1884 springfield

[bigted]

finally got my trapdoor. a dandy 1884 model with the stabber being a part of the cleaning rod. after unwrapping it and just taking it all in I began to inspect the whole rifle with a critical eye I hope. action block is very tight to the breech and the block snaps tightly into the receiver. lock is very nice in the action and the trigger is crisp but a bit heavy. hammer is nice but the whole rifle is very dirty ...[what a shame]... so after deciding I needed to begin the cleaning I began with the barrel. whewww man what a mess. dirt and rust in a large quantity. scrubbed for nearly 2 hours straight with a 50 cal brass brush followed with a clean swab of shooters choice to wipe it out with. more scrubbing with the bristle brush soaked in shooters choice and more n more n more. beginning to get kinda clean patch's so I soaked it again and left it in a corner to think about things for a bit.

setting out some Winchester cases ...[new]... I ...[following Spence's instructions]... drilled the spark hole with a 3/32 inch bit. then digging out my LEE 405 grain hollow base slugs ... I lube em with SPG lube in my .460 inch Lyman sizer. was going to size em smaller but according to Spence in his book ... anywhere between .458 and .460 inch should work. so loading up 10 cases with 70 grains GOEX 2F powder I compress it with my Buff arms compression stem in my RCBS die. before this I install Federal 215 Magnum rifle primers. after compression I install the boolits to crimp over the top band. after seating the boolits in all 10 I retrieved my LEE Factory Crimp Die for the crimp. sooo now I got ten ready for the rifle sooo now I need to get the rest of the rust/dirt out so I can shoot it.

the firing pin is frozen in place but I have it swimming in auto tranny fluid/acetone mix. the rear sight was stuck so in the swimming pool it went too.

the stock is absolutely perfect tho. no cracks not anything to detract from nor any deficit. trigger guard is rusty as is the but plate. not going to worry bout that rite now as I just want to get this old girl up and shooting again.

photos will follow after I get her back together. was so wired with excitement I just dove rite in without snapping any pic's. but will rectify that as soon as I can. think that the barrel is missing me so ill sign off for now and go spend some more time stroking the inside of that tube. cant figure folks allowing a perfectly good rifle go to a pile of dirt n rust like this ... however it got a new good home now so I will try to wipe all the tears away and dry its face and put it back to work soon. THEN it can hold its head up and eyeball anything that comes into its sights.

don't know why I waited so long to acquire a trapdoor. however now I have on and im tickled silly. just wanted to crow a bit about the new family member ... I also am going against all I ever learned about loading bp in a 45-70 by following the Spence Wolf method of loading. will see if they turn out but one thing that is cool ... im learnin a new rifle AND a new method for loading. suck a lucky feller.

ok im done so ... however much help I can muster will be very welcome. I will go back and read everything I can find on trapdoors.

[mikeym1a]

Neat. At first I thought you had one of the repro's, but, seems you have an original. How's the bore? Good luck. I'll keep checking for updates. :-)

[BCRider]

Pics when you can please.

I too understand the lure of trying to heal an old firearm. I've only been in this as a sport/hobby for a few years and I've already had the same thing happen to me on more than one occasion.

Looking forward to hearing about the progress and eventually the trial session.

[303carbine]

Nice find bigted, pics please when you get your TD back together. [smilie=s:

[StrawHat]

As good as the book is, the part about enlarging the flash hole and using magnum primers has been found to be unecessary and actually leads to less accurate loads.

More recent thinking allows for factory flash channels and large pistol primers or rifle primers with a paper wad over them to tame the primer flash. I just use the large rifle primer and am happy.

[bigted]

thanks fellers! I am more in love with this old rifle as I fool with it.

the bore looks fair under all the crud. except for the last 8 or so inch's at the muzzle ... it has a bunch of rough pits that im having a time taming ... but it is coming along. the three groove rifling looks pretty good and the first 3/4 of the barrel is actually shiny now ...[SHOCKER]... with some small pitting in the chamber. muzzle looks good in the crown area tho so im thinking this should clean up into a shooter.

firing pin has me under the bus rite now tho. it is really stuck in the down position so will have to continue its bath in the lube juice. the rear sight is a Buffington and pretty nice but the windage screw has the nob that screws off pretty easy so don't know how this will work itself out.

about the flash holes ... yes I have fired a ton of bp loads in stock cases but ... I am trying these loads with the hope that they are all Mr. Wolf claims they are ... he claims cleaner burn so will find out. if nothing else I have another thing that ... if not going to work ... have eliminated and can move on to what I know works.

