Gotta go shoot my Trapdoor today June 25th......

[Larry Gibson]

Lest we forget........

Larry Gibson

[KenH]

Good idea - I'd not thought of it, but Cluster's last Stand - was that perhaps the most Trapdoors were using in battle?

[Larry Gibson]

Actually, while the M1873 Winchester is deemed "The Gun That Won The West".........it was the M1873 Springfield trapdoor in the hands of the Army that made the West safe for the Winchester to "win".......

While the M1873 Carbines saw considerable action at The Little Bighorn Battle both the Carbines and the M1873 rifles saw considerably more action throughout the West. They also saw considerable action during the Spanish American War.

Larry Gibson

[KenH]

Larry - As usual, you're right the Trapdoor was used big time during the "Indian Wars" of the west. When I said "Cluster's Last Stand", I was thinking of the Indian Wars. I suspect "Cluster's Last Stand" might be one of the most well known of the battles.

I wasn't sure if they were still much used in Spanish-American war or not - guess they were.

Ken H>

[John in PA]

Front line Span Am troops armed with Krags, but Guard/militia troops had trapdoor rifles.

LBH troopers armed with M1873 Carbines and Colt Model P revolvers (SAA's). Some officers and senior non-coms armed with personal rifles. Autie Custer had a pair of British Bulldog .44 revolvers and a .50-70 Remington Rolling Block Sporting Rifle with single set trigger. Sgt Ryan had a Sharps buffalo rifle (I forget caliber) that played a role in holding the Indians at bay during the Reno-Benteen fight on the bluffs. I'd have to hit my Custer/Indian Wars library to find other specific instances.

[Multigunner]

Guards at the docks in France during WW1 often carried the Trapdoor Springfield. Due to shortage of more modern rifles some US Artillerymen were still issued the Krag rifles. The M1903 and M1917 rifles were reserved for front line troops.

All the Major combatants of WW1 issued older sometimes completely obsolete rifles to troops not on the front lines and sometimes to frontline troops as well. Some French colonial troops still carried Remington Rolling Blocks and some German troops carried the 1871 Mauser or its upgraded later versions.

[Snooterpup]

Hello Larry, I am new to Cast Boolits and am anticipating a H&R Officer's Model trapdoor in great condition to add to the collection and and heard stories of the "auto eject" problem. I am familiar with their "lack of robust" construction of the cam and release lever. I also am somewhat familiar with the original Springfield breech block. I believe I read that you had converted your H&R to an original Springfield breech block and that it required only minor fitting. While I am not a journeyman machinist, I have done much BP gunsmithing and have done some actionwork on modern guns as well.
My questions are:
1. Will any 1873 through 1884 original breech block work (are they all the same in dimension?)
2. How difficult and involved is the fitting process?
3. Can the H&R receiver be used or does this need to be replaced also?

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated and I would really enjoy talking with you if you would be willing to receive a phone call from me.
Thank you for your time!
Gary Long - snooterpup

[mazo kid]

I'm going to butt in here and say that you don't really need an original breech block as there are a couple of tutorials describing just what is needed to keep the H&R from auto ejecting. Just do a search here or possibly on YouTube. Since you have done some 'smithing you should find this fairly easy to do. Good luck!

[varsity07840]

Do a search on the bulletin board of www.trapdoorcollector.com.