Hi,

I´ve just become the proud owner of a totally ruined Martini rifle (rook rifle type) in "380 or 350 nr5" as it says on the barrel. The bluing has been sandpapered of, the barrel is kaputt and the stock is not a dream...

So I have a crazy plan of making this into a "rook rifle" or a "kipplauf" Martini -but what caliber would be OK using this vintage action?

7x57R?

Cheers

C

Possibly 8,15x46R?

If it is the small cadet-sized action, any of the rimmed pistol cartridges up to .357 Magnum in rim diameter or maybe a bit larger (.44 Magnum is supposedly too big), or rifle cartridges such as .22 Hornet, .218 Bee, .222 Rimmed, .223 (if you use a Bob Snapp extractor), up to .30-30 or 7-30 Waters if you stick to moderate loads.

I would not try the 7x57R in a Cadet-sized action.

Dave

Having had several .380 Rook rifles, including a nice little cased Holland & Holland, I'd shy away from any of the cartridges with pronounced bottle-necks.

Instead, I'd go for something along the line of the .38 Long Colt if looking at modern or semi-modern factory cartridges. It's not that the action might not stand more by way of a cartridge, but that I'd want something for the original purpose of the type...for shooting close up hares, rooks, foxes, or whatever other vermin is likely to be found in one's garden.

If I was actually going to do it for myself, I'd make up a straight-walled case based on the .357 Maximum, but with the chamber cut specifically for a 200 gr. semi-RN (RN with flat meplat) cast bullet, and I'd use a relatively slow powder for the case size/shape, such as 2015 or 3031 and keep velocities low.

I'd be aiming for a velocity with 200 gr. bullets of from 1,300 fps to 1,450 fps max. My usual working velocity would be more in the line of 950 to 1.000 fps with the same bullet. I'd use about a #1 taper barrel, or lighter, of about 25" length, and nice open sights, or possibly an old Parker-Hale aperture rear sight.

Then I'd have a nice cup of tea (two lumps, please) , and a good cigar, get out a bit of rangoon oil and jute tow to polish the rifle, and transport myself mentally back to the midlands in about 1910...before the first big kerfluffle with Kaiser Wilhelm, when the old school was THE (only) school........

Thanks.

Going for a pistol chambering might be the way to go, I´d like to keep this as traditional as possible. The barrel is in very bad shape so rebarrelling is a must. I´ll be looking in to having the action "heat hardened/blued" -what´s the correct expression for that again...

This might become a dandy little rifle!

I think you and I are on the same page on this one.

A really nice thing about chambering for one of the longer ".38" commercial, rimmed, pistol cartridges is that you can adjust power just by changing the cartridge you choose to shoot that day. For instance, with the .357 Maximum chambering, you can also shoot:

- .357 Magnum
- .38 Special +P
- .38 Special (standard speed, either jacketed or lead bullet)
- .38 Long Colt
- .38 Short Colt,
and possibly some others I have forgotten....

Husky has got me thinking along the lines of a 6x70R...low pressure...unusual...

I use to pick up the B.S.A. Cadet Martini actions all the time for $25-35.but that was years ago.The 22 hornet,k hornet were popular then.I chambered one out in a 223,and it made a real nice rifle.I designed my own extractor,as of necessisty at thetime. van