Hi, I too have a Francotte modified, Nepalese Martini Henry style rifle, that I purchased from IMA. I too was amazed how dirty it was but it has come up quite nice. I am in the middle of rubbing down the stock and fore grip. The action comes out in one go, not the same as my Mk1 converted to Mk2 MH, but it is a tidy little package nonetheless, all I had to do was under the front action screw, then gently prise it out - I had given the whole action a jolly good soaking in spray de-greasant. It has all cleaned up well, though the bore is very worn, slight crack in te barrel near the muzzle on the underside and extensive pitting along the fore stock line as mentioned by others. I am sure that it will make a nice display piece which is why I bought it. I believe that these we built by Nepali arms manufacturers who copied the MH and that it is not one of the infamous Kyber pass copies as it does not have any identifying (false) marking and alll the components are well made.

It is covered in some Nepali markings - I am currently an Infantry Training Company Commander at the UKicon's Infantry Training Centre - my local Gurhka soldiers have had a look at the script, but they say some of the characters are not used anymore. This in my opinion corroborates the authenticity of it's life in the Royal Palaces - rather than a recent copy. The Gurhka soldiers are keen to know my rifles lineage, so they have agreed to consut their friends, families and elders to try to decipher the script - I think it is just the weapon serial numbers and initial thoughts from the boys appear to support this.

My Nepalese MH had a stuck stock bolt and I did the make your own screw driver and use a t handle approach - it worked and it has been removed, which is making the rstoration of the stock easier. I will upload phots once complete - I wish I had taken some pics before I started!!! I am using wire wool and white spirits to remove the grime and cr*p that has acumulated on the wood. I have cleaned the metal with a de-greasing spray and it looks ok. same detail for the bore.

I have two other original MH rifles: one is a Mk1/ Mk2 converted, obtained from IMA - it is a beautiful rifle, in full working order and on my firearms licence (I am a UK resident) and I have a MH Carbine, which I picked up in Afghanistan (Helmand) on my last operational tour there. It is being renovated by a friendly military armourer, as the blueing is completed gone, but otherwise it is a shooter. He has researched the original blueing/ browning cocktail recipe and has made and prepared baths for the purpose, so it should look great once it is done. He also has a Snider converted .577 breech loader of mine, which is also being restored- cant wait to get them back.

So glad I found this forum to chat to like minded folks! I go back to the 'stan next year - looking forward to recovering a bunch more rifles!!!

George