Nepalese

[coop44]

Has anyone bought any of the Nepalese rifles from IMA? These really look cool, just wondering if any one had any experiences.

[waltrich]

Has anyone bought any of the Nepalese rifles from IMA? These really look cool, just wondering if any one had any experiences.

Are you talking about the "Martini Henry" style Nepalese rifles? Those do look cool...

If so: They are allegedly unsafe to fire and ammo is ridiculously expensive. I'm talking $120 a box for 20rds. Ten-X is the only manufacturer that I know of who makes it. You can reload for it using 24 Gauge shotgun shells, pyrodex and cast bullets. The process requires some "talent" though...

Incidentally, "Iraqwarveteran8888" on youtube is trying to verify the strength of those actions to see if they can be fired. Stay tuned!!! (I keep bugging him about it )

[TRAP55]

I met Christian Cranmer awhile back and we talked for hours about when he found that stash. He said when they walked up to the arsenal, the Nepalese soldiers were burning the carriages to Napoleon cannons, and were getting ready to melt down the bronze cannons for scrap!
The stuff they found in there was amazing, weapons spanning centuries. They found the tooling that Christian Sharps used to make the famed Sharps rifles. They still don't know how it ended up there!
The crates of select fire rifles and machine guns from WWI and WWII were mostly sold off to European collectors because the red tape to get them here was impossible to overcome.
Fascinating guy to talk to.

http://www.ima-usa.com/info_pages.php/info_id/12?osCsid=a26188f3080a0d443385b089915a8825

[smle-man]

I bought a MkIV MH in the early 70s that came from Nepal. It was complete with an original sling and sword bayonet and scabbard. Bought it from Potomac Arms. Bought another MkIV MH from Nepal from Atlanta Cutlery a couple years ago in about the same condition for about 5x what I paid for the other one. What escapes me is how I got the MH in the 70s that came from Nepal if no one knew the rifles were there until they were discovered several years ago?

[Palimino Stripe]

If you're talking about the 'untouched' ones...

There were a huge posts on gunboards & surplusrifle forums a couple months ago when they started offering them at bargain prices...

So yeah- I got an untouched one... and that's still its current condition (haven't had the time).

They are pretty neato rifles. I got lucky and received a 'complete' one with a beautiful stock (under the gunk...from what I can tell). Your resluts will vary.

As far as the 'cleaned' ones they're offering... Nope- I don't have any info on those...

-Palimino

[robertmcm]

Do not expect a shooter by any means. I ordered two of the Pattern 1853 in untouched condition and cannot make a functional rifle out of the two. Not that I was expecting much, and not that I am not happy with my purchase, I am. Just read their description carefully

Fun projects, and expect a wallhanger at best. I have no experience with their other offerings

[wellfedirishman]

I have one from the IMA stash that I bought on Craigslist(!), a Nepalese Gahendra rifle. It is actually pretty decent, and after some cleaning up and repair of the firing pin (not hard to do), it shoots great.

Here is a pic of the action with Sanskrit script visible on it:


Here it is at the range


Here is some ammo I loaded up.


There are some links here on the IMA stash, and the quality of guns people have been getting (some good, some bad, some ugly):

http://britishmilitariaforums.yuku.com/reply/59281#reply-59281

The guys on this forum are VERY helpful if you have questions, but make sure to use the search function first as most questions have already been answered.

The brass is the initial expense (about $3 a case), but after that it is cheap to shoot. I just cast my own soft 45-70 bullets and use those, with either black powder or Trailboss powder. Once you load your own, it is about 25 cents a round.

Coop, I see you are in Sac. I shoot out at Lincoln Range. If you are around some weekend I can bring it along and you can see it in person, PM and let me know.

[coop44]

pm sent, thanks everyone!!

[smle-man]

For what it's worth, if anyone is loading for a MkIV you need .468 diameter bullets; .458s are too small. Most of the MkIVs are bored out from .40 so they went larger to .468 dia. I use a .466 from Montana Bullets and they work great.

[Springfield45]

I have two Nepalese rifles. One is a 1864 Snider rifle in .577 caliber and the other is a 1872 Martini-Henry (untouched but now cleaned). Neat guns