.577/450 Martini-Henry

Infobox Firearm Cartridge
name= .577/450 Martini-Henry


caption= (From Left to Right): A .577 Snider cartridge,
a Zulu War-era rolled-brass-foil .577/450 Martini-Henry Cartridge, a later drawn-brass .577/450 Martini-Henry cartridge, and a .303 British Mk VII SAA Ball cartridge.
origin=flagcountry|United Kingdom
type= Military
service=
used_by=British Empire
wars= Anglo-Zulu War
designer=
design_date=1871
manufacturer=
production_date=
number=
variants= 11.43 x 60R (61R)
is_SI_specs=
parent=.577 Nitro Express
case type=Rimmed bottleneck
bullet=.455
neck=.487
shoulder=.628
base=.668
rim_dia=.746
rim_thick=.06
case_length=2.34
length=3.12
rifling=
primer=

is_SI_ballistics=
bw1=400
btype1=lead
vel1=1450
en1=1868
bw2=480
btype2=lead
vel2=1350
en2=1943
bw3=
btype3=
vel3=
en3=
bw4=
btype4=
vel4=
en4=
bw5=
btype5=
vel5=
en5=
test_barrel_length=
balsrc= Handbook for Shooters & Reloaderscite book
last = Ackley
first = P.O.
title = Handbook for Shooters & Reloaders
edition = 8th Printing
series = vol II
origyear = 1966
year = 1979
publisher = Plaza Publishing
location = salt Lake City, Utah
pages =215
id = ASIN B000BGII48]
Handloaders Manual of Cartridge Conversioncite book
last =Donnelly
first =John J.
title = The Handloader's Manual of Cartridge Conversions
year =1987
publisher =Stoeger Publishing
pages = 687
isbn = 978-0883172698]

The .577/450 Martini-Henry was a black powder, centerfire round used by the British and British Empire militaries prior to the adoption of the .303 calibre cartridge used in the Lee-Metford, Martini-Enfield, and Lee-Enfield series of rifles alongside the Nepalese Bira gun. This cartridge is also sometimes known as 11.43x60R (61R).

Background

The .577/450 was based upon the same separate steel head used for the .577 Snider cartridge, with a wrapped foil body firing a nominally .45 calibre bullet, giving the cartridge a "bottle-necked" appearance. Initially, .577/450 cartridges were manufactured of rolled brass foil, but later on- shortly after the Anglo-Zulu War- it was discovered that the rolled foil cartridges were prone to jamming as the barrel heated up, and production was switched to the drawn brass style now commonly used for the manufacture of small arms ammunition.

The Martini-Henry single-shot lever action rifle had a Martini designed action married with the unique rifling designed by Alexander Henry. The first three patterns or "Marks" were equipped with a shorter lever, which was extended in the Mark IV pattern to address extraction problems in some climates. The Mark IV was the final and most refined form of the rifle in 577/450, but was already obsolete owing to the pending adoption of a smokeless powder small bore cartridge, which became the .303.

Uses

Most famously employed by British Forces during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879- which included the Battle of Isandlwana and the Battle of Rorke's Drift- as well as during the Sudanese Campaign of 1884-1898, and in various other colonial conflicts in Africa and India, the .577/450 Martini-Henry cartridge was considered obsolete, though it was still in military production as late as World War I (for use by Royal Flying Corps observers and Zeppelin-buster aircrews), and in commercial production by Kynoch until the late 1950s.

Handloaders typically use .45-70 loading data for this cartridge, the load used by the military was convert|85|gr|g of black powder with a convert|480|gr|g|sing=on bullet at convert|1350|ft/s|m/s|abbr=on.

ee also

* .577 Nitro Express
* .577 Snider
* List of rifle cartridges
* 11 mm caliber

References

* "Cartridges of the World 4th Edition", Book by Frank C. Barnes, DBI Books p. 214

External links

* [http://www.martinihenry.com Martini Henry] - information on the Martini-Henry and Martini-Enfield rifles, and cartridges thereof.