The Martini-Henry - In The Movies 

Isn't it weird to think some of the men that used the Martini Henry lived long enough to see the development of weapons that had over ten times the rate of fire in a minute than they would have had with Martinis in an hour.

Zulu was my dad's favourite war film. I also watched Zulu Dawn with him. It makes me smile, remembering him yelling (good-naturedly) at the TV when Peter O'Toole (playing Chelmsford) is inspecting the devastation after the battle: "This is YOUR fault! Only a fool divides his force with the enemy not sighted yet!" Good times. I miss him so much.

We had a few Martini-henry rifles during cadets. As an adult who does sports shooting and a firearms enthusiasts, it hurts to see those not sold to loving private collectors instead of rotting away in poorly kept armories.

I play Battlefield 1 and the Martini Henry is a very well-liked and used weapon in the game. The sound is awesome and I think true to life.

One thing I love about the Marti-Henry's history is in WW1, The French still used the rifles. They were ridiculed in the outset due to using such a heavily outdated rifle. Meanwhile they were praised by soldiers and officers for being very reliable in the mud and water of the trenches where cleaning a rifle was unlikely to happen as well as it's superb accuracy and range over most other rifles alongside them. (Mind you these were modern cartridge conversations) I remember reading about one account (I cannot confirm it's authenticity as it was only one account I could find) that the rifle was even praised for it's ability to punch through light armour that other rifles were unable to or would struggle with. Though this is debatable on happening it is certainly a possibility as the round the French used in the rifle at the time was certainly more powerful at the outset of the war than most other rifles fielded at the time. Of course these would mostly all be phased out by the end of the war except for colonial troops and some cases of home guard/police.

I love the fact that he uses the Martini Henry in BF1😂

In movie Zulu, the Zulu king was played by the real life chief of the Zulu, Cyprian Bhekuzulu kaSoloman; he was the great grandson of the Zulu chief, Cetawayo, during the actual Zulu War,

I never tire of watching Zulu. Highlighting Cain and Connery’s military service was a nice touch. I encourage you to make a longer video highlighting actors past and present who’ve both served in the militaries of their respective countries AND stared in war films. This is a rich topic. Come on Johnny, you know you want to. 😉

I was visiting Cyprus on holiday one time and I took a cab from the airport in Larnaca to Nicosia. The cab driver and I were just chatting and I asked him about his service during the Turkish invasion. He told me he was in the reserves but everybody was called up to fight the Turks. He went to pick up his firearm and all they had for him was an ancient Martini-Henry rifle and 3 rounds of ammunition! He told me when the Turkish tanks started advancing, he loaded and fired his three rounds one after another, then threw the rifle to one side and retreated. LOL

Hey Johnny, I once saw in a documentary about the Battle of Isandlwana that one of the many reasons for the British loss was poor visibility - not seeing the Zulus as they approached, too much obscuring black smoke expelled at the firing lines by the Martini Henrys during the skirmishes, and also a bloody (partial) solar eclipse! 😮

G’day Johnny, I’m nearly 70 and when I was a young lad, I learned to use a Martini-Henry from my Grandfather, an Australian who served in the Boer War. Lee Enfield .303s were mainly in use then but many non-front line personnel were issued with Martinis. My Grandfather was a military train driver. He and his train crews had their Martini-Henrys in the engine’s cab, just in case. Grandpa liked his so much he ‘liberated’ it and brought it home to Tasmania. He was a farmer and used it for a long time, even shooting rabbits during the depression to put extra food on the table. He said it would, “blow the poor little beggars’ heads off.” I found this to be true when it was passed down to me. I used to often go for walks in the bush with a mate who had his own .22. We shot rabbits and bush rats. Pretty soon though it became hard to source ammo, so I kept the Martini in good condition as a display piece. Some years after that I joined the Air Force and although we were issued with L1A1 SLRs, I never again went ‘rabbiting’. I found that shooting small animals wasn’t ‘a fair fight’. Still, I can say from experience that the Martini-Henry was an excellent piece of British engineering. Thanks for this, and your other videos. Cheers, Bill H.

Funny thing is that there is a dude in Afghanistan selling guns also had an authentic Martini Henry in his personal collection from way back during the British Invasion of Afghanistan, very cool historical piece and according to him he sometime use it to go hunting.

Also some interesting facts about Martini :- It was a developement over the peabody action rifle where instead of hammer , a spring loaded pin was used to strike the primer Its stillbused as ceremonial and even active duty rifle in Afghanistan (saw action against the Soviets and still in use by tribals) Nepal (ceremony duty and tribal use) India (used by Tribals, registered hunters and insurgencies in North Eastern states ) Myanmar (used by Myanmar police)

The Martini-henry auto-loader is one of the most complex, and greatest feats of engineering I've ever seen for it's time.

