Martini Cadets

Bolt action rifles, lever action, pump action, self loading rifles and other miscellaneous longarms.

Re: Martini Cadets

Post by gunnnie » 20 Aug 2019, 9:22 pm

So, did you get a 256Win Mag Bill?

I'm seriously thinking of having one built up next year. I'm a quarter-bore tragic and while I'm still to explore the potential of the two 25-20's I own, I'm thinking a 25-20 on steriods (256Win Mag) would be the duck'c nuts in a Martini Cadet action custom rig. I'm thinking a 24" octagonal barrel with a nice quarter-fib scope base and a light & small 1.5-5x scope. :shock: :P :clap: :thumbsup:
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Re: Martini Cadets

Post by Bill » 20 Aug 2019, 10:08 pm

yeah gunnnie a 256 Win Mag, got brass, 70gr Blitzkings and lil gun already just searching for 2nd hand dies.....

Should be a fun round stoked up
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20 Hornet, 218 Bee, 222 Rem, 256 WM, 6mm ARC, 6.5 Grendel, 6.5x55 Scan, 270 Win, 357 Mag, 358 Win, 9.3x62, 500 A Square
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Re: Martini Cadets

Post by Bill » 21 Aug 2019, 9:03 am

Image

:drinks:
When a guy is digging his own grave, you don’t fight him for the shovel.

Success leaves clues, Fools follow failure !

20 Hornet, 218 Bee, 222 Rem, 256 WM, 6mm ARC, 6.5 Grendel, 6.5x55 Scan, 270 Win, 357 Mag, 358 Win, 9.3x62, 500 A Square
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Re: Martini Cadets

Post by gunnnie » 22 Aug 2019, 5:33 pm

Now that is just one damm sexy little 25!
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Re: Martini Cadets

Post by Bill » 24 Aug 2019, 8:45 am

A few more pieces of the jigsaw puzzle, dies are in the mail and forming dies have been ordered too.

Just waiting on the PTA :drinks:

Image
When a guy is digging his own grave, you don’t fight him for the shovel.

Success leaves clues, Fools follow failure !

20 Hornet, 218 Bee, 222 Rem, 256 WM, 6mm ARC, 6.5 Grendel, 6.5x55 Scan, 270 Win, 357 Mag, 358 Win, 9.3x62, 500 A Square
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Re: Martini Cadets

Post by Tiger650 » 24 Aug 2019, 11:12 pm

Noisydad wrote:Nice collection but not sure about the lookin glass sights though.
I managed to win my clubs “Military walk up” comp this year (5 shots at each of 50, 100, 150 yards off hand) with my 1874 Mk1 Martini Henry. Pretty sure it was my rousing rendition of Men of Harlech that honed my performance on the trigger.


Cheers ND
We have quite a few Zulus down here in Melbourne who could be made available to add realism.
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Re: Martini Cadets

Post by Bill » 02 Sep 2019, 6:51 pm

picked up the new girl today, needs a bit more oil in the walnut, pretty happy with the Loopy bases turn in ring set up, range session to come :drinks:

Image
When a guy is digging his own grave, you don’t fight him for the shovel.

Success leaves clues, Fools follow failure !

20 Hornet, 218 Bee, 222 Rem, 256 WM, 6mm ARC, 6.5 Grendel, 6.5x55 Scan, 270 Win, 357 Mag, 358 Win, 9.3x62, 500 A Square
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Re: Martini Cadets

Post by GQshayne » 02 Sep 2019, 7:13 pm

Looks nice mate!
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Re: Martini Cadets

Post by Bill » 02 Sep 2019, 7:31 pm

thanks Shane, Meopta came off the spare Grendel and fits like a glove.

Image
When a guy is digging his own grave, you don’t fight him for the shovel.

Success leaves clues, Fools follow failure !

20 Hornet, 218 Bee, 222 Rem, 256 WM, 6mm ARC, 6.5 Grendel, 6.5x55 Scan, 270 Win, 357 Mag, 358 Win, 9.3x62, 500 A Square
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Re: Martini Cadets

Post by Stix » 02 Sep 2019, 11:14 pm

And a tight glove at that...!!

I found it annoying with scope so close to the ramp... (is it called a ramp... :unknown: )
So i put higher rings on-still find it a little annoying though.

How are the mounts fitted Bill...?
Are they direct on to the barrel...? (I find it hard to see properly in the pic).
Just curious as id like to chsnge mine one day...
Cheers

wuick addition--looks very nice...!!

You shant be needing that blonde stocked 218 now will you... :D
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Re: Martini Cadets

Post by Bill » 03 Sep 2019, 7:58 am

tight is good stix cause the right side of the action has been opened up a little so just a quick tilt of the rifle to get a case removed.

Loopy bass has been shaped to the barrels profile and a few screws attach it to the barrel, rear turn in ring has had the base ground down a smidge to fit the lower profile base/barrel. Ill take a few pics of the set up

I'm in 2 minds as to what I should do to the 218 Bee, especially as the timber really is too nice and I have a couple of spare 25 cal T3 barrels lying around......