this TD stuff is a surprise to me how much I really like the rifle and the works. I have always wanted to try one but they ...[to be totally honest]... have never been a priority to me as other rifle actions from yesteryear are more to my desires BUT ... I see I should have dove in years ago. I got this at a nice price and it appears to be ALL there.

what a gas ... this rifle most probably was in the Indian transgression [late for sure] that we proceeded in and with all the hang dog things we as SETTLERS and MILITARY took part in ... this rifle is a part of history and I like it. as with any conquered people in any other land ... we did terrible things ... but taking a land away from anybody, anyplace, is a messy business to say the least.

[john hayslip]

your barrel is a lot better than the barrel I got with my Nepalese Martini - it has about 12 inches of twist then sewer pipe. Consider Dyna borecote to close up some of the pits. It's a ceramic mixture that fills the pits and imperfections - of at least some of them. It's available from Brownell's at about $50 a bottle that will do 4 to 5 rifles. I may not have spelled it right. If not and you're interested PM me and I'll get the correct info. Makes it a lot easier to clean too.

[303carbine]

Another one bitten by the Springfield bug, I am looking forward to pics bigted...

[bigted]

I have soaked the breech block in auto tranny oil/acetone mix over night and most of today so I took it outta the bath to smake the pin a few wraps and having done so I took it out to the shop and apply some heat to maybe loosen the rust or whatever is in there but to no avail... not even a budge. so back into the oil for a bit more.

anybody have any clues for me to get this rascal lose?

[Doc Highwall]

I go to school where that rifle was made STCC.

[John Allen]

I have 7 trapdoors right now. They are my favorite rifle. Take a look at the hollow base molds for them. They really help if your bore is oversize.

[Scharfschuetze]

Good on you! You should really enjoy it as they are one of the funnest rifles extant and in my opinion; they made the West safe for the Winchester.

I didn't see it mentioned yet, but if your rifle has a "ramrod-bayonet" then it is a Model of 1888. The breach block should still have 1884 on it, thus creating some confusion. If it is an 1888, the but plate will have a swinging gate on it to access a storage area for a combo tool as well as a broken shell extractor/fowling scraper and a threaded button to screw on the tail end of the ramrod-bayonet so that it can be used as a cleaning rod. While now becoming rare, every now and then you'll find the components in the rifle.

Here is a photo of some Trapdoors. You can see the difference between the 1884 and the 1888 rifles. The top two are 1888s and the third down is an 1884.

[Frank46]

Check the right hand side of the breech block. There should be a screw there that when removed will allow the firing pin to be removed. It is actually the firing pin retainer screw. Should be a small slot in the firing pin where the end of the screw goes. Try this first before any heat. Hope this helps. Frank

[Hardcast416taylor]

You didn`t say what the trapdoor cost you. Take a look on some of the trapdoor web sites that give you an idea of what they may be worth. On 1 site I`ve seen an 1884 ram-rod bayonet rifle being listed for $2500 - $2900!Robert

[Doc Highwall]

Here is a picture I took at the Springfield Armory Museum of a wooden prototype of the trapdoor rifle by Allen.84541

[M-Tecs]

Doc

That's a very cool post! The center hammer design is interesting. I didn't see that when I was there. I had a day set aside for the Springfield Armory Museum but when I got there they were closed for inventory. They did let me in for about 20 minutes but that wasn't nearly enough time to look at what I wanted.

[bigted]

so according to the excellent pictures posted ... I have an 1888 rifle. the block is stamped/engraved '1884' and my ramrod is the bayonet. it also has the swing door in the butt plate but it also is "frozen" and will not swing so another problem I have is that the screws are terrible tight and I have not been able to budge them either. may have a neat surprise under that rusted buttplate so I will renew my endeavor to remove it safely so as to not bugger up either the screws nor the plate. the wood is just about perfect and has the stamped inspector on the wrist area as well as a paint number on the right side of the buttstock.

the block is removed from my rifle and stripped of both screws and the catch lever is removed as is the firing pin screw. it is completely stripped with the exception of this stubborn firing pin. will NOT budge so far. maybe today!

[John Allen]

I have also seen the ramroad bayonets for ridiculous money but I would be shocked if any of them sold for that. I have three ramrod bayonet ones myself.

