Interesting pawn shop guns

[P7M13]

Went to a pawn shop at lunch today.
An old WWII Remington Rand, kinda rough
A 1929 Astra, not as pristine e as this one



And this interesting US Army rifle, supposedly only three made in its year

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[Andy54Hawken]

Nice looking "Trapdoor" Springfield rifle...might be a fun buy depending on the bore and price...
Andy

 

[P7M13]

Nice looking "Trapdoor" Springfield rifle...might be a fun buy depending on the bore and price...
Andy

That would be the first I've ever seen. The tag said 45/70, but it looked like a smooth bore.
There wasn't enough room at the shop to set it down to take a full rifle picture. The patina on the action is representative of the rest of the gun.
There wasn't a price on it.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Huh...
So...
Is the rifle "Priceless"...as in not for sale at any price then...LOL

Some "Trapdoor" rifles and carbines have rifling that is faint...some were originally made with rifling that appears to be almost like Marlin Mirco-groove....

Then there is the "Forager" model which is rare ...a 20 gauge smoothbore ...Warning , many of these are faked.
Andy

 

[Ownerus]

That would be the first I've ever seen.

Nothing against you P7, but it makes me sad that a rifle that was standard issue thru most of 30 years at the end of the 1800s is so unknown today. Us old guys need to do a better job of edumacatin'. Andy is pulling way more than his own weight in that regard. It also makes me sad to think that if the "antis" win, they would just as gladly torch that rifle up as any AR15. History is NOT their friend.

 

[P7M13]

Huh...
So...
Is the rifle "Priceless"...as in not for sale at any price then...LOL

Some "Trapdoor" rifles and carbines have rifling that is faint...some were originally made with rifling that appears to be almost like Marlin Mirco-groove....

Then there is the "Forager" model which is rare ...a 20 gauge smoothbore ...Warning , many of these are faked.
Andy

They didnt hold it up as Priceless. The son of the shop owner said, "the serial number indicates a specific year where only three were made. Dad doesn't know how to price it, so nothing is written down."

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Trapdoor Springfield rifles and carbines are fun to shoot for sure...and were in use for most of the late Plains Indian Wars...the Spanish American War , The Philippine Insurrection and some Army units were still training with them up to WWI.
They can range in price from around $700-over $2000 for a pristine example.

According to the book "Trapdoor Springfield" by Waite & Ernst...
in 1873 4 rifles were made ...the next lowest was 16 in 1877....
I wouldn't be too sure of the shop owners information here....
The rifle pictured , does not appear to have the early style stock or breechblock....that said it could have been armory replaced...
Andy

 

[CLT65]

I'm no expert on Trapdoor Springfields, but I would take any story about it being super rare as highly suspect.

One of these days I'm going to buy a Trapdoor. I've wanted one for 30 years. Never enough to actually buy one, but I've had my eye on them for a long time, ever since my dad and I were visiting an old friend of my grandfather's back in the '80s. He pulled this old Trapdoor out of his closet and started telling us about how his father had bought it as surplus "back in the day", paid something like $4 for it, as I recall him saying. I also remember him saying they fired .410 shotshells in it too. A hundred years ago they were just obsolete surplus that nobody was terribly interested in, and they sold cheap.

Every time I've seen one one over the years, I either don't have the required funds, or it's not in a condition that interests me. I'd also have to be very careful. I have a modern 45-70 that I load modern ammo for, loads that would turn a Trapdoor into a grenade.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

As far as shooting a Trapdoor rifle or Carbine...Remington makes a smokeless loading that is safe for Trapdoor rifles and Carbines and the "Cowboy Action Loads" for that shooting sport are also trapdoor safe.

Black powder loads are easy to make as well and clean up ain't as bad as many folks make it out to be.....
Andy

 

[CLT65]

If I were to buy one, I'd have to get a hollow-base mold and load black powder. That just seems like the proper way to go with one of those old rifles.

 

[Jim Horn]

My dad bought one at an estate sale in Pennsylvania in the early '50s. He cleaned it to new condition and proudly mounted it above the living room picture window. My older brother inherited it. Great example of how we grew up back then!