Stix just in case u forgot what she looks like :drinks:

Image
When a guy is digging his own grave, you don’t fight him for the shovel.

Success leaves clues, Fools follow failure !

20 Hornet, 218 Bee, 222 Rem, 256 WM, 6mm ARC, 6.5 Grendel, 6.5x55 Scan, 270 Win, 357 Mag, 358 Win, 9.3x62, 500 A Square
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Re: Martini Cadets

Post by Stix » 03 Sep 2019, 1:32 pm

I know what it looks like...infact i have some better pics of it that i can forward to you for nostalgia sake after youve sent the rifle to me... :D
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Re: Martini Cadets

Post by GQshayne » 03 Sep 2019, 7:43 pm

Stix wrote:I know what it looks like...infact i have some better pics of it that i can forward to you for nostalgia sake after youve sent the rifle to me... :D


Nice try!!!! :lol:
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Re: Martini Cadets

Post by Bill » 05 Sep 2019, 10:43 am

So a quick range session yesterday in less than ideal conditions (wind 10-15kmh) reveal the 256 to be a shooter, 6 diff loads fired, 3 shot groups, all went moa or better. Finished the session with a backed out primer.... 17.5gr 2207 behind just a tad too much, all cases extracted fine. Will post a few pics later.
When a guy is digging his own grave, you don’t fight him for the shovel.

Success leaves clues, Fools follow failure !

20 Hornet, 218 Bee, 222 Rem, 256 WM, 6mm ARC, 6.5 Grendel, 6.5x55 Scan, 270 Win, 357 Mag, 358 Win, 9.3x62, 500 A Square
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Re: Martini Cadets

Post by Bill » 07 Sep 2019, 9:18 am

Image

Image
When a guy is digging his own grave, you don’t fight him for the shovel.

Success leaves clues, Fools follow failure !

20 Hornet, 218 Bee, 222 Rem, 256 WM, 6mm ARC, 6.5 Grendel, 6.5x55 Scan, 270 Win, 357 Mag, 358 Win, 9.3x62, 500 A Square
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Re: Martini Cadets

Post by Bill » 07 Sep 2019, 9:23 am

I bought a bunch of Cervellati microcell recoil pads a few years ago and my last 1 finally found a home, gunsmith has developed a nice knock off pad set up

Image

Image
When a guy is digging his own grave, you don’t fight him for the shovel.

Success leaves clues, Fools follow failure !

20 Hornet, 218 Bee, 222 Rem, 256 WM, 6mm ARC, 6.5 Grendel, 6.5x55 Scan, 270 Win, 357 Mag, 358 Win, 9.3x62, 500 A Square
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Re: Martini Cadets

Post by gunnnie » 07 Sep 2019, 9:53 am

Now that is a bloody great idea. Makes it easier to access the stock bolt without increased wear & tear on the recoil pad.
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Re: Martini Cadets

Post by Bill » 07 Sep 2019, 11:00 am

tell me about it gunnnie, vaseline on phillips head no longer needed
When a guy is digging his own grave, you don’t fight him for the shovel.

Success leaves clues, Fools follow failure !

20 Hornet, 218 Bee, 222 Rem, 256 WM, 6mm ARC, 6.5 Grendel, 6.5x55 Scan, 270 Win, 357 Mag, 358 Win, 9.3x62, 500 A Square
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Re: Martini Cadets

Post by Bill » 07 Sep 2019, 11:03 am

fore end timber doesnt contact the action, bedding just works

Image
When a guy is digging his own grave, you don’t fight him for the shovel.

Success leaves clues, Fools follow failure !

20 Hornet, 218 Bee, 222 Rem, 256 WM, 6mm ARC, 6.5 Grendel, 6.5x55 Scan, 270 Win, 357 Mag, 358 Win, 9.3x62, 500 A Square
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Re: Martini Cadets

Post by Bill » 07 Sep 2019, 11:04 am

Image
When a guy is digging his own grave, you don’t fight him for the shovel.

Success leaves clues, Fools follow failure !

20 Hornet, 218 Bee, 222 Rem, 256 WM, 6mm ARC, 6.5 Grendel, 6.5x55 Scan, 270 Win, 357 Mag, 358 Win, 9.3x62, 500 A Square
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Re: Martini Cadets

Post by Stix » 07 Sep 2019, 11:54 pm

Bill wrote:fore end timber doesnt contact the action, bedding just works

Image

So Bill...where is the bedding...?--cant see ot in the pic--is it in the bottom of the hole relieved/housed out for the nut...?
Or is that hole just at the right depth to give clearance between forend & barrel...?

I stuffed my forend trying to get it floated...maybe im a bit slow, but i cant figure how to achieve a floating barrel on that setup... :unknown: ..

Also, is that nut dovetailed into the barrel like your other one, or is it mechanically fixed somehow...?

