Original Item: Officially adopted on 28th of September 1907, this is an original British Martini-Henry service rifle made by London Small Arms Company in 1888, which was converted for training purposes to a very rare bayonet practice musket rendering this totally non-firing without components to discharge a round. This example retains its original British markings and was converted from a working rifle to a spring loaded training musket that has a metal ball at the “point” to prevent harm to one’s opponent. An extremely interesting Martini development discussed in great detail in Ian Skennerton’s book A Treatise on the British Martini pages 550-556.
This example is marked as follows on the right side of the receiver:
(CROWN)
V.R.
L.S.A. Co.
1888
(Viewed Mark)
II.
1.
On the left side of the receiver and barrel, there is the marking K.A. 788, which may indicate the arsenal where the conversion was done, or where it was in service. This could be Kirkee Arsenal in India, which would explain how it ended up in Nepal.
These are Extremely rare on the market, and this is the best example that we have seen. Very interesting and ready to display!