Ha, this is great, was just researching the guns used in the Zulu war and found this on RU-vid, I started the video and realized… WAIT! This is a Johnny Johnson video! And saw it was posted just now. Perfect timing!

There ain’t much to be proud about for a 62 yr old Brit, brought up watching those movies of British colonialism. But I can’t escape the fact, that Zulu and the Man who would be King, are bloody good movies, and inspired me to go out and see the world for myself.

I know some people don't realise the importance of detail and fidelity but in some cases it really helps. I appreciate your devotion to film and accurate presentation. As a gamer, film watcher and beginner history studier, your videos are perhaps the purest distillation of what I want in a youtube channel!!! Rewatching again gladly due to these reasons but I cant wait for a Western video. Lemat revolver, cowpoke!

Also fun fact about Nepali copy of Martini henry , When the British refused to aid the Nepalis in making a legal copy of Martini henry , The Nepalis got their hand on some Martini henry and peabody rifle patents ,and made their own Gahendra rifles. The Gahendra rifles were different from British made Martini rifles since instead of a linear spring firing pin mechanism of Martini henry , it used the hammer coil spring mechanism of Peabody, except the mechanism was internal except external. Both were however using same cartridge (.577 martini henry). Ofc Nepal would later be given Lee Enflied SMLE mk1 and .303 enfield chambered Martini Enfield rifles.

Excellent! I was holding my breath to see if you'd remember the Martinis in "The Man Who Would be King." And you did. AW-Riiiiiiight.

THE greatest single shot rifle ever IMHO. I have nearly a dozen, in several chamberings. My Cadet in .357 Mag ( .310 originally) is probably the most fun. I also have a MkIV re barreled to .50-70 smokeless! It featured a cut down, turned down M2 barrel . I am able to create some pretty spicy loads! Im pretty sure the gun was a smith school project

Beautiful job, Johnny! My better half's father was a huge fan of Zulu and Zulu Dawn. He and I had our first good bonding experience watching them on VHS; good memories! When I was a teen a friend of my uncle's had a collection of 19th Century rifles that included a Martini-Henry, a Krag, an 1888 Mauser, et cetera. He permitted me to handle some (including the Martini) but ammo was scarce and expensive so I never got to fire them. Actually touching history certainly gave me perspective and respect.

The Martini Henry was always one of the greatest rifles in history. And it was a devastating weapon in Battlefield 1. Being able to one-shot people with the biggest sweetspot and having more damage that the heath of a standard player, coupled with it's single shot nature made this a very satisfying weapon when you land a killing blow on an enemy player. Or an incredibly frustrating one when you get knocked on you back in one shot by this thing. Either way, this rifle was a staple of the British Empire and should be remembered as such. And for its depiction in Battlefield 1 where it's rewarded to those who reach the rank of Scout 10, and those who get 300 kills with is along with 20 Bayonet charge kills with any weapon that has a bayonet can get a scoped, bipoded, variant for sniper, called the Martini Henry Sniper.

The first firearm I fired was a 22LR Cadet version of the Martini-Henry Rifle as a Sea Cadet a year after the Falklands War. We had 3 detailed and explicit firearms safety lectures given by our instructor (who was a firearms trained Met police officer and a Royal Navy Reservist and our drill instructor and quartermaster) before we got near the armoury or the small calibre range in the basement. My memory is of the smell of the discharged ammunition and the sound when firing. Later I shot a 303 Lee Enfield and a 7.62 NATO British Army Sniper Rifle in the open at Pirbright. And a year later a German FAL standing in for an SLR on a state-of-the-art cinema range at British Army HQ in Berlin. But that Martini-Henry breech block was very simple and easy to operate. Exactly what you needed as a teenage first-time shooter.

It's always a bonus when you can watch a video that is not only educational and informative, but also very entertaining. Well done, Mr. Johnson.

Nigel Green was a 1st class actor in "Tobruk" (1967)

Who else uses this channel to find old movies?

Before it was reposted, this is the first video I ever watched from your channel Johnny. While no longer the actual video I watched, I do think this is an improvement as you add more information and details on not only the rifle itself, but also the media they appear in. I see you've taken my advice in paying attention to the firearms in Soviet-era movies, at times they are real exotic ones. Can't wait for the standalone video on the P14 rifle, I hope you showcase a good number of Soviet movies in it. And how could I forget that the first comment I put in a Johnny Johnson video was on praising you for showing The Lost World (2001), in your video! It is an underrated adaptation of the original 1912 novel.

