Shooting the Martini Henry Sportster .450/.577 and Mauser 1871 single shot black powder rifle

Gert Odendaal

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It has been a great day today, I took my family to the Shooting range today . Took the following rifles to shoot with, Martini Henry Sportster .450/577, Mauser 1871 Single shot 11.15 x60 black powder rifle , 12ga W.W Greener side x side shot gun , a Spain made 12 ga side x side shot gun with nice engraving as well as a 16ga side by side shot gun and to top it of a 9mm Short /.380ACP...It really was a lot of fun to see my family members enjoys the shooting almost as much as I did . We did take some nice videos and photos , will upload it as soon as possible ..I am sure the Black Powder hunters will like to see these old vintage rifles shoot ...
 
The three shot guns we took to the range yesterday, the W.W.Greener 12 ga is my favorite ..then the nice engraved Spanish 12 ga really shoots great ..the last being the 16 ga that handles nice ...I really am trying to get to shoot all the rifles I own through the year and not let them become "safe queens" standing in a rifle safe..

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Gert...................sounds fun. I have also made a plan to shoot all of my firearms this year...sometime............. have attached a foto of my M-H hunt in Namibia......FW Bill
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Gert...................sounds fun. I have also made a plan to shoot all of my firearms this year...sometime............. have attached a foto of my M-H hunt in Namibia......FW BillView attachment 380257
Bill, it looks just great the old Martini Henry..I am fortunate to have received a Martini Henry Sportster from my good friend Johan Greyling ..I shot it yesterday as well and really loves this Martini Henry, will use it on our black powder hunt in 2021
 
Bill, remember I told you, there will always be a place for you in the 1885 Era Black powder hunt...when ever you want to join our group hunt every year you are welcome.
HWL , our member on this great forum is already a permanent participant every year ..he really enjoys this hunt, since there are other German speaking hunters in the hunting camp, and I am busy teaching him Afrikaans ..so in a year or two he will be able to speak Afrikaans as well..after that I will teach him to speak Zulu ( indigenous native language ) any South African citizen who is able to speak Zulu gets a lot more done in our Country ....HWL will confirm this statement...
 
I’ve got a 71/84 but have never been able to source ammunition. Where do you guys order it from or are you reloading for it?
Skinnersblade , I sourced most in Mauser 71/84 brass in the USA on rifle forums and auctions ...and my good friends Tony and HWL also bought a lot of Mauser 71/84 brass for me ...I really have a lot of brass that will last me for a long time since I only resize the neck ...no full length re-sizing at all..even with all my Martini Henry brass I do the same ...
 
Bill, remember I told you, there will always be a place for you in the 1885 Era Black powder hunt...when ever you want to join our group hunt every year you are welcome.
HWL , our member on this great forum is already a permanent participant every year ..he really enjoys this hunt, since there are other German speaking hunters in the hunting camp, and I am busy teaching him Afrikaans ..so in a year or two he will be able to speak Afrikaans as well..after that I will teach him to speak Zulu ( indigenous native language ) any South African citizen who is able to speak Zulu gets a lot more done in our Country ....HWL will confirm this statement...
My first, and also the most important Afrikaans word was "braai" !!!

:cool:

HWL
 
I’ve got a 71/84 but have never been able to source ammunition. Where do you guys order it from or are you reloading for it?
I have several .43Mauser rifles to feed, and I have to reload it.

Redding, Lee and RCBS makes dies, Bertram makes cases, and Lyman and RCBS make moulds.

There seems to be no factory ammunition.

HWL
 
I have several .43Mauser rifles to feed, and I have to reload it.

Redding, Lee and RCBS makes dies, Bertram makes cases, and Lyman and RCBS make moulds.

There seems to be no factory ammunition.

HWL
HWL, from next year I will have two extra great looking Mauser 1871/84 I bought from Flatwater Bill...Tony is bringing them to SA when he comes next year ...so it seems I need to frequent the internet again to buy more .43 Brass
 

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I am planning on using an 1871 on your hunt one day, Gert.......lord willing...........FW Bill:giggle:

Excellent decision, Bill....you will love those guys.....

I am just prepairing a .450 BPE and a .577 Snider for the event.

(y)

HWL
 
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HWL, something very interesting there are available three Swiss rifles , the Swiss K31 7.5 Swiss Schmidt Rubin rifles in the Gun shop...what knowledge do you have about this type of rifle ..it really are in beautiful condition...any member on the forum knows more about this rifle?? These Swiss rifles in the gun shop is for sale and really I have never seen vintage rifles in this brilliant condition for sure,,

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