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Hi folks ... I remember my late father saying to me that the two rifles he most often used to hunt in Rhodesia back in the day were a "martini Henry" and a .22 hornet .. I know it's a vague question but any ideas what calibre the "martini Henry" was likely to have been ??

I would hazard a guess and say 303, but it's only a guess. I don't know prevalent 303 MH would have been in Rhodesia.

I would say if he was hunting the big 5 then a .577/450 - real calibre - I am still keeping an eye out for one in really good condition and they can be bought off ticket too - just added to shoot.

He used to say that between the hornet and the martini you could deal with anything on 4 legs (or two for that matter!)

zzr1100 wrote:He used to say that between the hornet and the martini you could deal with anything on 4 legs (or two for that matter!)

I would agree with MiLisCer and say .577/450 then.

What calibre were the Martinis that were used in the Zulu wars ?

They were .577/450

Mike

Would they seriously be able to take elephant or rhino ??

zzr1100 wrote:What calibre were the Martinis that were used in the Zulu wars ?

.577/450

Interesting article here regarding the 303 in Africa http://nitroexpress.info/ubbthreads/pho ... Africa.pdf It shows a 577/450 alongside some 303s

Just realised :cool2: that strictly speaking, a MH in .303 would be a Martini Enfield.

Edit: another article for you .577/450 http://www.huntnetwork.net/modules/wfse ... %20Pt5.pdf

Yes it certainly would and was once a popular round in Africa:

http://www.huntnetwork.net/modules/wfse ... %20Pt5.pdf