I love the martini henry in the game Hunt: Showdown. Feels well represented and has some expected variants except the Ironside which is a magazine version.

As a Welshman I loved Zulu as a boy (still do). I had a friend in school obsessed with the film as a symbol of proud Welsh identity and courage in the face of overwhelming odds. It was somewhat disappointing to find out in later life that most of the soldiers at Rourke's Drift, despite serving in Welsh named regiments had actually been recruited across the border in English counties and so were not actually Welsh... Still a great movie. Cymru am byth!

I just watched Zulu. Now I want to buy a Martini Henry.

That’s a really stand out video mate. Very good work. Private Fred Hitch VC (of Rorkes Drift fame, obviously) is buried just down the road from me in Chiswick, West London.

"We sloshed you with Martinis, an' it wasn't 'ardly fair; But for all the odds agin' you, Fuzzy-Wuz, you broke the square." ~Rudyard Kipling

Excellent. The Man Who Would Be King bandit scene: ‘Problem is, how to divide five Afghans from three mules and have two Englishmen left over’.

I do often like to contemplate how in awe people of the 1800s would be in today of modern weaponry. For example if we take a look at Sharpe the rifle used commonly there was the Baker rifle. And Sharpe had the saying of "A good soldier can fire three rounds a minute in any weather" and people thought that ludicrous. Imagine telling him how one man with let's say a Kalashnikov could fire somewhere up to 600 rounds a minute.

Some of my favorite real life inspired Martini Henry / Martini Enfield variants are the Martini Enfield SMLE (covered by Ian aka Holy Gun Jesus from Forgotten weapons) and the Enfield Martini Grenade Launcher from Battlefield 1

Brilliant editing and commentary. I salute you, sir.

It's interesting I read once that the movie Zulu put the Martini Henry in the forfront of the collectors world and made them go up in demand and value. I'm thankful about 15 years ago my brother got an 1874 dated Martini Henry.

Actually held one. I once worked in a military exhibition centre. The army had dumped to us all the old weapons given to them over the years, one of which was a Martini.

While lever-action repeating rifles were very popular among civilians in the USA during the latter half of the 1800s (and later), the US military used breech-loading rifles until the introduction of the bold-action Krag-Jorgensen rifle beginning in 1892.

Might I suggest the ongoing Martini series on C&Rsenal if you want to know more about this iconic rifle. And of course British Muzzle Loaders for even more.

Waterloo was, is an amazing movie for it's cast alone. Thanks again, again Johnny, catch ya on the next next one.

Glad George Lucas didn't direct Zulu, he'd have digitally cleaned up the odd Lee Enfield and rubbery bayonet. Such a great film and the devaststing effect of disciplined ranked fire shown so well. Thanks for another great video Johnny 👍

A M-H pistol?!?! Who knew?!? Great job as always, Johnny!

Glad you showed The Naked Prey -- one of my very favorite films. Cornell Wilde (Kornél Lajos Weisz) gave his soul to that film.

I like that you included a clip from Mangal Pandey: The Rising, a decent movie about the sepoy rebellion

You forgot "the Four Feathers" both versions feature the Martini Henry. The Heath Ledger version even showed the ammunition issue not mentioned in your video. The fact that earlier ammunition including ammo supplied to the armies at Islandwana and Gordon's expedition in the 1st Madhi war to Khartoum,was the case was made of rolled brass foil. The case head would separate leaving the rest of the case stuck in the chamber. The results of which is shown in the four Feathers, in one scene the rifle is showing with a breech rupture. Blowing up in the face of the soldier firing it. Also blinding him. This was based on fact. After 1879 the brass was made in the typical drawn fashion which ended that issue. A Snider Enfield as well as the Martini Henrys as well as a Hotchkiss rotary cannon and Gardener guns are shown as well as Congreve Artillery rockets. The other movie you missed Was the movie Khartoum itself. Another great movie.

I have used this rifle re-calibered to .22. Thoroughly enjoyed using it.

Good to See the Martini Henry again, loved this gun IRL for its Uniqueness (to me at least), and for being a Fun Gun to Play with in Battlefield 1, Good Stuff! Keep up the Amazing Work Johnny! Keep the Good Shit Coming and Rolling, my Friend!

The Man Who Would Be King & Zulu are two of my all-time favourite films.

