The Short Chamber
Boxer-Henry .45 caliber is a rather unique cartridge. Most
people are awestruck when they see it for the first time. It
is big, bad, and ugly. I think the most common thought I
hear when showing one to somebody who has never seen it
before is the suffering the Zulus who were shot with this
cartridge must have endured if not killed outright. Colonel
Edward Mounier Boxer of the Woolwich Royal Arsenal in Kent
County was the true genius behind much of the new technology
in the cartridge. Namely, the coiled brass case. Though
primitive looking by today's standards, the coiled brass
case was a remarkable breakthrough in metallic cartridge
development. The reason behind the coiling of the cartridge
is best described in Col. E.M. Boxer's own patent (Boxer's
Patent No.137 1/15/1866)... "My invention has for its object to
construct the cases of cartridges for breechloading firearms
and ordnance in such a manner that they shall rapidly expand
by slightly uncoiling and stretching on firing so as to fill
the chamber and will contract slightly after firing so as to
admit of the empty case being easily
removed." Eventually, a solid, drawn
brass cartridge was adopted to replace the rolled or coiled
brass cartridge. It was found to be resistant to rough
handling, it produced superior muzzle velocities and had the
same qualities of expanding to fill the chamber and form a
seal as did the coiled brass case. Best of all, it had fewer
parts and required no assembly, as did the coiled
case. In trials of the
Martini-Henry, there were two cartridges proposed for use with the
rifle. The original was a long .45 caliber cartridge containing 85
grains of Curtis and Harvey #6 black powder. In trials, this "Long
Chamber" cartridge was found to be awkwardly long and difficult to
handle and load. As a result, W.T. Eley experimented with the cartridge
and eventually invented a revised, shorter cartridge capable of holding
the same charge of powder. This was accomplished by enlarging the base
portion of the cartridge into what has become familiarly known as a
"bottle neck" shape. Through trials, this was referred to as the "Short
Chamber" cartridge, and upon acceptance, its nomenclature in the L.O.C.
was "Short Chamber Boxer-Henry .45 caliber". This new cartridge
utilized "R.F.G.2" Powder. This stands for "Rifled, Fine Grade. No.2".
This powder meshes 12 to 20, with a density of 1.72 to 1.75. This
powder was used in the majority of Martini-Henry ball cartridges. Check the links page for sources of brass and reloading supplies. A real world
comparison...on the left, a standard .22 Caliber LR
cartridge. On the right, a rolled brass Short
Chamber, Boxer-Henry .45 Caliber
cartridge.
A box of commercial Boxer-Henry .45 Caliber
Carbine-Load cartridges made by Kynoch (a division
of Imperial Chemical Industries Limited, Metals
Division). The manufacture date stamped on this box
is May, 1952. A cartridge from the box above. Note the green
paper patching around the bullet indicating a
Carbine Load.
Pierced Berdan primers are a
problem with the OWS version of the .450 Martini-Henry. The rounds pictured here were
fired from a Mark I Carbine, which has been
inspected and found functional and within specs by
a competent gunsmith. Since I've heard a few
reports of this problem, I sent "Dangerous Dave" of
OWS an email asking about this issue. He responded
that OWS is aware of the issue (which is caused by
poor quality Berdan primers) and that they will
soon be selling a new revision of the cartridge
featuring Boxer primed, cases. UPDATE, 17
JAN 02: Just talked
to OWS, the new M-H Brass is boxer primed, but it's
Kynoch brass. This is great quality stuff, but at
$139 per 20 rounds, it's a bit on the ridiculous
side for most people! Looks like it's time to shoot
the .303 Martinis! OWS suggests using 6504 Primers
with their Berdan brass as a workaround, however,
they've said they have no plans to change the
crappy primers they sell with them!!! UPDATE, 05
JAN 09: OWS no longer sells the .450 Martini-Henry, and from what I hear, hasn't in quite some time. Old
Western Scrounger's
Version of the Boxer-Henry .45 Cartridge with 450
Grain, .450" diameter non patched lead bullet.
Solid brass, Berdan primed case. Reformed from 24
Gauge CBC Shotgun Shells. British Rolled Brass
Boxer-Henry .45 Cartridge, complete with inspection
markings. 480 Grain Bullet (12 parts lead, 1 part
tin), paper patched, beeswax lubricated. British Drawn Brass M-H
Infantry Rifle Cartridge. 480 Grain paper patched
bullet. 85 Grain Black Powder Charge. British Drawn Brass M-H
Carbine Cartridge. 410 Grain paper patched bullet.
70 Grain Black Powder Charge. British
Specifications from the LoC... Rolled
Brass Boxer-Henry .45 Data
Other
Variants...
The bottlenecked Mark III Special
Greener
Police Gun Shotshell. Drawn
brass, crimped. Next to a .22cal LR cartridge for
comparison. This cartridge was specially designed for use
with Greener's Police Gun Mark III. The Police Gun was a
Martini-Action shotgun widely used by British Colonial
Police forces (particularly the Egyptian Police) in the
early 1900s. It featured a firing system that would only
allow firing of the special cartridges made specifically for
the Police Gun. See the FAQ
page for more info on the
Greener Police Gun. A comparative view of the cartridge
heads. Note the large annular groove around the primer. The
purpose of this groove was to allow the special lugs on the
breechblock face of the Greener Police Gun to protrude
forward to engage, and fire the cartridge. The Greener
Police Gun could not fire standard cartridges, and was thus
of little or no use if captured by "the bad
guys". Front view showing the crimp and the
cardboard wad marked "SG". "SG" is a standard shotgun pellet
size (approx 8.5mm diameter).
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Last Modified: 01/05/08