Greener Martini Shotgun Parts

Yes I learned that the hard way ... I actually bought the Greener martini just to get my hands on a three lobe tumbler to copy ... the tumbler in the Army Navy MH rifle had been replaced with a standard military MH tumbler so the safety was rendered useless. It wasn't until I had made a bunch of them that I realized they didn't fit. The rifle was a 303 and I was able to trace its original owner, a Captain somebody. The stock had some ornamentation added, looked middle eastern. Unfortunately, the bore was so worn a 303 bullet would drop right through. So I had it rebored to 348 Win to save the original barrel (with full length rib) and sights. Chamber did not quite clean up so the fired 348 cases had a double shoulder! Regardless, it shot well and the cases could be neck sized. Anyway, I sold it to a collector with a warning that the safety lever was for appearances only, and he seemed happy to have it.

The Army Navy had a Greener type safety lever. It had an engraved action, a full length (soldered) rib, and sporter stock and sights. It had seen a LOT of service. I don't recall the Captain's last name but it looks like he served in Egypt and may have lost his life there. Someone, perhaps the guy that shot him, applied some metal icons to the stock that were definitely not of English origin. If someone wanted to line it they could, but I don't trust liners in centerfire calibers, as the liner has to be fatter than the ctg case and that entails removing a LOT of metal from the barrel and soldering in a liner that has thin walls and is a sliding fit in the bored out barrel. All it needed was a 3 lobe tumbler, and I foolishly assumed that there was only one variant on that theme, having only the Greener action to go by.

Army Navy didn't make guns, they only retailed them. So the real maker of that rifle is unknown, even though the Univ of Glasgow has all the AN records.

I have never seen one with a sliding safety.

The 400 NE is a "nitro for black" ctg with a working pressure of 14 tons. That's pretty mild so I don't have any qualms about it. In any case I plan to use it to shoot 410 shotshells made from 9.3x74R brass through a fully rifled slow twist barrel, allowing me to shoot "slugs" (cast bullets using 38-40 load data) as well as single stack 000 buck using 410 shotgun data. More correctly, it should be called a 10x74R even though the chamber is identical to the 400 NE, the bore is a bit tighter at .401" vs the standard .405". I am trying to get the 000 buck to group tightly so I can extend the range to 100 for hogs and coyotes. I have done some experimentation using a 41 mag and the rifling definitely tightens up the grouping. Not too different from shooting a muzzle loader with multi ball, but using a plastic 410 wad instead of patches.

Fast forward to 2019 almost Thanksgiving. My 400 Purdey on the Greener action Double D sold me is done, the ctg makes the bend even though it's pretty much straight and 3" long. So from that I deduce a 9.3x74R would be an easy fit, so would a 410 shotgun 3", as well as a 450-400 3". A 20ga 3" mag would probably also work going in but might need some help on the way out.

I used a .410" groove barrel with a 14 twist so I can shoot heavier bullets, however they have to be seated deep as the Purdey reamer I have has a short leade. This is proving to be a very versatile setup .. can shoot .410 cast circa 210 grains (I have a 41 mag!), .411 300 grain jacketed, and a stacked load of 000 buck that group tightly all the way out to 75 yds for coyote and other pests, or for foraging for camp meat. I had to have Dave at CH4D make up a set of loading dies for me but you can improvise with a 38-40 or 41 mag sizer die if you just neck size, depending on the groove of your barrel. The stock was made from a 10-22 stock and will do for now. At some point I will put some fancier wood on it.

To get to this point, I had to have some extractors machined. CNC setup is such that I had a bunch of them made. They have a solid bar across the top that can be cut for any rimmed ctg up to 12ga. As mentioned previously, I also made up a bunch of 3 lobe tumblers for the Greener Martini, copied from the real thing. Both parts available through our website if anyone needs same.

But now of course I need a safety lever for another Greener GP action ... getting tiresome making these things ... does anyone have one?