black or FDE picatinny rails they are absolute bargains……………so please don’t tell anyone

 

[tim@tcs]

I have a true left handed Martini .22 target rifle, BSA. It is up for grabs if anyone is interested, just PM me.

BC.

Do you know which model?

BSA Small-bore Rifles; Identification by Specification Table

Historic Arms Resource Centre facility for British and Commonwealth Enfield and other Miniature calibre training and small-bore TARGET RIFLES (BSA- Birmingham Small Arms Co.), conversion units and accessories with representation of other nations' training rifles, plus Postal League competitions...

www.rifleman.org.uk

 

[Heym SR20]

What this rifle really needs is a long Unertl target scope.

Malcolm 8X USMC Sniper Scope (Gen I)

One of the most recognized names in military sniping during the Vietnam conflict was Marine Corps marksman Carlos Hathcock.

hi-luxoptics.com

 

[tim@tcs]

What this rifle really needs is a long Unertl target scope.

Malcolm 8X USMC Sniper Scope (Gen I)

One of the most recognized names in military sniping during the Vietnam conflict was Marine Corps marksman Carlos Hathcock.

hi-luxoptics.com

Or the much cheaper tasco copy! I sent one to Wirksworth gun rooms

 

[Taffbats]

Very nice. Is it a little fiddly to load thanks to the scope?

No not too bad, the case deflector is a pain though.

 

[Taffbats]

How is it off hand?
Nice looking thing.

Feels pretty good, heavy barrel helps, though I only really shoot off the bipod.

 

[Taffbats]

Scopes were around during the International period and some advertisements offered scope mount blocks pre fitted. It’s a true left hander as that loading port cut away is on the correct side to ease feeding the monster!
A lovely rifle, well done!

My hornet is a true left hander too.

 

[Taffbats]

Luckily I stripped it down before going to the range, it's going to need some work, test fired on some empty brass to see firing pin indent. It was installed upside down and is pretty well worn, perhaps it was intentionally to gain some pin extension.

 

[Taffbats]

Secondly, I suspect the ejector spring has been hardened, it is way to powerful!... hence the case deflector, I ejected an empty case and it flew around the kitchen before landing on top of the fridge, the extractor also has excessive wear from slapping the block every time.

 

[Taffbats]

The tumbler/sear has been dangerously ground and was only hanging on by a gnat's c$%k. Note the shiny slither of polished area that was all that was holding the firing pin back.

 

[Taffbats]

And lastly, it looks like it's been partly sprayed in an attempt to finish it. All cosmetic and minor tweaks and mod's needed, but overall I am pretty happy with it.

 

[Smellydog]

Looks great to me apart from the sears, they've been stoned wrong as far as I can tell.
The ejector spring can be lightened by reducing its width.

 

[tim@tcs]

My model 13 used to chuck cases about four feet up but they always landed next to me. It didn’t stop the Anschutz crowd complaining despite them always taking the left lanes and chucking cases across the point!