Zulu! Best, most awesome movie. Do watch History Buffs for the (few) inaccuracies in the movie. 🧐. Zulu respected both sides of the battle of Roarke's Drift. Awesome! I love the Man Who would be King. Vastly underrated and overlooked movie. Great! Last note. For the Lee-Medford, Lee was the American inventor who invented the box magazine. 😮

Zulu, Man who would be King, Lost World, Young Winston, all the greats are featured here.

Always good to see this back. Great rifle, love mine, even if ammunition is dreadfully expensive.

I caught a glimpse of a Martini Henry in the Man From Snowy River a movie made in Australia and would fit the time. Thanks to this video!

I saw a documentary on TV that showed the Martin Henry jammed after firing I think 24 rounds . The 25th round jammed in the breech with the heat . They fired one in the documentary that showed this is what happened . Also searching the battle area with metal detectors casings were found with damage consistent to being levered out of the breech .

In the movie ‘Zulu’ they obviously couldn’t give all the actors Martini- Henry rifles, only those in the front ranks closest to the cameras were so equipped, the rest appear to have bolt action Long Lee-Enfield’s. As an aside, has anybody ever confirmed which types of handguns Chard and Bromhead used during the actual battle, in the movie they have Webley Mk.VI’s, obviously wrong because that mark didn’t appear until 1915 and the Webley revolvers themselves weren’t adopted by the British Army until several years after the battle.

Nice work as always, i really enjoy these vids and being reminded of awesome war movies. Thanks J.J. your dyn-o-mite.😁

I salivate when I see those sealed crates of 577-450's in Zulu. I just finished reloading 40 cartidges for my M-H, and 37 for my Snider Enfield. I just want to keep history alive.

Such a satisfying breach loading weapon. The sound in BF1 was orgasmic.

As an addition there is a sporterized Martini in "The Wind and the Lion" tested by Teddy Roosevelt against a Remington and another Greener harpoon gun in 1977's "The Deep" which deserves a nod.

Another great video. I am in a shooting club in the UK and a few of the older shooters have Martini Henry's

Oh well, maybe I'll repost this then. When I was a cadet at school the school armoury was full of SLMEs and Martinis. All deactivated of course, given we were 13 or 14-year-olds. We used to fight to get hold of the SMLE's, because they were easier to drill with. I often wonder what happened to them all, because no doubt today they'd be worth a small fortune. Probably scrapped.

Would be great to see a video on the B-29, being a costly development and engineering marvel

I really enjoyed this one thak you JJ quality as usual

Thankfully it wasn't a copyright problem.

I suggest videos on the: Sterling L2a3 M-16 M203 grenade launcher Pennsylvania Long Rifle Brown Bess Block Beretta 92fs

Nelson Fort near Portsmouth, UK has one you can handle and even work the action. The best little detail that I noticed is the date stamped into lock: 1893

Johnny, I'm sure you noticed the cavalry carbines in the hands of the British infantrymen in "Zulu Dawn", front and centre. Unlike its spiritual 'sequel'(same writer) "Zulu" ten years earlier, the sheer number of troops required to reenact the Battle of Isandlwana/ Chelmsford's invasion meant that there were simply not enough Martini-Henry rifles to equip all the soldiers. Hence, especially in the British advance into Zululand, you will even see WW1 Lee Enfield rifles in the hands of the British soldiers! Long, wooden stock, profile looks vaguely like a Martini-Henry from a distance. Riiight 😂

You forgot to mention the amazing Christopher Plummer as Rudyard Kipling in the Man Who Would Be King. Another great but underrated film.

It can hit a dustbin lid sized target at 500 metres and still has enough penetrating power to go through a railway sleeper

5:25 Could as well be an actual pre-WWII relic, considering that some guns could also be aquired through civilian gun trade in Russian Empire (they had Martini copies imported for civilian gun trade from Belgium and made some at Tula, I've seen newspaper adverts of Tula guns next to that of 7mm Boer Mausers), or trophies captured in 1877-78 war with Turkey. The version of Martini pistol being an Afghan trophy seems reasonable as well.

Its a shame to think we probably will never get any films on all the other wars fought under Queen Victoria's rule, subjects that would make for films just as epic as other Victorian-set films like Khartoum, Zulu, Zulu Dawn, Charge of the light brigade, the man who would be king, four feathers. I mean there's so much more to explore of the Crimean War, or the Mahdist War, let alone the Abyssinian Expedition, Robert's War, any of the Afghanistan expeditions for that matter, the Ashanti expedition, the Indian Mutiny, the Opium Wars. But studio execs avoid these subjects like the plague, for fear of controversy, even if you could easily modernise the framing and actually bring up both sides/perspectives of the conflicts, but no historical epics are no longer profitable or popular for modern audiences who just want to be spoonfed content/algorithm crap.