[John Allen]

Ted, do you have access to an ultrasonic cleaner? If so throw the block in it and get it 15mins and the firing pin will fall out.

[bigted]

ahhh. hadn't thought about the ultrasonic. I will try this. can you tell me what this will do to the finish tho?

Hardcast416 ... price including shipping to my Alaska home was $595.00. don't think I will get hurt too badly ... do you? tis a super project to me so the price is not that important as this will be my personal rifle to keep so how can a feller put a price on history. is just cool to be able to handle it and fondle the thing and try to imagine where it has been and who may have held it in stark fear under what circumstances. wish it could talk!!

[Mike Malat]

Ted, Try some kroil in the firing pin assembly. I'm watching this thread closely as I just picked up a cut down trapdoor yesterday from my neighbor dad. He saw my sharps one day and said "yea I have something like that 'cept the top comes off to load it" He brought it over and it's a trapdoor with the barrel cut down to 25" and Krag sights installed a number of years ago. I've stripped it down and Kriol worked wonders in loosening a lot of the parts. Now I need to scrounge up some 45-70 brass and dies as the Sharps is 40-65. I've also bought the Wolf book so I'm interested on how your BP loads work out after enlarging the flash hole.

[bigted]

Mike ... I drilled out the cases and loaded them with the Lee 459-405-HB boolit lubed with SPG lube. got antsy so took em out and tried em in the winchester 1885 hunter. they clustered into a very nice SHOTGUN pattern at 50 yards LOL. but that aint in the Springfield so will load a few more the same and try in the old girl ... fun fun fun ... sounds like you have a fun project yourself.

[Mike Malat]

Just what I wanted was another "project" . :-) I'm deep in getting the sharps to shoot PP boolits and now I'm back looking at the midway catalog for the lee mould and dies.

[bigted]

Just what I wanted was another "project" . :-) I'm deep in getting the sharps to shoot PP boolits and now I'm back looking at the midway catalog for the lee mould and dies.

LOL ... isn't this just a gas??? the ride is long and fun and aggravating and pleasing and disturbing and on n on n on. welcome to the forum and welcome to the addiction ... [smilie=s:

[Mike Malat]

Thanks. Been lurking on here and other forums and gleaned a lot about BP PP'ing from reading everything and now it's time to take that "book learning" and do some homework. This trapdoor is gonna be another diversion, I can see it already. Take Care.

[Ithaca Gunner]

Ted, I have the LEE 405gr. hollow base mold and it ain't a bad one to start with, but generally the most accurate will be a 500gr. boolit in the .460" range. I have had good luck with 10gr. of Unique for plinker loads and 5gr. of Unique under 50gr. of FFFG Goex for a good thumper load. Either SPG or a mix of Crisco and bee's wax for lube. Here's my current shooter, issued to 3rd Texas Volunteers during the Spanish American War. I love the, "Shall be issued upon request for target shooting" pistol grip.

84566

[bigted]

thanks Ithaca ... im still tryin to dislodge this stubborn firing pin. I have soaked it in tranny oil/acetone for 2 days now and today I pulled it out and fiddled with it some ... no joy. then I tried the ultrasonic cleaner for 15 min and no joy so back in the tank of the ultrasonic for another 15 min ... no luck ... another 15 min and still no movement at all. got it back in the acetone/tranny oil mix with more acetone in the mix to hopefully seep into the deep inside of the block. my what a stubborn pin. I wonder if someone tried to hammer the pin wrong and then couldn't get it back out. what ever I have another block coming complete with a new pin in it so im covered ... just cant shoot this beut yet. patience is a trait still under construction.

thanks for the loads. ill try em in her when she gets ready to play nice.

[Ithaca Gunner]

Ted that "should" be a copper birilliam firing pin in your rifle. If so it may be peened in place rather than rusted.

[John Allen]

ahhh. hadn't thought about the ultrasonic. I will try this. can you tell me what this will do to the finish tho?

Hardcast416 ... price including shipping to my Alaska home was $595.00. don't think I will get hurt too badly ... do you? tis a super project to me so the price is not that important as this will be my personal rifle to keep so how can a feller put a price on history. is just cool to be able to handle it and fondle the thing and try to imagine where it has been and who may have held it in stark fear under what circumstances. wish it could talk!!

I have done this before myself. It did not hurt the finish on my stuff.

