Pipefitter
12-09-2015, 09:21 PM
About a year and a half ago my wife and I helped a lady that had sold her house and had to downsize real quick like. Her husband had left her and she had sold the house 2 days after it was put on the market. As the house she was moving into was less than half the size of the one she had she had lots of "stuff" to get rid of. We helped her sort and pack, took some things that she did not want, (the wife and I have a bit of a reputation for finding a home for things) and I even went with her to rent a moving truck.
On one of my trips up from her basement I noticed an old rifle placed between the studs behind the bannister of the stairs. On closer examination it was an original 1873 Springfield Trapdoor in fairly poor condition. This lady noticed my interest in the rifle and immediately gave it to me. However, a couple of days later she called and said that her family was upset that she gave away "Grandpa's rifle" and asked for it back. I told her that family is what really matters in this world and I would be upset knowing that I had possession of a family heirloom. I immediately returned the rifle to her and told her in no uncertain terms that she had nothing to worry about, I did not want to cause any strife in her family.
Yesterday this lady called me at work and said she had something that she needed me to take a look at and when could I stop by? This evening after work I went by her house and she pulls this Trapdoor out of the closet and tells me that no one in her family wants it, it is just taking up space in her small home and that she wants me to have it.
The stock is cracked in a couple places, chipped in a couple more. The barrel and lock were painted black at one time or another (brush strokes are obvious), The ramrod is missing as well as parts from the rear sight. I tried to shine a light through the barrel but it appears that a rod has been driven into the barrel to "de-mill" the rifle.
There is no chance that I will ever try to shoot this Trapdoor, but I sit here wondering what kind of history this rifle has seen.
On one of my trips up from her basement I noticed an old rifle placed between the studs behind the bannister of the stairs. On closer examination it was an original 1873 Springfield Trapdoor in fairly poor condition. This lady noticed my interest in the rifle and immediately gave it to me. However, a couple of days later she called and said that her family was upset that she gave away "Grandpa's rifle" and asked for it back. I told her that family is what really matters in this world and I would be upset knowing that I had possession of a family heirloom. I immediately returned the rifle to her and told her in no uncertain terms that she had nothing to worry about, I did not want to cause any strife in her family.
Yesterday this lady called me at work and said she had something that she needed me to take a look at and when could I stop by? This evening after work I went by her house and she pulls this Trapdoor out of the closet and tells me that no one in her family wants it, it is just taking up space in her small home and that she wants me to have it.
The stock is cracked in a couple places, chipped in a couple more. The barrel and lock were painted black at one time or another (brush strokes are obvious), The ramrod is missing as well as parts from the rear sight. I tried to shine a light through the barrel but it appears that a rod has been driven into the barrel to "de-mill" the rifle.
There is no chance that I will ever try to shoot this Trapdoor, but I sit here wondering what kind of history this rifle has seen.