Springfield trapdoor

[Basedgreaser]

Well one of my goals as a collector is to a have a full line up of us military long guns. Ive shot a muzzle loader 45-70 once ( my grandfathers). My collection thus far is brass cased cartridge fed rifles, im considering picking up a springfield trapdoor as one of my next rifles. My question is general, what should i look for in the rifle, what recources info ect could you direct me to or personal experience could you share (ide rather not go in blind)
Firing, safety, maintnence, ect

Thanks

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[Andy54Hawken]

Here is mine.
It is 1873 Infantry rifle. ( made 1883 )
It has the modifications of 1879 , short wrist , rear sight.
You mention shooting a .45-70 "muzzle loader" ... The 1873 series of rifles are in .45-70 , but none are muzzle loaders ... all are breech loaders.
As a rule the rifles are cheaper than carbines.
Also you must use blackpowder loaded cartridges or smokeless cartridges loaded to blackpowder specs.
I have found that most "cowboy action " loads do just fine ... for black I like loading 65 grains of 2F with a 405 -500 grain bullet.

A great book is The Trapdoor Springfield by Waite & Ernst
Andy

 

[Hop Sing]

Loos for atypical wear on trapdoor and extracter and bore condition and follow Andy's advice on loads. The rifles are so simple that they are pretty bullet proof other than if they had hot loads run through them and/or weren't cleaned.

 

[Mikej]

THOSE! Those are one of the coolest rifles ever!!

 

[Mikej]

Well one of my goals as a collector is to a have a full line up of us military long guns. Ive shot a muzzle loader 45-70 once ( my grandfathers). My collection thus far is brass cased cartridge fed rifles, im considering picking up a springfield trapdoor as one of my next rifles. My question is general, what should i look for in the rifle, what recources info ect could you direct me to or personal experience could you share (ide rather not go in blind)
Firing, safety, maintnence, ect

Thanks

Are you going to the Oregon Arms Collector show this coming Saturday/Sunday? I would almost bet there will be on or three of those there.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Basedgreaser,
If you are not in a hurry to get one ... and if you are ever up this way , let me know.
You can shoot mine and I'll walk you thru care and feeding of the trapdoor....
Andy

 

[Certaindeaf]

Personally I'd get a good reproduction. But I'm sure Andy can make a good case to not.. because Andy.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Pedersoli does make a decent reproduction ... But the sights and overall " feel " just ain't right when compared to an original .
Plus for the price of the Pedersoli , you can get a shootable original with you know , real history...'Cause yeah Andy ...
Andy

 

[Basedgreaser]

View attachment 383845
View attachment 383846
Here is mine.
It is 1873 Infantry rifle. ( made 1883 )
It has the modifications of 1879 , short wrist , rear sight.
You mention shooting a .45-70 "muzzle loader" ... The 1873 series of rifles are in .45-70 , but none are muzzle loaders ... all are breech loaders.
As a rule the rifles are cheaper than carbines.
Also you must use blackpowder loaded cartridges or smokeless cartridges loaded to blackpowder specs.
I have found that most "cowboy action " loads do just fine ... for black I like loading 65 grains of 2F with a 405 -500 grain bullet.

A great book is The Trapdoor Springfield by Waite & Ernst
Andy

I had the most un explainable feeling you might show up here
Thanks for the info, ill look that book up

 

[Basedgreaser]

Are you going to the Oregon Arms Collector show this coming Saturday/Sunday? I would almost bet there will be on or three of those there.

I have plans to pick up a rifle this weekend already, sounds interesting though

 

[orygun]

My first 45-70 was an H&R repop of the cavalry carbine. It was a very nice gun, but being naive at the time, I'd bought it cuz I wanted to make some heavy handloads and soon found out I'd bought the wrong gun. I parted with it later after buying a Browning B78.. It was a blast to shoot with some 405gr lead bullets over 3031 that duplicated the original rifle loadings (none of that weak carbine stuff for me) that spit them out around 1200fps. It was a blast to shoot and I even carried it elk hunting one year because it was the most suitable gun I owned at the time.
Real or copy, I think they are very cool guns.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Check for a "Frozen firing pin" sometimes they are broken in place or "gummed" up and stuck in place ... either way easy to fix or replace.
The lock should be crisp and tight , the hammer making three distinct clicks .. the hammer should not fall when on half cock.
Many times the cleaning rods are missing or a poorly made reproduction.
Bores may be dark .. but still good to shoot ... just look for roughness or major pits.
Also be aware many , many "carbines" are cut down rifles...
Andy

 

[Mikej]

I have plans to pick up a rifle this weekend already, sounds interesting though

It's very interesting. I don't go to buy, mainly because I don't know nutthin'! but if you're into old/historic, it's well worth the $8.00, with free parking. The August show is the big one at the Airport Holiday Inn.

 

[Basedgreaser]

Check for a "Frozen firing pin" sometimes they are broken in place or "gummed" up and stuck in place ... either way easy to fix or replace.
The lock should be crisp and tight , the hammer making three distinct clicks .. the hammer should not fall when on half cock.
Many times the cleaning rods are missing or a poorly made reproduction.
Bores may be dark .. but still good to shoot ... just look for roughness or major pits.
Also be aware many , many "carbines" are cut down rifles...
Andy

Rock island auction ( i got my m1 and 1903 from winning a lot through them) has a few trapdoorsr in their upcoming, they have a good reputation and always quality service. Few other lots ima bid on, see how it goes. Outside of that where another place you would reccomend to find them, gunbroker?

 

[Andy54Hawken]

The GunWorks in Springfield Or. usually has few ... They are great folks to work with.
Track of the Wolf has a carbine for sale right now...
Andy

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Also I'd not buy a 1884 Ramrod Bayonet rifle... Nothing really wrong with that model but...
The balance is wrong and very muzzle heavy . ( at least for me )
Andy

 

[Ownerus]

One tell on cut down rifle "carbines" are filled cleaning rod slots visible on the end of the fore end. I'll have to go back to my Brophy book to see if this applies to all but some at least have a butt trap and a saddle ring. They are huge fun to shoot tin cans with. Used to use 10-14 grains of Unique behind the Lyman 405 cast. Gave 1000 to 1400 fps as I recall.

 

[Simonpie]

Here's mine. It has a lot of extra tidbits, but in 10 minutes I can return it to the same configuration that my Great Grandfather left it in .

 

[Velzey]

I've repaired quite a few that had the hammer notches broken clean off! Weld it all up, remachine and heat treat. And from the outside you can't tell.

 

[Idaho44]

Here is a place to start on your journey: The U.S. Springfield Trapdoor Rifle Information Center

There are several sites and many books dedicated to the Trapdoor. There are issues that you may not find until you shoot it. Or they may occur after you have shot it several times. Beware of the filed off serial number! Some were bored out to become smooth bores. I have seen them in Pawn shops, some were reasonable others were overpriced. Mix and match occurs often, sometimes out of necessity, other times out of duplicity. I have a 'Cadet' version and love it. You can shoot smokeless out of one. Lyman manual has the loads. But it is a 45/70 BP rifle!