Martini Henry Bullet Seating

Good Afternoon. Ready to make my first paperpatch rounds and needs specs. What is the the seating depth for 480gr lead bullets and the OAL for the round. Thanks, Randy

The OAL according to L.o.C. 4756 from 25 Sep 1885, which defines the final solid-drawn brass-case cartridge, is 3.15" +/- 0.05", using a round-nose bullet. This will probably need to be a bit less if you use a blunt-nosed bullet with a large meplat.

Although a test made by pushing a bullet into the chamber until it touches the lands may suggest that the bullet could be seated further out, in practice you will find that you cannot make the OAL much larger without difficulty in feeding the cartridge round the curve into the chamber - Another case of "been there, tried that, gave it up!"

Stick to the 3.2" maximum unless you have a really loose chamber.

Thanks Patrick. With MH dies above $150, I am using a 480 Ruger die to seat and necksize as this is the first and last MH I intend to own. Randy

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Originally Posted by rescuerandy2

I am using a 480 Ruger die to seat and necksize as this is the first and last MH I intend to own.

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That is creative! I must get one. The Lee die sizes the neck far too tight.