My First Trapdoor

[Decembrist]

Never wanted to get trapdoor but today I was unfortunate enough to drive few hours to a very boring gun show, it was absolutely terrible tons of plastic fantastic Glocks and AR15s, nothing old and historical. I was on my way out when old man walked with this trapdoor I asked him how much he wants he said "make me an offer" I said $400 expecting that he will tell me to get out of here but he unexpectedly said OK. Now back home I'm thinking it was not such a bad idea, I have 1816, 1842, Kreg, 1903 all made by Springfield and this trapdoor would be a good addition to my collection. I'm still researching this gun and would appreciate any opinions on it

 

[Decembrist]

 

[JOHN42768]

The U.S. Springfield Trapdoor Rifle Information Center

THIS SITE SPECIALIZES IN: (1) TRAPDOOR SPRINGFIELD RIFLES & CARBINES, 1865-1893; (2) INDIAN WAR & SPAN-AM WAR: U.S SPRINGFIELD TRAPDOOR ARMS; (3) 1865-1893 MILITARY: BAYONETS, KNIVES, ENTRENCHING TOOLS/TROWELS, MILLS & PRAIRIE BELTS, MCKEEVER / DYER POUCHES & CARBINE BOOTS.

www.armscollectors.com

 

[Sundance]

Very nice pickup. You lucked out. Can you give us a shot of the whole trapdoor?

 

[MWood1841]

old gun has some character marks. Congrats on the addition to your collection. That serial # was a little hard to read. Believe it says 18436 (??). If thats the case, lookup site I use says manuf date was 1874.

 

[JOHN42768]

Cartouche S.W.P. is Samuel W. Porter, 1882 (maybe) Serial might be 18486 Revised per photo #184961
400 bucks you did very well unless a bad old stovepipe

 

[Decembrist]

 

[JPChurch]

How does it function? Condition of bore? Have a professional gunsmith check it out to see if it's safe for shooting. I'd say your price paid for it was very reasonable...One of my pals has an 1879 Martini Henry that still shoots flawlessly. The black powder loads for it are very expensive however.

 

[Decembrist]

• 1882
  • January-March: 170,487
  • April-June: 179,736
  • July-September: 185,569
  • October-December: 193,815

 

[Decembrist]

How does it function? Condition of bore? Have a professional gunsmith check it out to see if it's safe for shooting. I'd say your price paid for it was very reasonable...

I just got it today and had no chance to show it to gunsmith but it looks very solid, lock up is good, lock is good, bore is fantastic, bright with deep rifling. I have to dig through my Springfield research files to see if it will match numbers there

 

[James Brenner]

It looks like a M1873 with the 1879 buckhorn sight. The cartouches are nice; many TDs underwent arsenal rebuilds where the stock was refinished and the cartouches were sanded off.

 

[plymouthairrifle]

Very good buy!! congrats! I did notice the rear barrel band is on backwards. The U should face toward the front of the barrel. When you check out the ARMSCOLLECTORS.COM/trapdoor site be sure to click on the bulletin board, it is a very good trapdoor forum. They will love to see your trapdoor.

 

[johan_steele]

Good purchase of a good shooter and addition to your collection.

 

[Patrick H]

I had two that I inherited from my dad, but they were in horrible condition. I gave them to a cousin for his collection of old military long arms and they do fill a gap there. Yours is in much better external condition than mine were. I don't think you did poorly at all.

 

[Decembrist]

will do some BP loads later in the week, they take 70gr FF or FFF?

 

[scooter748driver]

Nice find! Congratulations on a nice rifle at a good price. The web site posted by JOHN42768 is a great site on the Trapdoor. It's a shame Al Frasa isn'r updating it anymore.

 

[CowCavalry]

will do some BP loads later in the week, they take 70gr or FF or FFF?

Should be FFg, but double check.

edit: check out the shooter's page on the site John posted.

 

[Choatecav]

Should be FFg, but double check.

edit: check out the shooter's page on the site John posted.

Very nice buy. If it is still somewhat tight and will shoot, I would go with the FFg.

 

[Jeff in Ohio]

It looks like a M1873 with the 1879 buckhorn sight. The cartouches are nice; many TDs underwent arsenal rebuilds where the stock was refinished and the cartouches were sanded off.

Here is an interesting fact about cartouches and rebuilds - A cartouche that originally was stamped into the wood of a trapdoor sometimes will be found raised above the wood on these.
That's because Springfield would steam the old wood stocks as part of the process, and the steam would raise grain that was compressed, meaning dents in the wood would become bumps higher than the wood, and stamped cartouches and inspection marks would also raise above the surface of the wood and stay there when the stock cooled and dried!
I have an arsenal rebuilt trapdoor carbine with starred serial on the receiver which was like this, and I took it to a Ohio Gun Collectors Association meeting to show it to trapdoor authority Al Franca who would usually attend. That's what he told me.
Later, I've seen similar raised markings on Spencers which were rebuilt - I had one with wood markings for the 10th CAV, the buffalo soldiers, raised up, and I saw one with the same markings offered by the Texas dealer Collector's Firearms, both raised in the same way!

 

[rob63]

Here is an interesting fact about cartouches and rebuilds - A cartouche that originally was stamped into the wood of a trapdoor sometimes will be found raised above the wood on these.
That's because Springfield would steam the old wood stocks as part of the process, and the steam would raise grain that was compressed, meaning dents in the wood would become bumps higher than the wood, and stamped cartouches and inspection marks would also raise above the surface of the wood and stay there when the stock cooled and dried!
I have an arsenal rebuilt trapdoor carbine with starred serial on the receiver which was like this, and I took it to a Ohio Gun Collectors Association meeting to show it to trapdoor authority Al Franca who would usually attend. That's what he told me.
Later, I've seen similar raised markings on Spencers which were rebuilt - I had one with wood markings for the 10th CAV, the buffalo soldiers, raised up, and I saw one with the same markings offered by the Texas dealer Collector's Firearms, both raised in the same way!

I have a Model 1896 Krag-Jorgensen with a raised cartouche like that.