[bigted]

Ted that "should" be a copper birilliam firing pin in your rifle. If so it may be peened in place rather than rusted.

it is pretty hard on the tip. I have hammered it pretty hard with a little brass hammer and the pin tip stays good. tried the steel ball peen hammer and it started to flatten out so stopped. may just bite the bullet and hammer it unmercifully and try to dislodge it. cant believe that it is just rust.

[13Echo]

I have an 1868 Springfield that had a stuck firing pin. Finally figured out the back of the block had been peened by dry firing and caused the pin to stick. Had to very carefully use the dremel to open the rear channel enough to release the pin.

Jerry Liles

[DevilDog83]

Good on you! You should really enjoy it as they are one of the funnest rifles extant and in my opinion; they made the West safe for the Winchester.

I didn't see it mentioned yet, but if your rifle has a "ramrod-bayonet" then it is a Model of 1888. The breach block should still have 1884 on it, thus creating some confusion. If it is an 1888, the but plate will have a swinging gate on it to access a storage area for a combo tool as well as a broken shell extractor/fowling scraper and a threaded button to screw on the tail end of the ramrod-bayonet so that it can be used as a cleaning rod. While now becoming rare, every now and then you'll find the components in the rifle.

Here is a photo of some Trapdoors. You can see the difference between the 1884 and the 1888 rifles. The top two are 1888s and the third down is an 1884.

That is just beautiful!!

[DevilDog83]

That is just beautiful!!

Sorry, that was supposed to be under the picture of all the rifles

[bob208]

I have had some firing pins I just gave up and drilled out. then made new pins out of stainless steel. it was a common problem with the trap door that is why they went to the beryllium- copper firing pins.

[Skirmisher]

When you get back to your rear sight disassemble it and check to see if a pin was installed to block the windage movement. I've seen this in a few of the Buffingtons.

[Scharfschuetze]

When you get back to your rear sight disassemble it and check to see if a pin was installed to block the windage movement. I've seen this in a few of the Buffingtons.

+1 on Skirmisher's comment. I have two 1888s and one has the Buffington sight pinned for no deflection adjustment and the second one has a fully functional sight. I'm not sure why they did this as it makes no sense to me at all, but they did do it and it and, as noted above, quite common with the 1888s.

[bigted]

did get back to the rear buffington and yes it has a small pin in the middle of the sight base however after I got it apart and disassembled the adjuster and cleaned it and lubed it with moble-1 greese it works now very well. in fact on reassembly the side to side adjustment works real well and im wondering how to tighten it up so it will keep its adjustment. it does adjust now but pretty easy. maybe this is the reason for the pinning solid for no movement. I like the option for windage adjustment tho and will continue fooling with it.

the screws finally decided to co-operate with me and came lose and NOPE no tools in the drilled compartments. but I did flush the rusted buttplate in the sonic cleaner and worked the door loose but man is this thing rusted and deeply pitted. don't know if im gonna salvage it or not. maybe another plate will be in the offing.

gonna try to finesse the firing pin out again later today ... but I don't have faith it will budge so maybe ill just give up and get all western with it and have my way with it for good. got another pin coming and maybe a complete block so I cant lose except to not learn anything but too late for that huh?

getting antsy to shoot this ol girl. got the barrel looking promising so now all I need is a good block n pin to hammer away with her and see how it will treat me accuracy wise.

[Ithaca Gunner]

Ted, I'll say this for sure and certain, when you get it shooti'n you'll have one of the most enjoyable and fun rifles ever made! I've been without a trapdoor a few times and I just find it hard to get along without one. My great uncle Henry was issued an 1884 Springfield in 1898 when he joined the Volunteers to fight Spain.

If the Springfield was the only single shot rifle I owned, I would be content.

84698

[bigted]

Ithaca ... thanks for the posts. and that photo is worth a thousand words ... I like it very much. my folks have a few pictures of my granddad when he was in the army and later in the navy. some photo's of him on the mex border when Poncho via was raiding and in that conflict he received a huge blue reminder on his forehead that remained there for the rest of his life. my aunt has the papers of surrender from my great great grandfather from the great Dixie uprising.

such things are best kept with honor and respect of laying it all on the line for a belief in a cause.

ILL TAKE THIS TIME TO THANK OUR VETERANS FOR THEIR SERVICEN IN ALL OUR CONFLICTS AND GENERAL SERVICE ! ... :drinks:

all in all I am very antsy to shoot this old girl as it has the history to have been there n done that. ... now back to this stubborn pin ... lookin like a drill bit is getting closer and closer to this project.

