This rifle was originally made in 1886 by London Small Arms Ltd as a Martini Henry Mark III and then converted in 1897 by the Henry Rifle Barrel Company into a .303 calibre. It was delivered to New Zealand in 1898 for use by rifle volunteers before being sold from service in circa 1910. It was later impressed for Home Guard service in World War II. The remnants of a white band on the butt, which was then removed, shows how mistakes were sometimes made in this registration process. This white band was used to denote that a weapon was a non-standard calibre, which would have been true if it had not already been converted to .303 calibre.