Martini Henry Mk IV Stuck Striker

[englishman_ca]

Ok, I get it. The screw in the fore end hook. Short little stubby wood screw. Not a lot holding it in there. Sometimes they rust pretty badly inside the wood.

[MauserMike]

Yes that's the one. Maybe I can dremel a little slot in the stub enough to turn it out?

I got all the wood cleaned up yesterday just need to pickup some linseed oil (raw? boiled? does it matter?)

[englishman_ca]

Only a stub, no head? Modern wood screws are formed from steel wire. These 100 year old Martini wood screws are actually made from cast iron, the metal can be brittle and the screw head will chip out if over stressed. Because of this, some British gun screw slots take a very thin turnscrew blade. If overstressed, the turnscrew tip will break before the screw does. Well, that is my theory anyway.

Cutting a slot should work if you can get in there.

Another suggestion would be to make a tiny hole saw from a suitable steel tube and cut out around the screw. Or simply dig it out and then repair the screw hole. Drill a nice clean hole and glue in a plug with a piece of oak dowelling, then redrill for the screw.

This is the solution that I use sometimes when the screw strips out of the wood and chews up the hole. The wood into which the screw bites is not very deep as the cleaning rod channel is right above it, so simply using a longer screw is not an option if you want to fit the rod. Make sure that the rod is in place and lightly greased when you glue the plug

The repair will be inside the inletting for the hook so will not be seen when the rifle is assembled.

Raw linseed oil is what was used in the day. Modern boiled linseed oil has driers added to make it more convenient to use. Several coatings of boiled linseed can produce a shiny finish, which can look nice, but totally wrong for a military arm.
I recommend that you use raw linseed and many coats over an extended period. (SOP was once a day for a week, once a week for a month, once a month for a year, then once a year.)

[browningautorifle]

Or simply dig it out and then repair the screw hole. Drill a nice clean hole and glue in a plug with a piece of oak dowelling, then redrill for the screw.

That's the way to go...mostly. The wood around will be powdered after removing the screw anyway.

[Patrick Chadwick]

Another suggestion would be to make a tiny hole saw from a suitable steel tube and cut out around the screw.

If you have the patience to make such a tool, it's a better/neater solution than hacking out the wrecked screw. Hole saw + beech dowel from a hardware stores = neat job.
If I can find the one I made, I'll post a photo, but don't hold your breath as I am at present deeply entangled with a muzzle-loading Anschütz (!) target rifle.

[MauserMike]

No head the screw was rusted almost all the way through flush with the wood

[MauserMike]

All good - I went in with a dental pick and the screw was just disintegrated completely. Drilled her out and have a hardwood dowel glued in and drying as we speak.

Should be able to get her all back together as soon as my goodies come from IMA. The bore is super on this rifle I think it may be destined to become a shooter at the end of all this.

[englishman_ca]

" I am at present deeply entangled with a muzzle-loading Anschütz (!) target rifle."

Wot??? Do tell. Start a new thread, this sounds interesting.

[bombdoc]

An old trick for Martinis that were used for training was to wrap string around the front of the striker and re-inset it in the block. This formed a sort of buffer to allow the action to be snapped without causing damage. In the UK the Boys Brigade used to use Martini Carbines for drill in the 1900s and the string thing seems to have come from them.. I have come across a number of blocks that this has been done to...

They are a devil to get out.. I have an old 3/8" drill that I have ground flat and sharpened to two points that I use for clearing out the striker cavity. You could also probably use a long series slot drill..

The tip above for using decapping pins to repair strikers is a good one. Pivot steel, which you can get from clockmakers suppiers in fractional sizes is also a good source of material for repairs like this. It is blued high carbon tool steel used to repair the bearings in clocks, and a very useful and relatively cheap source of high precision rod. Cut and polish with a Dremel and fix in place with epoxy...

[Patrick Chadwick]

In the meantime, you might like to start reading about the Anschütz (post 20 in this thread)

https://www.milsurps.com/showthread....nsch%FCtz+plug