[bigted]

SHOOT MAN ... if I had only known !!! finally got the stubborn firing pin out and my what a rusted steel hunk. got it out just in time for the new pin to arrive so now im not waiting for the new block assembly.

stripped the rust outta the bore of the block and oiled everything very well then after flushing everything with lighter fluid and re-oiling I install the new copperish looking pin and it is nice and free to slip back n forth.

so after a reassemble and re inspecting so everything is tight n assembled correctly I took some Lee 405 HB re-loads consisting of a lite duplex load for the first run. 6 grains 4227 and 54 grains GOEX 2F black. .060 vegi card in the cases I drilled for the larger flash hole.

first here are the pictures I promised of this fine lookin ol gal ...

http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy55/bigted1956/2_zps771a45e9.jpg (http://s777.photobucket.com/user/bigted1956/media/2_zps771a45e9.jpg.html)

http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy55/bigted1956/3_zps2928cf29.jpg (http://s777.photobucket.com/user/bigted1956/media/3_zps2928cf29.jpg.html)

http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy55/bigted1956/4_zpsa33b4b2d.jpg (http://s777.photobucket.com/user/bigted1956/media/4_zpsa33b4b2d.jpg.html)

http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy55/bigted1956/5_zps5f128ddd.jpg (http://s777.photobucket.com/user/bigted1956/media/5_zps5f128ddd.jpg.html)

http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy55/bigted1956/7_zps11f4124d.jpg (http://s777.photobucket.com/user/bigted1956/media/7_zps11f4124d.jpg.html)

http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy55/bigted1956/9_zps6e787383.jpg (http://s777.photobucket.com/user/bigted1956/media/9_zps6e787383.jpg.html)

http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy55/bigted1956/10_zpsac80036c.jpg (http://s777.photobucket.com/user/bigted1956/media/10_zpsac80036c.jpg.html)

so there she is and im very happy with my purchase. it shoots excellently but a bit high but I can deal with that easy nough. the thing that surprised me most is that ejector ... man It skips those fired cases outta there lickety split. nice group at 25 and 75 yards too being a bit under 2 inch's and this with just the first loads tried. recoil is a bit but not that uncomfortable being on the par with 72 grains of straight blackpowder. I cant wait to cast some 500's and give em a try.

except for the trigger pull ... this rifle is all I had hoped it would be. bore is a bit rough but im bettin I can smooth the last 8 or so inch's with shooting a few hundred paperpatched boolits thru her and ... maybe ... it will learn to like em and ill have another patch rifle to enjoy.

thankyou all for your suggestions and recommendations. your all the best ... tis the why of why I hang out here. very good company! :drinks:

[supe47]

'At be purty!

[Mike Malat]

Very nice. Congrats on getting the pin unstuck and finally shooting her.

[bigted]

its a hoot to shoot for sure. the loads work well and I stayed up late last night after casting some more of the Lee 405's. after the cooling off period of all afternoon I began to size n lube em around 9 PM and assembled the loads so that I have some more to fool with today. I also took some 550 grain slick patch boolits on hand and patched em up for some patch shooting over the same duplex powder charge. I installed a 3/16th thick cookie in the patched loads so will see how the old girl likes paperpatch today.

on the pin removal ... I had given up on a simple tapping for the removal and dug out my drill bits. my that is hard and all I accomplished was to cup the hammer end of the pin. after this I couldn't cut it with even my Cobalt bits ...so ... I beat the firing pin end mercilessly and when the small pin peened over I began with a punch and my ball peen hammer ... couldn't believe it when it moved a fraction of an inch ... stopping for a minute I soaked it again with WD_40 and allow it to rest for a few then ... hitting the pin with my punch it began to move slowly outta its rusted home. after removing the rust from the pin I see it is a steel pin. the new pin I got is a copper color and seems brand new. I worked around 3/4 of an hour getting the rust outta that small bore. finally got it nice and rust free so I oiled my new pin and in it went. smooth function and free to move with little pressure. she be a shooter now.

got a ways to go with the barrel tho to get it completely clean but it seems happy to be shot and according to yesterdays shoot ... it really wants to do good in accuracy. next I will have to measure the height of the front sight to see if it be the blade for this rifle ... or a carbine blade. at any rate the loads I shot went around 16 to 18 inch high at 75 yards. so nothing to do with the rear sight ... so ... the front blade looks like the fiddling spot to bring the shots back down to be fairly close to point of aim at the 100 yard mark.

thanks all again for the interest and info.

