1873 Sprinfield...

[Andy54Hawken]

Thanks guys ... Again I say :
If any of you are up this way or see one of our shows , stop by and say "HI".
We can always try to find time to talk about old guns and shoot 'em...
Andy

 

[etrain16]

I haven't been up that far north in ages, but maybe some day. I'd love to see your full collection.

 

[tac]

My only 45-70 is a High Wall Winchester Model of 1886. Of course, this being the yUK, and .45-70 still being made by many makers, I can't have any kind of Trapdoor, old or new, unless I go through the nausea of applying for one on my Firearms Certificate. Amazingly even the VERY first of the .45-70 Trapdoors, made in 1873, is classed just like a brand-new Barratt M109...

And since I live in a county where the Chief Constable is carrying on the motion of one of his predecessors - a gun-hater [just what you need in the second-largest RURAL county in the UK] - I would have to sell a gun I have an replace iit in a 1-4-1 'deal'. x 100

Whinemeal, I have two Sniders waiting for me to do something first.....

tac

 

[ageingstudent]

My only 45-70 is a High Wall Winchester Model of 1886. Of course, this being the yUK, and .45-70 still being made by many makers, I can't have any kind of Trapdoor, old or new, unless I go through the nausea of applying for one on my Firearms Certificate. And since I live in a county where the Chief Constable is carrying on the motion of one of his predecessors - a gun-hater [just what you need in the second-largest RURAL county in the UK] - I would have to sell a gun I have an replace iit in a 1-4-4 'deal'. x 100

Whinemeal, I have two Sniders waiting for me to do something first.....

tac

I empathize with your frustration.

 

[jordanka16]

My only 45-70 is a High Wall Winchester Model of 1886. Of course, this being the yUK, and .45-70 still being made by many makers, I can't have any kind of Trapdoor, old or new, unless I go through the nausea of applying for one on my Firearms Certificate. And since I live in a county where the Chief Constable is carrying on the motion of one of his predecessors - a gun-hater [just what you need in the second-largest RURAL county in the UK] - I would have to sell a gun I have an replace iit in a 1-4-4 'deal'. x 100

Whinemeal, I have two Sniders waiting for me to do something first.....

tac

Something like that makes me appreciative to still live in the US, even with them slowly eroding our rights in Oregon, it hasn't come to that. Mine is even old enough it isn't considered a firearm.

 

[Gaucho Gringo]

My only 45-70 is a High Wall Winchester Model of 1886. Of course, this being the yUK, and .45-70 still being made by many makers, I can't have any kind of Trapdoor, old or new, unless I go through the nausea of applying for one on my Firearms Certificate. Amazingly even the VERY first of the .45-70 Trapdoors, made in 1873, is classed just like a brand-new Barratt M109...

And since I live in a county where the Chief Constable is carrying on the motion of one of his predecessors - a gun-hater [just what you need in the second-largest RURAL county in the UK] - I would have to sell a gun I have an replace iit in a 1-4-1 'deal'. x 100

Whinemeal, I have two Sniders waiting for me to do something first.....

tac

Sniders, the British version of the Trapdoor. Their timelines and development runs roughly parallel to the Trapdoors. Although the Sniders kept the larger .577 bore size of the muzzle loading Enfields, they transitioned to the Martini-Henry rifle using the 577-450 cartridge starting in 1874. But of course you know all this. I have often wanted to buy both a Snider and a Trapdoor over the years but for some reason or another have not. but I still think maybe i will.

 

[tac]

Yup, all true. Funny thing is, if I'm over 18 and not a convicted criminal having served 6 or more month sentence, I can walk into a militaria dealer and walk aout with as many Martini-Henrys and Sniders as I can carry.

The reason is that they are covered by Section 58 of the Firearms Act, which states that if ammunition is not made for commercial sale then it is an 'obsolete' calibre.

The tricky bit arises if I want to shoot it, having somehow, made ammunition for it [VERY difficult as I explone, by reasons of needing an FAC to buy powder and primers]. It has to be registered as a Section 1 [Rifled] firearm and logged on your FAC. Just like a brand-new Section 1 firearm...

Hence my lack of nice Buffington-sighted Trapdoor - I can't even BUY one without a license to do so.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr x 1000.

tac

 

[ageingstudent]

Yup, all true. Funny thing is, if I'm over 18 and not a convicted criminal having served 6 or more month sentence, I can walk into a militaria dealer and walk aout with as many Martini-Henrys and Sniders as I can carry.

The reason is that they are covered by Section 58 of the Firearms Act, which states that if ammunition is not made for commercial sale then it is an 'obsolete' calibre.

The tricky bit arises if I want to shoot it, having somehow, made ammunition for it [VERY difficult as I explone, by reasons of needing an FAC to buy powder and primers]. It has to be registered as a Section 1 [Rifled] firearm and logged on your FAC. Just like a brand-new Section 1 firearm...

Hence my lack of nice Buffington-sighted Trapdoor - I can't even BUY one without a license to do so.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr x 1000.

tac

My goodness. I need to read up on the history of gun control and confiscation over there. It sounds like a bad horror film.

 

[tac]

Not confiscation as we understand it, Jim.