I hope a vid on the Werder rifle would come out soon since it had the same principle as Martini-Henry

lovely little rifle, mine is an AC2 in .303 had the conversion in 1898, original date on side of the action is 1877 . still use it for hunting

The only Trap door that I have shot was a friend of mine’s Martini Henry. Man did that gun kick like a mule

My favourite gun in Battlefield 1

C&Rsenal RU-vid channel just recently did a deep dive on this very rifle Awesome video!

Hot take: Rorke's Drift is the best Ssbaton song

Love it thx!

6:20 the .303 Martinis are usually called Martini-Enfields. This is due to the naming being "Action-Rifling", for a lot of British guns.

"... and a bayonet sir, wiv some guts be'ind it."

I've had read (so I am not completly shure if it is true) that some few Martini-Henry (or local copies of them) were still in use during the Soviet-Afghan-War or even during the War on Terror in Afghanistan...

I love that you used Battlefield 1 footage

By the way, Martiny breech rifles are still very popular with german, austrian and swiss "Standschützen" at competitions, as they are sturdy and reliable just like the remington rolling block rifles, nearly indestructable by overloaded cartridges...

I know, this is about movies. But a great game to experience the Martini-Henry is "Hunt: Showdown". While the ballistics are highly inaccurate for game balance issues, the gun itself, and the loading mechanism is very well represented.

Never heard of the pistol version

the martini henry is my favorite rifle

Interestingly enough, volley fire was actually not used at Rorkes Drift. That’s a common misconception. Though certainly it was used in almost every other engagement in the war. It was just that it was more practical to have independent fire at will during the fight. They did have a second line in the form of NCOs and officers stationed behind the soldiers at the mealie bags and biscuit boxes to plug in a gap in the line or to shoot down a Zulu who had gotten over the wall. But it wasn’t actually firing on command, though I’m certain the troops would have fired about the same time at certain points in the fight, so it might look like volley fire. It just wasn’t ordered directly by the officers.

Since you mention it at the end of the video, the Lee Metford rifle is still (technically) in service, used by Europe's only legal private army, the Atholl Highlanders.

Ahhhaaa you cliped the Lost World from 2001! If anyone's seen that film, note how much Peter Jacksons 2005 King Kong film imitated it.

Such a classic of British rifles

the powder charge was 85 grains of black powder for the rifle and 75 grains and a lighter bullet for the carbine before it went to the .303 cartridge

5:44 "alright, now that i loaded this rifle turned pistol, i'm gonna flag the cameraman and myself"

The harpoon gun version is also in the Equalizer 2.

hi Johnny! i just finished watching Girls und Panzer der Film it was really fun and im not into anime at all :D but saw so many clips u used and they seemed fun so i had to give it a chance :D

My fav rifle in BF1

The original M-H rifles are pleasant to shoot and surprisingly quick on the reload with a little practice, though nothing compared to a good bolt action of course. The foil cartridges weren't great though; really would've benefited from thick-walled brass like the roughly contemporary and comparable .45-70 (and the foil rounds I've shot as old surplus certainly had many issues). However the rifles are accurate out to 600+ yards _easily,_ and those huge, heavy, slow-moving bullets did immense amounts of damage in keeping with British small arms design doctrine of the era -- and if the period numbers on fatalities vs. hit location are to be believed... They're also really not that bad on recoil if properly kept tight to the shoulder. Certainly no worse than many modern, smaller nitro/smokeless loads in the various bolt rifles; and a good deal more pleasant than a 12ga shotgun with 3" slugs. That being said, anything more powerful than a semiauto 5.56 is going to bruise eventually if you're firing it for hours on end in combat or drill...

A good weapon between a Muzzle-loaded Musket and a Bolt-Action Rifle. Makes want to invent & introduce this weapon for my Legacy if I ever get Isekaied in Fantasy Medieval World

The invention of the rubber bayonet was the most important development in British firearm history. The use of rubber bayonets in combat is a form of psychological warfare, creating confusion in the enemy. Many enemy soldiers believed that they had been run through by a steel bayonet, and wandered around the battlefield believing they were ghosts, as noted during the Napoleonic wars..

The Martini Henry also featured in a Malaysian movie named "Mat Kilau."

Pal.. I see Ur vids.. I can't help but watch them... Show us more of the arms of the world in your unique way mate... Alllllrighhhnt this weapon was a beast..btw 🙏🙏👍👍