Guns of Zulu

[krwada]

I am big fan of the movie Zulu. I just stumbled on this site ... Zulu weapons.

Of course ... I have seen the Martini Henry rifle at several of the local gun shows here in the Bay Area. The only thing that is holding me back from purchasing the thing is the availability of ammunition for the thing. I am a reloader ... but... the brass appear to be hard to get.

The Webley Mark VI .455 revolver is pretty nice. I have not seen one of these come up at the shows ...or at auction.

So what do you think? Do any of you own one of the guns of the Zulu?

[smle-man]

Yes, I have a MkVI .455 revolver, a Martini-Henry 577/450 rifle (mkIV and not the correct MkII) along with a long lee rifle as used by the extras in the back row



The Webley revolver and Long Lee .303s are not period correct but they don't detract from a cracking good movie!

If you like movies with British small arms in the time of the Raj, hunt up "Northwest Frontier" aka "Flame over India" another good flick.

[krwada]

MkVI .455 revolver

What is it like to shoot?

I am thinking that is is similar to shooting the Long Colt?

[blackfalcon]

Would you consider a Martini Enfield? They are basically Martini Henrys but converted to shoot modern .303 ammo. Great rifles and ammo is easy to find. Don't have to bother cleaning the black powder either.

[gunboat]

If you get a 577/450 and start to reload I have a new rcbs shellholder available. Big bugger.

[smle-man]

What is it like to shoot?

I am thinking that is is similar to shooting the Long Colt?

Considerably less oomph than the .45 Colt. I shoot a 235 gr .455 bullet at about 600fps. The guns haven't been made since the 20s and parts are almost impossible to find so I keep the pressures pretty low. A long time ago in a land far, far, away I worked in a gun shop which required all the clerks to be armed. I carried a Webley MkIV .455 4" and figured the velocity was so low that any rounds that missed the perp would lodge in the wall and not injure innocents on the other side. The son of the owner used to joke that any perp that I had to shoot at might be able to outrun the bullets.

We didn't get robbed while I worked there so the Webley seemed to be a good deterrent.

[smle-man]

Would you consider a Martini Enfield? They are basically Martini Henrys but converted to shoot modern .303 ammo. Great rifles and ammo is easy to find. Don't have to bother cleaning the black powder either.

I have one myself. The trigger pull is extremely stiff but for all that it is pretty accurate. When I eject a fired case I can usually catch it before it hits the ground.

[ccandgc]

I got a nice hand picked MkII Enfield marked with that awesome spike bayonet from IMA. There is a guy on one of the MH forums somewhere who sells the correct sized ready to load brass shells for these rifles. They certainly are impressive A!

[knucklehead0202]

I am big fan of the movie Zulu. I just stumbled on this site ... Zulu weapons.

Of course ... I have seen the Martini Henry rifle at several of the local gun shows here in the Bay Area. The only thing that is holding me back from purchasing the thing is the availability of ammunition for the thing. I am a reloader ... but... the brass appear to be hard to get.

The Webley Mark VI .455 revolver is pretty nice. I have not seen one of these come up at the shows ...or at auction.

So what do you think? Do any of you own one of the guns of the Zulu?

Lee sells a die set for it that's reasonably priced and you use it to form 24g brass shotshells, which are readily available from magtech. There's also a guy on gunboards that sells the brass if you'd rather go that route. Think he makes loaded ammo too. I'll dig it up and shoot you a link. I want to get one of these too but haven't taken the plunge yet.

[krwada]

Martini Enfield?

Would you consider a Martini Enfield? They are basically Martini Henrys but converted to shoot modern .303 ammo. Great rifles and ammo is easy to find. Don't have to bother cleaning the black powder either.

A Martini Henry converted to shoot .303? I had no idea such a thing existed. It would certainly be easier to get components for this thing than the Martini Henry.

How are the prices for the Martini Enfield compared to the Martini Henry?

[smle-man]

Martini-Enfield via Egypt to Sarco some years ago. .303 chamber. It hits the primer so hard that it set off some vintage South African ball ammo that was hang fire in my Lee Enfields but sure fire in this one!



Martini-Henry 577/.450 MkVi originally made for the Enfield .402 round and then bored out to .466. Don't buy one of these unless you are ready to reload for it because a standard .458 bullet will bounce down the bore and give very poor accuracy.

The little brother of the Martini-Henry and Martini-Enfield, the Martini-Francotte 'cadet' firing a .323 diameter bullet but called the .310 cadet. Made for Australia.




A lot of these were converted to different cartridges in the '50s such as .357 magnum and .32-20. I shoot .32SW longs through mine without a problem but I don't recommend the practice

[steamerjames]

The 577/450 is a piss poor cartridge, unless you cannot afford a .460 magaum and like the recoil. Case is so big you cannot load it with smokeless, and it holds over 110 grains of BP-kicks like a mule. I bought one and sold it, could not stand the recoil. Unless you can shoot offhand, which I cannot and hit anything. Fired it with 3031-heard a "pop" and bullet fell out of the muzzle.

[pitfighter]

Great stuff - I don't have any of the guns but I have the John Barry soundtrack to this film in my car -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvpnNa1nFWI

[Emdawg]

I've had a Martini-Henry that was a BSA contract for the Kingdom of Afghanistan. The exterior was pretty bad, but the bore was shiny!


Anyway, this thread is missing something.

[krwada]

OK ... I admit it

I've had a Martini-Henry that was a BSA contract for the Kingdom of Afghanistan. The exterior was pretty bad, but the bore was shiny!


Anyway, this thread is missing something.

Yes ... I am a very big fan of the movie Zulu ... and the history of the Zulu wars and pretty much everything of the British Empire and colonies!

Thanks for posting "Men of Harlech". This Zulu thread would not be complete without it!