Product Details
A RARE TRANSVAAL .577/450 'VIER POND' MARTINI-HENRY RIFLE, UNSIGNED, serial number ZAR 1953,
serial number dates to 1888, with 32 1/2in. sighted barrel with Birmingham proof marks, falling block action, receiver crudely stamped 'Z A R / 1958' in typical Transvaal style, together with a Birmingham proof mark, further proof mark on the block, fore-end attached by a hooked plate (as per the MHR Mk III), full stock, the right side of the butt with faint 'II / I' mark with the roundel rubbed out (indicating the use of a butt made for a British Mk II service rifle), the left side shallowly engraved with the initials 'J M J', barrel bands with Broad Arrow over 'WD' and Birmingham inspection mark, complete with sling swivels and cleaning rod
Provenance: These rifles were known as 'Vier Pond Martinis' as the Transvaal burghers could buy them for £4 from the government. They were made by Birmingham Small Arms & Manufacturing Co. under a contract taken from Kynoch who ordered a total of 13,000 rifles and carbines for onward sale to the Transvaal. The serial number of this gun shows it to have been part of the first batch of 3,000 which was received at Pretoria on 2nd December 1888. The Birmingham gun trade, including BSA, would regularly use surplus parts from past War Dept. contracts when fulfilling private contracts
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Estimate £1,000-1,500
Sold as an exempt item under Section 58 (2) of the 1968 Firearms Act, to be held as a curiosity or ornament