Also known as 11.43x60R (61R)
The .577/450 Martini–Henry is a black powder, centrefire rifle cartridge. It was the standard British service cartridge from the early 1870s that went through two changes from the original brass foil wrapped case (with 14 parts) to the drawn brass of two parts, the case and the primer. The .577/450 Martini–Henry was introduced with the Martini–Henry, in service it succeeded the .577 Snider cartridge and was used by all arms of the British armed forces as well British colonial forces throughout the British Empire until it was itself succeeded by the .303 British cartridge after an unsuccessful trial of a .402 calibre.
Design
The .577/450 Martini–Henry is a rimmed, bottlenecked centerfire rifle cartridge derived from the .577 Snider, it was lengthened and bottlenecked. The .577/450 Martini–Henry was developed for use in the single shot Martini–Henry service rifle, originally loaded with blackpowder but later used cordite propellant.
Rifle cartridges
The various rifle cartridges fired a bullet made of an alloy of 1 part tin and 12 parts lead, driven by of RFG2 blackpowder and later of cordite size 3 at a muzzle velocity of .
Coiled brass cases
The first .577/450 Martini–Henry rifle cartridge, the Cartridge S.A. Ball Rifle Breech-Loading Martini Henry Mark I, was made of coiled brass sheet thick with a strengthening strip of brass inside the coil and the body of the cartridge was riveted to the iron base disc and lined with thin white tissue paper. The smooth sided bullet was paper-patched with a thick cake of beeswax below the bullet with two cardboard discs above and a single one below.
As a matter of economy, the Mark I was replaced by the Cartridge S.A. Ball Rifle Breech-Loading Martini Henry Mark II which had a slightly thicker wall, no strengthening strip and a slightly longer base cap was added. The Mark II had a tendency to split at the base, so the Cartridge S.A. Ball Martini Henry Rifle Rolled Case Mark III was developed which had two layers of .004 in brass overlapped by with a .004 in brass strengthening strip with a small sight hole punched in the outer coil as a visual check that the strip was correctly placed and an inner and outer base cap turned over at the base.
As a result of complaints about the recoil compared to the Snider cartridge, Woolwich developed a lighter loading with a bullet driven by of blackpowder, the Cartridge S.A. Ball Martini Henry Rifle Rolled Case Mark IV. The Mark IV is visually identical to the Mark III and once removed from its bundle can only be identified by weight, it was produced in batches between 1873 and 1880 by which time complaints about the recoil had ceased, presumably as soldiers became accustomed to it, and later production reverted to the Mark III.
Drawn brass cases & cordite loadings
In service, the coiled brass cases proved to be fragile and prone to sticking in the chamber, so in 1885 a solid drawn brass case was introduced, the Cartridge S.A. Ball Martini Henry Rifle Solid Case Mark I. This was soon replaced by the Cartridge S.A. Ball Martini Henry Rifle Solid Case Mark II with a paper patch that did not extend so far up the bullet. The Mark II cartridge was replaced in British Army service by the .303 British from 1889, but remained in the service of colonial forces for many years.
In 1902 the use of cordite was approved for use in the .577/450 cartridge and the Cartridge S.A. Ball Martini Henry Rifle Solid Case Cordite Mark I was introduced the same year, with a similar cartridge case and bullet, but loaded with cordite.
Carbine cartridges
A reduced power load was produced for use in carbines, firing a bullet of the same alloy driven by . The lighter carbine loading was less accurate, had a shorter range and less stopping power, but the two were interchangeable.
Coiled brass cases
The Cartridge S.A. Ball Carbine Breech-Loading Martini Henry Mark I was introduced in 1877, it shared the coiled brass case of the Mark III rifle cartridge with a cotton card taking up the unused space left by the use of less powder. In service the Mark I carbine cartridge was found to be inaccurate, so in 1878 the Cartridge S.A. Ball Carbine Breech-Loading Martini Henry Mark II was introduced, which replaced the cotton card with thicker paper lining. In 1879 the Cartridge S.A. Ball Carbine Breech-Loading Martini Henry Mark III was introduced, the major changes was to the paper patching of the bullet which included longitudinal slits to ensure it was discarded upon the bullet exiting the muzzle. The Mark III carbine cartridge remained in service for many years.