The carbine with Aiming Tube in position
Announced in the British War Material List of Changes (L.O.C.) on 23rd. September 1892 - Ref: no. 6860 as the:
Tube, Aiming, M.M. Carbine,
Artillery (Mark I), Cavalry
(Marks I, II & III)
Morris, with breech-piece; set nut; leather and brass washers.
in conjunction with the locking key
Tube, Aiming, Key, M.M. L
Morris, Carbines, Artillery and Cavalry (Marks I, II and III)
Patterns have been sealed to govern future manufacture of the above-mentioned
tubes.
The tube differs from the M.H. carbine tube (L.o.C. 4938) in the following:
It is not provided with fixed and moveable bushes, the tube itself
fitting the bore of the carbine; a brass washer (H) is added; the transverse
of the sliding extractor (D) on the breechpiece (C) is regulated by a fixed
pin (E) instead of by a screw; the tube (A) and breech-piece (C) are made
suitable for the .303-inch chamber.
The key (I) is similar in construction to that for the Martini-Henry
tubes, but is made suitable for the .303-inch chamber.
The cleaning rod for M.H. carbine (L.o.C. 4938) will be used with
this tube.
Nomenclature of components
Tube (A), with fixed milled head (B) at muzzle; breech-piece (C),
with sliding extractor (D), and pin (E); set nut (F); leather washer (G);
brass washer (H).
The marks on the action body side plates of this carbine show (RHS) that it was manufactured as an Enfield Mk.II ( 2 - barred out) Martini of .577/.450 calibre in 1874 and subsequently Enfield converted to .303 Martini Metford Mk.III in 1893 (LHS). The opposing arrows mark indicates that the carbine was "Sold Out of Service".
...
Below - with the tube and chamber removed from the carbine
Close-up of tube muzzle fixing arrangement
and the breech-block lowered with the sleeve over the chamber
withdrawn by the extractor after firing. The rotary positioning of the Morris
chamber and its sleeve is critical for loading and extraction. Here it is
rotated anti-clockwise abou 65 degrees for clear illustration.
..and right, the Long and the Short
of the Morris cartridge
Below are two close-up images of the chamber and tube-end threading - here the chamber from below
and here taken from above - also with the extraction sleeve slid back
The rifling is of the concentric Enfield type rather than the Metford design used in the parent arm and later in the War Office Pattern Miniature rifle. It is eight groove with a right-hand twist.
Below: a view of the leed at the chamber end of the tube, with chamber section removed
For more details of the Morris Company and their target system, view The Morris target
Click here to access a Chronology of Enfield genre Training Rifles, Adapters & Cartridges
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There follow a number of further close-up images of the MT unit
with dimensions
These are at the request of an enthusiast
Muzzle threaded length = 1.245"
Thread Outside Diameter = 0.2995"
Other thread details as chamber end thread below
Chamber O/A length = 1.957" closed
................................... = 2.332" open
Other dimensions probably scalable where not figurable
Sleeve slide O.D. = 0.382"
Min. O.D. at front of chamber section = 0.340"
Thread
I.D. 0.277"
Tube/Chamber
thread O.D. 0.2985"
Threaded length = 0.542" ( 14 threads @ 28 T.P.I.)
Tube O.D. = 0.300"
Leed bore I.D. = 0.220" ( groove dia.)
Good Luck!
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