Khyber Pass build?

[TheDoubleD]

Hello to All,...

DoubleD ... The rifle #2 in your photos. Is there a way that you can check the metalurgy in that rifle? I don't think that it was made with steel from rail road tracks. My area of interest is actually bayonets and I have several Afghan P88 bayonets and the steel of those bayonets are pretty good. Lastly, what do you mean by the under cut of the knuckle seat? Thank you in advance for your reply.

v/r
c12dat

If I had the money the metallurgy any of the rifles could checked.

I did an acid etch trying see if I could raise the markings with out much luck. There were shadows and the impression I got was the shape and location of the marking of the the Kabul Arsenal marking. But that is purely speculative on my part, it could be something else altogether.

Undercut.

Here is bearhunters rifle.




Here is the same area on the number 2 rifle.



Notice how much of the rounded knuckle of the back of the breech block is exposed in Bear hunters rifle vs rifle #2. The back of the action

I went through all my martini pictures, and every martini I have here-22, and none of them expose the knuckle like bearhunters.

MHCC



Bonehill converted MH



Westley Richard Commercial action



Arab made Martini



A MH MKVI and a ME



MH



Turkish Peabody Martini with damage seat.



Well you get the idea

[topaz]

You're a very smart man and your knowledge is vast,(DoubleD) and you give a lot to the forum . (Thank You) But I see that you have to have the last word all of the time. You think no one has the right to question your wisdom(?). I mean after all, this is a discussion (forum) and we are here to learn (knowledge) and each of us have opinions. But to call someone's rifle a kp and insist before you really know, (Quote ITs made from old railroad iron/obvious counterfiet)is not right. We just learned that the rifle in question could very well be from Kabul Arsenal. But a lot of people read this forum and you gave bearhunter's rifle a death sentence. That's what I mean about an apology. If you feel it's not warranted ..ok This message is not meant to be offensive, but to give credit where credit is do. Good one , The Emperor`s new cloths meaning one should not believe everything they are told,especially if the evidence does not support the claims.. Sin of omission. Case closed: quote by dat:

The rifle that started this thread is a Kabul Arsenal Martini-Henry .303 with its markings buffed off. There is an Afghan bayonet specially made to fit this rifle. The bayonet is similar to the Pattern 1888 bayonet, but with a 16 inch blade. A British Pattern 1888 will mount on this rifle but the muzzle ring will extend past the end of the barrel. v/r c12dat

[topaz]

Welcome home dat

[TheDoubleD]

I agree with this.

Hello to All,


DoubleD,

This rifle could possibly be an Afghan Kabul Arsenal made Martini Henry. The original Afghan crest have been buffed off and replaced with the fake Enfield markings. This rifle had serial number in Dari stamped in several locations. The locals would crudely buff them off and replace them with the War Dept arrow/WD. On the other side of the receiver, I bet that you have an inspector stamp of (crown/B/32) or (crown/V.R./crossed flags/2P) or (crown/E/1) or all three. If you take apart the internal parts and they have Dari serial numbers on them, this would indicate that the rifle is a Kabul Arsenal Martini-Heny. You may be able to see a set of Dari serial number on the side of the trigger without taking everything apart.

But this is speculation. Might be true, might not.

The rifle that started this thread is a Kabul Arsenal Martini-Henry .303 with its markings buffed off. There is an Afghan bayonet specially made to fit this rifle. The bayonet is similar to the Pattern 1888 bayonet, but with a 16 inch blade. A British Pattern 1888 will mount on this rifle but the muzzle ring will extend past the end of the barrel.

v/r
c12dat

I sure would like to see Bear hunters rifle up close.

Sure hope he brings it up to the Alberta Play day so we can compare.

[topaz]

Now your talking .

[c12dat]

Hello to All,

I searched my email files and found these photos I took last year.

The first two photos show an Afghan .303 Martini-Henry mounted with an English made P1888 bayonet. Note how the muzzle ring of the bayonet is not flush with the barrel. The bayonet is securely mounted; but barely on with the muzzle ring. Also note the similarity of the front sight with the Bear Hunter's .303

Second group of photos show the Afghan P1888 bayonet with the 16 inch blade. What a beauty. Strangely enough, it is difficult to find this 16 inch bayonet, almost impossible to find it with its scabbard. Note how this bayonet fit perfectly with this rifle. To me, a rifle is just a rifle, but you mean business when you put on the bayonet.

The quality of the Afghan rifle and the 16 inch bayonet, how it fit perfectly with each other, is one good reason why I believe that these were professionaly made in an arsenal or workshop. Oh, did I mentioned that there are serial numbers stamped on most parts of the rifle? When I get home I'll get some more photos for y'all.

Hope y'all enjoy the photos
c12dat

[topaz]

Thanks for the treat, Do you own these rifles? Bill

[c12dat]

Thanks for the treat, Do you own these rifles? Bill

I sent back one of each type: the long rifle, 3/4 length rifle .303, carbine .450 and carbine .303

My favorite is the .303 with the Afghan P88 bayonet.

Hopefully our command will allow the vendors to start selling these nice rifles again. I would not mind getting a few more.

v/r
c12dat

[topaz]

Thats great,The rifles are real nice.Was it a problem getting them back home. How hard was it to find the bayonets. Bill

[c12dat]

[QUOTE=topaz;126123]Thats great,The rifles are real nice.Was it a problem getting them back home. How hard was it to find the bayonets. Bill

Yeah, it has gotten quite painful to get any sort of antique rifles home. Our Military Custom office requires a ATF Form 6 approval to send these MH home. The local vendors are also having problems bringing the rifles to their shop to sell. Most GI's don't want the hassle with the paper work.

There used to be plenty of bayonets for sale at the bazaar here of all types. I think that there aren't much around anymore. I have a couple of the Afghan bayonets, but most of the one I saw for sale here over the years are in poor conditions. There weren't that many for sale at all.

v/r
c12dat