[bigted]

gotta say the old trapdoor don't be likin the paperpatch so much. they hovered around 3 inch at 75 yards but the regular Lee 405's do fair. seem to like the duplex load fairly well.

loaded some loads in WW cases fully sized and primer hole drilled out ... 'Wolf style' ... loaded the Lee's over 70 grains of Goex 2F powder and primed it with a FED 215 Mag primer. these loads shoot with gusto and seem to have the ability to be shoveled into the yawning breech every time with no functional hiccup ... however the best at 75 yards I can get with the pure bp loads is around 4 inch's ... some 10 round groups open up to 5 or 6 inch. I have not found what Spence was doing that garnered him the accuracy he claims but ... im not done with the experimenting yet. I do know that he stress's the fact that these were arsenal loads and permitted general combat accuracy for the time but I want to find a bit better then that. this old girl is very fun to play with and im thinkin bout getting another sear so I can drill it and pin it to shorten the trigger pull a bit. also im going to have a closer look at the crown on the barrel. the rifling and bore is cleaning up very nicely tho but I have not found the trick with straight black powder in Spence's cases ... but ... may wonder from his method somewhat to find a load to use. also GOTTA do something to bring this on target instead of shooting so high. I mean heck ... the thing shoots around 12 to 14 inch's high at 75 yds ... being around 8 inch high at 25 yds.

tis a fun endeavor.

[Mark Daiute]

in case no one has mentioned it, shooting high at the ranges you are talking about is normal. your front sight is not from a carbine. you should find that at 200 yards with the service load point of aim will be point of impact.

[Chill Wills]

You may well know this Ted but I will offer it anyway. Disregard if this is old news. The sight has a notch and a peep hole below it on the rear sight staff. The lines that extend from each need to be lined up with the distance to be shot. Make sure you are looking through the correct hole or notch and like Mark said above....

Also, with the rear sight folded down in combat mode the point blank range is set for 265yards (from memory - which ain't much good anymore)
Springfield's are way cool and generally much more accurate than given credit for. My friend Woody just shot 10 turkeys in a row with his issue 1884 Springfield in a silhouette match at Friendship, IN last weekend. Think - hitting a basketball size target ten times in a row at 400+ yards.
Michael Rix

[bigted]

thanks fellers. this rifle IS a hoot for sure. I like it a bunch and prolly should just do what I know works for now as I don't wanna get discouraged with this sweetie. if I can get good groups then that would be step-1 then I can play with the sights and the original loads to experiment and get it. I will go backwards to my duplex or unique loads and just get used to the rifle for now.

just like everything else ... I am a bit impatient with myself and this more then anything else defeat's me most.

so as for the sighting ... there is no way to get it onto hunting point of aim at the shorter yardage's? I have the teck-now-how to add height to the front sight but ... do want the other settings to work too. maybe just more playin with it ... awww shucks ... more shooting???[smilie=b:

[sharpsguy]

There are at least a half dozen sights and ammo loaded that is specific to those sights for the trapdoor, depending on the model. Spence Wolf lays it all out in his book on the trapdoor, and frankly, it can be as confusing as all get out. He says that you can use the 1879 sight with the 1873 RIFLE cartridge and have a 100 yard zero. You can get to where you want to be by mixing and matching sights, but your rifle shoots high because it is a battle rifle and designed to be on at 200 with its lowest sight setting.
Get the book and you can quit guessing and won't have to damage the original front sight.

[Chill Wills]

Ted, There is one more adjustment you can make to the rear peep to lower the 200y impact. It was not intended to be adjusted this low BUT, when you look at the rear slider, adjust the peep hole to the 200y mark. Got that? Now loosen the sight staff lock screw again with the rear sight still in the up position, ... now lower the peep hole below 200y until you can not see through it and then back up just enough to see full view. That will get you a 150 - 140yard setting. You can not do this using the notch, only the peep.
Then as sharpsguy said, you can work with the many bullet and load options to further reduce the 100y impact.

Of course, being your rifle, you can do as you please. It sounds like you have rescued an old Springfield rifle that badly needed some TLC. My hat is off to you! That in my view is far better that modifying an old "as issue" Springfield.