Knee-jerk reaction to the inevitable results of lax police oversight with regard to known loonies, and allowing them to legally have guns in the first place.

Read up - Hungerford Massacre.

Result - Compulsory hand-in of ALL centre-fire rifles and carbines and £150.00 compensation [yeah, right. How much do you think my HK PsG1 was worth - it went to Belgium instead].

Read up - Dunblane Massacre.

Result - Government buy-in of every cartridge-firing handgun on mainland UK, all reloading gear, cases, primers - the lot, unless you needed them for something else that they didn't want.

Dozens of smaller companies making and selling gear for the VERY popular practical pistol comps went out of business. A couple relocated to South Africa and are doing VERY well. Compensation for the failed businesses has yet to be paid, twenty years later.

Although only just over a hundred thousand handguns were handed in - EVERY SINGLE ONE, in fact - it cost the government, ie. the taxpayer, over £150,000,000 to process.

Please read THIS - Dunblane Massacre Resource Page - Evaluating Britain's handgun ban

tac

 

[DunRanull]

Not confiscation as we understand it, Jim.

Knee-jerk reaction to the inevitable results of lax police oversight with regard to known loonies, and allowing them to legally have guns in the first place.

Read up - Hungerford Massacre.

Result - Compulsory hand-in of ALL centre-fire rifles and carbines and £150.00 compensation [yeah, right. How much do you think my HK PsG1 was worth - it went to Belgium instead].

Read up - Dunblane Massacre.

Result - Government buy-in of every cartridge-firing handgun on mainland UK, all reloading gear, cases, primers - the lot, unless you needed them for something else that they didn't want.

Dozens of smaller companies making and selling gear for the VERY popular practical pistol comps went out of business. A couple relocated to South Africa and are doing VERY well. Compensation for the failed businesses has yet to be paid, twenty years later.

Although only just over a hundred thousand handguns were handed in - EVERY SINGLE ONE, in fact - it cost the government, ie. the taxpayer, over £150,000,000 to process.

Please read THIS - Dunblane Massacre Resource Page - Evaluating Britain's handgun ban

tac

Reading this just makes me sick to my stomach... I consider the Brits our closest friends in this world but this really makes me doubt my judgment... didnt realise it was this bad over there...

Looks like shotguns and .22 rifles are still "legal"? Registered/licensed?

 

[Stomper]

I mainly clicked on this thread because I wanted to know what a "Sprinfield" was.... LOL!


Nice looking OG "sporting rifle" in the OP!!

 

[tac]

Reading this just makes me sick to my stomach... I consider the Brits our closest friends in this world but this really makes me doubt my judgment... didnt realise it was this bad over there...

Looks like shotguns and .22 rifles are still "legal"? Registered/licensed?

See new thread - 'UK, what's allowed' in general topic.

tac

 

[Certaindeaf]

I mainly clicked on this thread because I wanted to know what a "Sprinfield" was.... LOL!


Nice looking OG "sporting rifle" in the OP!!

This was back in the day before their numbers were decimated by the hair hunters. Caught in the wild in their natural habitat. those were the days.. sigh

 

[Stomper]

This was back in the day before their numbers were decimated by the hair hunters. Caught in the wild in their natural habitat. those were the days.. sigh

View attachment 358156

Such a wanton waste!

 

[Ketoujin]

Tac,

Yes, may it be an object lesson to those of us here that incremental incursions on the public rights are always the most insidious.

I've long been desiring a Trapdoor one of these days as well. A neighbor has an M1884 long rifle for sale at the moment, albeit with a broken hammer spur but that isn't anything that a few judicious calls to Gun Parts corp or Dixie Gun Works can't fix. They are highly interesting rifles in one of the world's longest-lived calibers. Regarding this last I sill see Siamese Type 46/66 Mausers - although I never like seeing any military long arm altered from original caliber or with its wood "sporterized" - newly converted to .45-70 from 8X50R and 8X52R Siamese fairly regularly which is a testament to the round's staying power.

Best,

Gunnar

 

[Andy54Hawken]

I mainly clicked on this thread because I wanted to know what a "Sprinfield" was.... LOL!


Nice looking OG "sporting rifle" in the OP!!

A "Sprinfield" is pre-coffee typing / spelling for "Springfield"...
Andy

 

[tac]

Like a Muaser, Lea-Enfield, Wincester, and that good ol' standby 'the under-leaver'....

tac

 

[NW_bang_bang]

Andy,

I'll try and get some pictures and the info on my Uncle's Officers Model. He's got the history of the officer who bought it upon graduation from West Point all the way up to his passing at his post in Arizona. Pretty interesting info on a very nice shooting gun.

I was pretty impressed with how well the "pistol grip" worked.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

That would be neat to see.
I had a H&R Officer's model at one time ... it was fun to shoot , just not the same as an original.
Andy

 

[DunRanull]

An old friend has one of the infantry rifles, last used by some militia or nat guard unit during the Span-Am War... he has resisted all offers and inveiglements for it, but once a firearm has entered his gun closet it's a case of "Abandon hope, ye who enter here". He still takes mule deer with it. In fact there was one season when he took TWO deer, as the bullet entered and exited and struck the animal next to it...