British .450 Long Case Henry-Boxer Cartridge

Todd Birch · Post by **Todd Birch** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 12:32 pm

Here's one for the collectors of British BP cartridges. In doing some reseach for a friend, I ran across this gem.....

Before the adoption of the famous Martini-Henry chambered in the .577-.450 round, the trials rifles submitted for evaluation in 1869 were chambered in what is now called the .450 Long Case Henry-Boxer cartridge.
The rifle had a barrel length of 35" with a 1 x 22" rate of twist. It had the curved under lever and side cocking indicator familiar to modern shooters and a trigger blocking safety left off the design ultimatley adopted in 1871.

"The ammunition was a combination was a combination of Henry's bullet and the Boxer case, being officially termed "Boxer Henry Ammunition".
The bullet was hardened with 1 part tin in 12 parts lead, a weight of 480 grains and gauged .458" including the paper patch and lubricating bees wax.
The 3 1/4" case was formed of coiled brass with an iron base like the Snider cartridge. The charge was 85 grains of Curtis & Harvey's No. 6 powder behind a pure bees wax wad sandwiched between jute cardboard discs. The cartridge had an overall length of 3.75".
At 500 yards the .450 Long Chamber cartridge could penetrate iron plates which the Snider failed to deal with at 100 yards. It was more accurate, had about a one third flatter trajectory and as less influeneced by cross winds than the Snider.
Intial velocity was 1253.8 feet per second with a midrange trajectory of 8.1" compared to 11.9" for the Snider."

One can only surmise that this cartridge and rifle were not adopted due to some bureaucratic/political machinations that favoured the .577-.450 instead.

If the specs sound familiar, they were copied or adopted by both American and British makers of sporting ammunituion and rifles in a bewildering array of calibres using drawn brass cases instead of the original coiled brass.

Todd

Omaha Poke · Post by **Omaha Poke** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 2:21 pm

Todd, thanks for the very interesting post. Made for good reading. I always wanted to have one of the original Martini Henrys such as those used in the zulu wars. Maybe one of these days I can find the one I am looking for. Randy

Texas Shooter · Post by **Texas Shooter** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 3:05 pm

Todd:

Neat information on the .450 Long Case Henry-Boxer cartridge. I have wanted a double rifle chambered in one of the "Classic" British Nitro-Express rounds for a long time. I was unfamiliar with the early British BP rounds.

Thanks,

Texas Shooter

Todd Birch · Post by **Todd Birch** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 3:16 pm

Hey Omaha Poke

In my somewhat outdated issue of "Cartridges of the World", I found several rounds, American and British which are clones of the .450 Long Case Henry-Boxer round.
It went on to become one of the favoured cartridges in British BP Express rifles and further glory in the Sharps variations.

If you are a Martini-Henry fan, contact Jim Atkins at martinihenry.com on Google. The man is a wealth of info on Martinis. If you can't find it on your search engine, contact me off the forum and I'll pass on his email addy.

I have a Mk IV Martini-Henry .577-450 I could be talked into parting with. Along with it are chamber inserts in brass and steel that accept .45-70 cases with squib loads, 5-in-one blanks (50 rounds of those) or any .45 or .44 case with a ball round.
I don't have dies or brass in .577-450 but they are available from many sources. I do have a few select original Kynoch rounds.

I put the package together for a project and then lost interest in it. It being deemed "prescribed antique" under Canadian gun laws, it is exempt registration and I can legally sell it to an American.

My favourite line from "Zulu" was the response of the Colour Sergeant to the Private who asked "Why us, Colour Sergeant?" when he realized the predicament they were in.
His response was "Because we're 'ere, lad."

Todd

Ray Newman · Post by **Ray Newman** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 3:52 pm

Brit small arms ammunition:

http://www.users.bigpond.com/digger18/main.htm

Todd Birch · Post by **Todd Birch** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 6:34 pm

Ray - thank you for this site!

Fabulous. It was in researching the .577 Snider for a friend that I came across the data on the .450 Long Case Martini.

I'll pass the url for this site on to him.

"Enemy to your front; prepare to load - Load!"

Regards, Todd

JAGG · Post by **JAGG** » Fri Mar 19, 2004 1:13 pm

If you are right about the .450 /3.25 british case being used in 1869 then it could have been used in the early Buffalo hunts also in America ! As the cases would have been imported with the English powder that many of the hunters used ! JAGG

JAGG · Post by **JAGG** » Fri Mar 19, 2004 1:14 pm

If you are right about the .450 /3.25 british case being used in 1869 then it could have been used in the early Buffalo hunts also in America ! As the cases would have been imported with the English powder that many of the hunters used ! JAGG

Todd Birch · Post by **Todd Birch** » Fri Mar 19, 2004 7:30 pm

"....if I am right about the 1869 date.....",

My Dear Sir, would the Canadian Museum Restoration Service of Bloomfield, Upper Canada lie to us!

Why, the very idea.......whatever would the Queen think?

Seriously, everything published by The Canadian Journal of Arms Collecting is thoroughly researched and documented.

Regretably, they no longer publish their excellent magazine. I scoop up every one of them I find at gun shows where they go for a premium price.

Todd

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