Martini Henry Martini Henry Mk2 Single Shot .577/450 Martini-Henry Rifle

This .577/450 Martini Henry rifle combines the dropping-block action developed by Henry O. Peabody and improved by Swiss designer Friedrich von Martini, with polygonal rifling designed by Alexander Henry. The Mk2, officially adopted 27 April 1877, was the most numerous of the Martini .450/577 marks, carrying forward lessons learned through the first five years of Mk1 service, incorporating a new pattern striker with heavier nose and re-designed extractor with parallel base sides.

The NEP barrel marking indicates British-Indian issue or sale to Nepal as a 'Native State', Nepal being a nominally sovereign entity not directly governed by the British, established under the Treaty of Segauli of 1816 following the Anglo-Nepalese War, with Shah Kings and hereditary Rana Prime Ministers dependent on the British for Western arms acquisition. The Nepalese unit markings on the trigger guard and faint stock inscriptions indicate regimental assignment, likely to one of the named battalions such as Gorakhnath or Purano Gorakh ('Old Gurkha') units.

First entering British service in 1871, replacing the Snider-Enfield, Martini-Henry variants served throughout the British Empire for 47 years. This example represents the significant military aid relationship between British India and Nepal during the late Victorian colonial period.