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camerl2009 wrote:

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why not buy a H&R .410 its a heck of alot cheaper then trying to rebuild a gehendra into .410 the ones you see for $99 are not it good shape at all even for rebuild and parts are not interchagable

and the gehendra is really a peabody not a martini henry

Merle,  pay attention and stick with what you know.   The fellow is looking for a falling block .410 and not a break action. Besides this is the  British Militaria board and  H&R are not on topic here.  And Gahendra's are Westley Richards variations not Peabody.

Hardrock, apologies for a CA Merle he is a rare and endangered species, he is our one and only troll here on BMF.  He is harmless.

The  Martini's are all safe for .410.

I don't consider the Gahendra's as good  project guns to bud on.  They has some design flaws  and there are no replacement parts.

I need to create some boiler plate on the Francottes.

The have some very serious metallurgical defects and no spare parts. The Francottes should be considered unsafe to shoot under any conditions.

If you must tear up an antique weapon for a build stick to the Martini Henry and forget the Gahendra and Francottes.

The Gahendra design has some issues. Some in actual design and some in execution. The parts are hand fit and non standard, especially threads,

The Westley Richards, which served as the model for the Gahendra, went through an evolution in dealing with firing pin striker issues. There were problems with both with diameter and direction of movement of the firing pin. At one point WR changed the hammer nose from a fixed part of the hammer to a removable replaceable nose. WR finally settled on a floating firing pin struck by the hammer.

The Gahendra hammer nose is long and thin and may enter-strike at a slight rotational angle through the breech block hole. It can strike and bind as goes through the hole if it is at an angle. The firing pressure through the primer to the hammer nose could also be at an angle. All this combines to make the hammer nose susceptible to breakage. There is no fix for this beyond repair of the broken nose when it occurs. Also if the the horns of the lever are worn , the hammer nose my strike and bind the hole through the breech block as the block is lower when locked.

The method of attaching the buttstock is very weak. The long lower tang and long internal stock was an effort to give the butts some support but only marginally helps.

Another defect that shows up is the main spring. The geometry is wrong and they were never made right. Over the years they have taken a set and now the hooks sits to low. The base often binds against the trigger spring and the spring breaks. I also noted a couple different shapes these main spring with hooks set at different heights. There is no standardization in these parts. Some springs are different lengths. Some also have different stirrup lengths.

I have an action here that that came with a broken stirrup. I just got a replacement stirrup. The spring hooks will not hold the replacement hammer stirrup. The hooks are too low. When cocked the hooks hold. Pull the trigger and when the hammer rotates the stirrup pops out of the hooks. I tried stacking washers under the spring raise it and it didn't work. I need to anneal the spring and bend the hook end up but I know my spring working skills are marginal. May send it out.


Replacing screws in the Gahendra is no big deal. I have blank screws and the special taps and dies to make replacement screws.

The big issue in the Gahendra is the seating of the breech block. In the Hinge block action the block is supposed to seat on its knuckle, The Knuckle sits in a hollowed out recess, called the knuckle seat. To be properly seated the knuckle must have full uniform contact across its face with the knuckle seat. In the Gahendra's that I have checked there is some to no contact.  I have not seen one with full contact. They were never fit properly. I have seen hinge pins that show obvious sign of taking load and pressure. The hinge pin should not keep the breech bock from seating and should not bear a load. If the pin take load, during firing the pin flexes and if not properly fit the block can move.

If you are going to build on the Gahendra action you are going have to lap in the breech block and perhaps ream the hinge block hole.

If you can find a complete already functioning Gahendra, say one of IMA's guns with trashed out stock and barrel, then I see nothing wrong with building a new gun. Just expect to run into problems and and don't expect to have much when you are done. If you do end up with something decent, unless it is something exceptional don't expect to get much for it if you turn it.

You will just find the Martini Henry much better and easier to work with a repair and you will get a better return for your efforts.
  

Hardrock,

CAMerle is a troll and talks a lot...does nothing. Let us know how a deal with him goes.

I have been working on a Gahendra this afternoon and came across another problem. Tthe lower tang-trigger plate has over sized hole and moves when the lever moves, moving the hammer out of alignment with the hole for the hammer nose on the breech block won't function correctly.

You might consider getting one of IMA's British P-1871 Martini-Henry MkII Short Lever Rifle (1880's Dated): Untouched http://www.ima-usa.com/na...0-s-dated-untouched.html

Pull the barrel and stocks. Break them down to their loose parts and sell them individual parts on E-Bay. I would be surprised if you got less than $150 all total for them and $200 seems much more likely.

Get an Adams and Bennett .458 barrel from Midway and chamber it for 45/70. Get stocks from Treebone carving. Put on a ramp front sight and Dakota arms express sight. Bead blast and blue. Put the gun up on with a minimum opening bid of exactly what your material cost are-no reserve. People don't like reserve prices, you opening bid  should be your reserve. You will make money every time.