British Martini-Henry Mk I Striker, LSA Manufacture

Original Item:  The first striker issued with the early Martini-Henry rifles was the Mk I.  It immediately turned out to be too fragile, and before the initial field testing of the Martini was done, the Mk I was replaced with a strengthened version, the Mk II.  The Mk I was in use for such a very short time that it may be the rarest Martini component part.  IMA has found a very, very few original British Mk I strikers among the Mk II and Mk III Martini strikers it uncovered in Nepal.  At this time, we have three types:  LSA manufacture, Enfield manufacture, and British marked (the broad arrow is quite legible, but the manufacturer?s inspection stamp is unclear).  In the two comparison pictures, the heavier Mk II is shown above the Mk I in the first picture, and in the nose-to-nose picture, the Mk I is on the left.