My new 1884 Trapdoor

[historicfirearms]

I recently got this rifle from a friend who has had it in his family for a long time. He claims his great grandfather brought it home from the Philippines war. It is my first venture into trapdoors and my oldest firearm to date. I'm wondering if anyone can tell me a little about the markings on the stock, production date, and maybe a value. The serial number is 1003XX.

The original sling and bayonet sheath leather are in poor condition as you can see in the photos. Do you think that they could be repaired?

The bore is in excellent condition and I fired some boolits from her earlier in the week. The 300 grain TL Ranch Dog over 7.5 grains of Bullseye were accurate at 25 yards. Hopefully when I get more time to shoot it, it will turn out to be a good shooter.
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More pictures in the next post.

[historicfirearms]

Here are some pics of the bayonet and sling.Attachment 70038Attachment 70039Attachment 70040Attachment 70041Attachment 70042

[StrawHat]

The Buffington rear sight, the inspectors cartouche (dated 1888) and the stamping on the breechblock (US Model 1884) all point to a Model 1884 that was built in 1888. The only thing that doesn't match up is the serial number! A gun with that number would have been assembled in 1878, are you sure of the number? If so, there are a lot of questions about that rifle.

As for the leather, it is old and needs to be retired. New leather can be found so the accoutremants can still be used but the old leather should be retired.

Nice looking rifle by the way. I have an 1873 that was built in 1878 and it likes the 405 grain boolit and black powder. If yours is an 1884, it will be set up for the 500 grain boolit and black powder.

[historicfirearms]

Maybe the first number in the serial is a 4, and not a 1. It sure looks like a 1 though. So maybe serial number is 4003xx.

Any recommendations where I can get replacement leather?

Also, who is J.S. Kessie? A quick google search turned up his name as a sergeant from Columbus, Ohio at around the turn of the 20th century. My friends family was from Ohio, but Kessie wasn't his Great grandfathers name. Why would a sergeant have his name stamped on the stock and sling?

[NickSS]

Marking the stock with the soldiers name was a no no but it could be that the name was the guy who bought the rifle home from the army and kept it for years and marked it so that he would know it was his.

[StrawHat]

If the serial number is 4003xx that makes more sense. The last serial number in 1887 was 388,087 and in 1888 was 429214 so your rifle dates to 1888. Yours is one of 34,869 rifles that were built in 1888.

Enjoy it!

[John Allen]

The Trapdoor is my favorite gun. When you get a chance pull the breech block apart and make sure there is no crud in the firing pin hole. Grab yourself some 2f blackpowder and some cast 500 or my preference 405 grainers and go to town.