128 
FOREST AND STREAM 
March, 1921 
Pick Him Out 
From the Pack 
N O danger of wounding a fa- 
vorite hound when the dogs 
surround the quarry. Your 
Lyman Sights will pick him out from 
the pack as pretty as the spot light 
picks out the prima donna. 
mmmm 
make possible the 
greatest accuracy with 
the greatest case. The 
illustration shows how 
your front sight looks 
when sighting through 
a Lyman Rear Sight. 
The aperture is so 
near that the rear 
sight is all but ig- 
nored; the attention 
is centered on the 
front sight and game. 
Most good dealers car- 
ry Lyman Sights. If 
yours does not, write 
us, giving make, model 
and caliber of rifle. 
Free Booklet 
shows Lyman Sights 
for tang or receiver, 
leaf sights, front 
sights for hunting and 
target, etc. Write 
for it. 
Lyman Gun Sight 
Corporation 
110 West Street 
Middlefield, Conn. 
No. 4, $1.50 
No. 6, $2.00 
(for Remingtor 
Model 8, $2.50.) 
Model B 
RELOADING TOOL 
MODERN-BOND COMPANY 
827 WEST 5TH ST. 
WILMINGTON, DEL. 
Successor to 
BOND MACHINE COMPANY 
WHO INVENTED THE “MARTINI” 
ACTION? 
To the Editor of Forest and Stream: 
W E have had quite an argument in 
our club regarding the origin of 
the Martini action. Some claim it was 
designed by a Swiss of that name, long 
before the days of metallic ammunition, 
'and the other side insist that it was 
invented by a New England gunsmith 
named Peabody. None of us have any 
facts to support our contentions and if 
you can supply some historical data on 
the subject, your efforts will be greatly 
appreciated. 
O. R. C. 
I T is a rather curious fact that when 
one desires to establish the priority 
of some American invention regarding 
guns, the data giving the Yankee his 
just dues is usually to be found in Eng- 
lish books written by famous British 
authorities on firearms; all of which 
shows a most commendable spirit of fair- 
ness and liberality on the part of our 
cousins ’cross the pond. I have made a 
careful search on this subject and be- 
lieve the following citations are suffi- 
cient to establish quite clearly that once 
again we are confronted with the old, 
old story of an American invention be- 
ing rejected here, accepted abroad and 
finally returning to its native land in a 
highly perfected form. 
THE CRACK SHOT, by Edward C. 
Barber, an American book published in 
1868, page 124: “This breech-loading 
rifle was invented by Mr. Henry O. 
Peabody, of Boston, Mass., who was 
several years in perfecting and com- 
pleting this superior arm.” The book 
is an exceptionally accurate and well 
written treatise on rifles and rifle shoot- 
ng, fully illustrated, and contains a most 
interesting and complete description of 
the breech-loading rifles of that period. 
A most significant fact is that there is 
no mention of the Martini. 
MODERN BREECH-LOADERS, by 
W. W. Greener, an English book pub- 
lished in 1871, page 197 : “This gun was 
submitted as early as 1862, to the offi- 
cer commanding the United States ar- 
senal at Watertown, and was reported 
upon favorably.” Page 198: “The Pea- 
body we class as one of the best of the 
American inventions. Both the Mar- 
tini and the Wesley-Richards breech- 
loading rifles are certainly only im- 
provements on this principle.” Follow- 
ing this is a full account of the tests 
that resulted in the adoption of the 
Martini rifle by the British Army in 
1871. 
THE GUN AND ITS DEVELOP- 
MENT, by W. W. Greener, an English 
book published in 1881, page 137 : “The 
Peabody rifle appears to be the first of 
the class having the dronning-block 
wilt 
pivoted at the rear end and above the 
axis of the bore. . . . Both the 
Martini and the Wesley Richards 
breech-loading rifles are certainly only 
improvements on this principle.” 
AMERICAN SMALL ARMS, by Ed- 
ward S. Farrow, an American book pub- 
lished in 1904, page 234 : 1 Martini- 
Henry Rifle. This rifle combines the 
Peabody-Martini action and Henry 
rifling. . . . See Peabody Rifle and 
Peabody Martini Rifle.” Page 249 : 
“Peabody Rifle. This rifle, invented by 
Mr. Henry O. Peabody, of Boston, 
Mass., is the parent of the Peabody-Mar- 
tini and Martini Henry rifles. The orig- , 
inal Peabody was very much like the 
Martini-Henry, except that the spiral 
spring for actuating the firing-pin was 
placed in the stock in rear of the block. 
The type of this rifle ordered by the 
Turkish Government in 1873 is almost 
identical with that used in the British 
service.” 
A CENTURY OF GUNS, by H. J. 
Blanch, an English book published in 
1909, page 79: “This rifle known as the 
Martini-Henry was first experimentally 
issued in 1869. The Martini action, pat- 
ented in 1868, was very similar to the 
original Peabody patented in America 
in 1862, by Henry O. Peabody, of Bos 7 
ton, Mass. This was of the hammer- 
less type, of most original design, and 
one of the greatest simplifications of a 
gun action ever invented. Besides the 
Martini is described by its inventor in 
his specification as ‘an improvement on 
the Peabody.’ ” This admission, spe- 
cifically set forth in a public document, 
settles the argument for all time. 
RIFLES AND AMMUNITION, by 
H. Ommundsen and E. H. Robinson, an 
English book published in 1915, page 
67: “The Peabody action, an American 
invention which was the forerunner of 
the well-known Martini principle, was 
submitted (to the British Commission 
of 1866) but its reputation was not so 
good on this side of the Atlantic as its 
merits warranted.” 
OUR RIFLES (1800 to 1920), , by 
Charles Winthrop Sawyer, an American 
book published in 1920, page 118: “Pea r 
body-Martini rifle, called ‘What Cheer 
Long Range Model’ (Illustration No. 10 
on Plate 15.) The mechanism combines 
the patents of 1862 (Peabody) and 1868 
Martini).” Throughout his book Saw 
yer consistently designates this type of 
rifle as the Peabody-Martini. 
T HESE seven books cover a period of 
over fifty years and they were 
written by men who did not bend the 
knee to the Twin Gods of Precedent and 
Prejudice, yet all of these eminent 
authorities agree, even to the last de- 
tail, showing that the gun in question is 
merely an American rifle unth a British 
education. So for the sake of our coun- 
i 
Wrii 
to Advertisers mention Forest and Stream. 
I 