Looks a great rifle by the way... :thumbsup:
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Re: Martini Cadets

Post by Bill » 08 Sep 2019, 9:41 am

Yeap the tapered barrel lug is bedded into the hole and dovetailed into the barrel, only other contact point is the knox where you can see its been hand chiselled to fit the raised barrel profile

I suspect a spacer was used to get the rest of the barrel free floated when the lug was bedded, either way it works superbly as accuracy is down right better than expected.

So quickload predicted my top load the other day had the 70grs blitzkings doing well over 2900fps which I find bit unbelievable. Really need to get this over a mates chronograph :drinks:
When a guy is digging his own grave, you don’t fight him for the shovel.

Success leaves clues, Fools follow failure !

20 Hornet, 218 Bee, 222 Rem, 256 WM, 6mm ARC, 6.5 Grendel, 6.5x55 Scan, 270 Win, 357 Mag, 358 Win, 9.3x62, 500 A Square
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Re: Martini Cadets

Post by Stix » 08 Sep 2019, 10:35 am

Thanks Bill...

Yes i think the forend contact at the action end is my problem...!!

Mine is very different though...mine has very little contact & i think i need to bed that end as well to get some decent contact.

Show us some targets Bill... :clap:
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Re: Martini Cadets

Post by Bill » 08 Sep 2019, 10:38 am

3 of the 4 shot groups went around 13mm and the other group went 17mm ;) , took the 6.5 Grendel along to let the martini cool down but its hard to get the barrel hot.

Image
When a guy is digging his own grave, you don’t fight him for the shovel.

Success leaves clues, Fools follow failure !

20 Hornet, 218 Bee, 222 Rem, 256 WM, 6mm ARC, 6.5 Grendel, 6.5x55 Scan, 270 Win, 357 Mag, 358 Win, 9.3x62, 500 A Square
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Re: Martini Cadets

Post by Stix » 08 Sep 2019, 4:28 pm

Good stuff Bill... :thumbsup:

So is that the load you've settled on...?.../...any more testing to do...?

Id like to see it at 100... :)

:drinks:
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Re: Martini Cadets

Post by Bill » 08 Sep 2019, 5:18 pm

Cheers Stix, I only shot 3 shot groups in crappy conditions, still managed 18mm 3 shot groups largest was still 3 shot MOA.

I did some more testing today with diff dies and FLS CBC brass, starting to settle on 16.6gr of 2207 behind the 70gr Sierra, speed should be around 2750fps. So 2 inches high at 100m and about 2 inches down at 200m with more energy than at 223.

next session will be at 100m/200m and with a chrony hopefully
When a guy is digging his own grave, you don’t fight him for the shovel.

Success leaves clues, Fools follow failure !

20 Hornet, 218 Bee, 222 Rem, 256 WM, 6mm ARC, 6.5 Grendel, 6.5x55 Scan, 270 Win, 357 Mag, 358 Win, 9.3x62, 500 A Square
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Re: Martini Cadets

Post by Bill » 20 Feb 2020, 8:07 pm

time for a martini update, didnt get a chance over summer to have a play and Ill admit that real world testing with 2207 and the 256 Win case left me more than a little underwhelmed. Even thou Ive only got a handy 19 inch barrel speeds with the 70gr Blitzkings topped out at 2200fps :(

After grabbing some W296 for the my 357 magnum I decide it was probably worth trying in the 256. I also made the move to Rem 7.5 SR primers after having a few of the CCI's not going off previously.

Start load was 13.0gr, 3 shot groups, 0.3gr increments topping out at 14.8grs, just looking to see what sort of velocities W296 could develop and if there were any accurate loads. Magnetospeed sporter did the velocity duties

I loaded up 1 x 15.0gr just to see if I was getting close to max pressure for the case and to see if I still had easy extraction.

Image

This was the final speed, more to come :drinks:

Image
When a guy is digging his own grave, you don’t fight him for the shovel.

Success leaves clues, Fools follow failure !

20 Hornet, 218 Bee, 222 Rem, 256 WM, 6mm ARC, 6.5 Grendel, 6.5x55 Scan, 270 Win, 357 Mag, 358 Win, 9.3x62, 500 A Square
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Re: Martini Cadets

Post by Maxjon » 02 Apr 2020, 11:17 am

Love these things too!!
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Re: Martini Cadets

Post by Bugman » 02 Apr 2020, 6:54 pm

Started out with one of these, many many moons ago. Very fond memories.
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Re: Martini Cadets

Post by gunnnie » 03 Apr 2020, 7:09 pm

Picked up my 222Rimmed not long ago. Had a heap of brass I'd picked up off one of the used gun sites, so went thru & FLS'ed a hundred. Went to check them in the chamber of the Martini only to find I can't close the block! Seems the rims are too thick! This was with both old Super brass and the blank unstamped BB stuff! I had some recent BB stamped stuff & that was also difficult to close the block on. Not impossible, but bloody tight.
So I'll have to wait till things are opened up so I can get it to Swanny to be sorted out.

Nice looking rig Bill.
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