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What should one expect to pay for a martini Henry?

Architect0

Swinger
I’ve been looking at martini Henry’s recently and seen some go for 1k and up and some lesser condition ones for 600 ish and want to enter an auction for one and want to know what to expect to pay if it helps it is an 1888 mk4 with SRG marks on it and good condition With an estimate of about £300-500. any opinions/estimates/recent purchase prices etc would be appreciated

Ollie
 
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World Wide Arms have both Mk II and Mk IV for sale, however are a little on the pricey side (albeit cheaper than the link above)


There are still bargains to be had, I think I paid around the £700 mark for my Mk IV but I had to clean a lot of gunk off of it and replace the striker spring (easy job and cheap), however the bore is mint. My Mk I/II was only £600, but there isn't much rifling left on it.

If you are on facebook, there's a really good M-H group on there and it's often worth posting some pictures on there with the question, as there's an awful lot of Khyber Pass fakes out there, and if you don't know your M-H's it's easy to get a dodgy one.

Another option is to get one from IMA in the States. The exchange rate isn't too bad at the moment, so you're looking around £900 for a Mk II cleaned and restored (cheaper if you want to do the restoration yourself), however you'll need to pay import tax on this. I know a couple of people who have imported them from IMA and they think that the rifles are great value and worth the wait.

 
World Wide Arms have both Mk II and Mk IV for sale, however are a little on the pricey side (albeit cheaper than the link above)


There are still bargains to be had, I think I paid around the £700 mark for my Mk IV but I had to clean a lot of gunk off of it and replace the striker spring (easy job and cheap), however the bore is mint. My Mk I/II was only £600, but there isn't much rifling left on it.

If you are on facebook, there's a really good M-H group on there and it's often worth posting some pictures on there with the question, as there's an awful lot of Khyber Pass fakes out there, and if you don't know your M-H's it's easy to get a dodgy one.

Another option is to get one from IMA in the States. The exchange rate isn't too bad at the moment, so you're looking around £900 for a Mk II cleaned and restored (cheaper if you want to do the restoration yourself), however you'll need to pay import tax on this. I know a couple of people who have imported them from IMA and they think that the rifles are great value and worth the wait.

I have dealt with IMA in the past and found them good to deal with and if its a shootable Martini-Henry in 450/577 you want and you can stand import duties, then go for it. Brown Bess in cleaned up condition proved to be better shooters than you'd been led ro believe
 
Where would this under-estimated piece, of which my collection is missing that particular exemplar, going on the block?

 
These guys auction a lot of them, quite often at good prices. Overseas phone bidders often take part.


You should also get an idea of prices paid checking out past auctions. I'm seeing Boer War marked ones for under 500 squids.

They may have some for sale off the shelf too.
 
No... I don't have a Mk4 from 1888, which happens to be the year it was starting to be replaced by the Lee-Enfield, the year RK mentioned it in The Man Who Would Be King, and the year before it ceased production.

I am also missing a 1877 Carbine.
 
No... I don't have a Mk4 from 1888, which happens to be the year it was starting to be replaced by the Lee-Enfield, the year RK mentioned it in The Man Who Would Be King, and the year before it ceased production.

I am also missing a 1877 Carbine.
Lee Metford surely?
 
This is brilliant didn’t expect so many replies so thank you for this it’s helping me get a good idea of what I should be prepared to spend
 
Nepal MkIV (originally via IMA before they left UK) are the one to go for if you want to shoot. Many of them appear to be mint internally.


On a general note, one wonders if all firearms prices in UK will fall post-Covid19 due to oversupply? The average age of people owning historic rifles appears to be about 70...
 
World Wide Arms have both Mk II and Mk IV for sale, however are a little on the pricey side (albeit cheaper than the link above)


There are still bargains to be had, I think I paid around the £700 mark for my Mk IV but I had to clean a lot of gunk off of it and replace the striker spring (easy job and cheap), however the bore is mint. My Mk I/II was only £600, but there isn't much rifling left on it.

If you are on facebook, there's a really good M-H group on there and it's often worth posting some pictures on there with the question, as there's an awful lot of Khyber Pass fakes out there, and if you don't know your M-H's it's easy to get a dodgy one.

Another option is to get one from IMA in the States. The exchange rate isn't too bad at the moment, so you're looking around £900 for a Mk II cleaned and restored (cheaper if you want to do the restoration yourself), however you'll need to pay import tax on this. I know a couple of people who have imported them from IMA and they think that the rifles are great value and worth the wait.

IMA advertising 'as is' Nepal Mk IV at £565 right now.....
 
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