Michael Rix

[bigted]

I do indeed have "the book" . however as pointed out ... sometimes it is a bit cornfusing as to doing what to which to enjoy the 100 yard hits. I am also hip to the "battle sighting" system of the Buffington sight. I have the "book" dog-eared and dirty as I continue to leaf thru it trying to "remember" stuff I read in the past. be 57 this year and sometimes I think ... other times I just contemplate whether I wanna think.

chills ... I did just that thing with the rear peep hole this am. I had loaded some more .452 inch paperpatch boolits wrapped up to .466 then dried and lubed and pushed thru my Lee pushthru at .460 inch. this Buffington is not going to ever be a collector ...[someone else buggered it up already] ... soooooo ... the need for a bit larger hole for my seeing so like all the other peeps I own ... I drilled it out some so I could see thru it. then to achieve a lower setting still yet I took a round file and after removing the sight I filed down the lower edge so the lowest setting I can see thru is a bit lower even yet. I looked at the front sight but it be a vewy small pin and I see that somebody has already been there to try to remove the blade ... nope they didn't get it done ... LOL.

yes she has seen better days but it is still very nice to me even tho some bubba stuff has been done to the poor ol girl. that barrel is sure coming around what with these paperpatched boolits tho. nice n smooth now with the pits being a ton smaller at the muzzle then I imagined when I first looked thru it.

it is a trail that following is a true treat. last 540 grain patchers I shot were around 10 inch's high even with the rear sight setting with the peep so will have to keep playin and see where this all leads. maybe I will look at an older rear sight to see if it indeed goes lower.

[Mark Daiute]

you won't find the answers in the rear sight to your sighting high problems unless perhaps the 1873 sight goes down to 100 yards (I think it does) and load up some 405 grain hollow base bullets over 22.5 grains of 4759 and point of aim will be pretty nigh point of impact. No fuss no muss just size to .460 or .459, use some good lube from White lable and shoot away! Just make sure the base of the boolit is clean and free of lube

there are aftermarket front sight blades. If I could find the one I took off of my 1884 I'd send it to you.

[fouronesix]

The easiest way to get to 50-100 yard (zero) minimum is to fashion a taller front blade and pin it in.

As to the accuracy issues. I played around with all the so-called "sage" advice in Wolf's book and various other sources. I found the best accuracy in my trapdoors was NOT with paper patched bullets nor with plain-based bullets over BP nor with drilled out primer flash holes nor with the Govt 500 gr bullet, etc.

Said to self, "self, you've done this and conquered the accuracy issue with all manner of other BPCR rifles so use your own experience and brain and get it done".

I used the Mountain Molds site and designed a bullet- not unlike the standard RCBS RNFP GC designs. I got a GC mold that drops at .462" across the bands and weighs about 440 gr. with a soft BHN +/- 10 alloy and soft lube. I size to .461" and load over a light 5744 charge with dacron filler to about 1200 fps. That general philosophy of design has worked for best accuracy in every BPCR type rifle I have and tried it in- from 32-40 to 43 Spanish to 45-70 to 44-90 SBN to 45-110.

[bigted]

cool man. I am hot on the trail with this ol girl. I have a 1879 sight in my cross hairs so will see if I can get it. the photo shows the side plate on the '79' sight and it does indeed go to 100 yards. will see if I get it.

as for the paperpatched boolits ... I didn't ever think that this would shoot em rite but ... the barrel was in such sore shape that I had to try something ... so out came the patched boolits to 'heal' it up ... and so far they are indeed doing their job ... and as a by the way ... the last 540 grain boolits patched I shot went into a side to side spread of 3 inch's but ... the vertical didn't waver up n down but 3/4 inch. load was 34 grains of RL-7 with fed 210 large rifle primers. I blame myself for the horizontal spread so ... dang it ... more shooting required!

I had the whole thing disassembled and observed the bottom of the barrel had been cleaned ...[looks like with sand paper of all things]... so this old girl has been molested in more then 1 way. I cant understand how someone would begin scratching around on the outside of the barrel before trying to remove rust and gunk on the inside but I guess to each their own. gratefully the price considered these transgressions. I am grateful tho as these bubba things allowed me to land this rifle and enjoy the whole "trapdoor" experience. the stock tho is perfect. no cracks and a bunch of the original finish. buttplate is pretty rusty but I got the swing door worked free so now it works so im happy there too.

all in all I hope I don't come across as disappointed in the least with this rifle. just tryin to cipher it all out so the shooting is more in line with what I want/desire for target/hunting. it is coming along and I appreciate all the advise and suggestions given here. thankyou all... and keep it all coming please