questions on a springfield trapdoor

[rmatchell]

I found a springfield trapdoor at a shop near me that looks very clean with nice wood and no pitting. I don't know much about the rifles other that the reduced loads, so I was wondering what things I should be looking for in these rifles.

[Larry Gibson]

As a collector or a shooter?

Larry Gibson

[rmatchell]

As a shooter. The wood and metal look great on. the rile but it has had a new extractor installed. Im more or less wondering what things to watch out for

[curator]

Besides the bore, look closely at the breech-block. If it moves a lot from side to side when it is open, that is a problem. Inspect the "hinge" for minor cracks, and the lock to be sure the half-cock notch is functional. If it has a tight breech-block and latch, as well as a good chamber and bore it can be made to shoot decently. Sometimes, a wiggly block can be cured with a new hinge pin. Almost every trapdoor I have inspected needed a slight to major re-crowning since they were cleaned from the muzzle.

[StratsMan]

When I bought mine, it would not fire. Turns out the firing pin was broken... Not an expensive part, not difficult to replace, but it was invisible during a casual inspection. I was told that was commonly caused by dry-firing on that design. Don't know if that's true, but it's easy to check the pin...

[rmatchell]

Thanks for the information. I checked the half cock when I checked it out and all felt well there. I did not think about checking for excess movement in the breech block so Ill have to make sure to check that out as well. The crown looked good but the bore is a unknown, it needed a very good cleaning. The shop owner said it would be done by the next time im there.

[Larry Gibson]

Uh, the breach block, when open is supposed to move "side to side" as the hole for the hinge pin is not circular but allows for movement of the breach block. I guess I would have to ask what is "a lot" of movement "side to side?

rmatchell

If you get the TD or are serieous about getting one to shoot I strongly suggest you go to www.the45-70book.com and get Spence Wolf's excellent "Loading Cartridges For The Original .45-70 Springfield Rifle and Carbine". There is a wealth of information in there on shooting and loading for the TD with BP and smokeless loads. With that in hand you will have a sound basis for use of the TD. Much better than trying to glean answers haphazardly one at a time here. Then you can ask specific question regarding your specific TD and the/or the loads you want to use. TDs are marvelous rifles and a lot of fun to load for and shoot. Hope you get one and will be gald to further answer questions.

Larry Gibson

[Bent Ramrod]

The ones with the Buffington sights on them are more desirable for the modern shooter. Some versions had a crude battle sight that was much less adjustable.

[StrawHat]

I agree about the breech block being a bit wobbly when open. It is the way they were designed. And it helps them to seat properly when you close the action. THE book on the 45-70 was mentioned already. Lots of good information in it. The author designed the 405 grain HB mold from Lee to duplicate what was used by the Arsenal in the original loading. That would be a good choice for a bullet mold to start. There are better ones available but that is a good start.

[rmatchell]

I picked up the rifle this morning and all looks well. Im going to clean it up and see what it will do. Ill post some pics when i get some time

[Hardcast416taylor]

Slug the bore. Not all TD`s had a .458" bore, some went .462" and larger.Robert

[Old Iron Sights]

I guess everyone is assuming it's 45-70? I have one of the older ones in 50-70. Haven't mastered black powder cartridge yet which seems to be a little tricky.

[rmatchell]

I havet sluged it yet but my 45 cal brush fell right through so im starting to wonder. Im going to try and slug it in the morning after i get off work

[StrawHat]

My favorite site for all things Trapdoor.

http://www.trapdoorcollector.com/

[StrawHat]

I guess everyone is assuming it's 45-70? I have one of the older ones in 50-70. Haven't mastered black powder cartridge yet which seems to be a little tricky.

OIS, there are quite a few threads on loading the 50-70 with BP. Of all the BP cartridges, it is one of the easiest to get good results. What problems are you having? Perhaps a seperate thread so as not to hijack this one.

[gmsharps]

I havet sluged it yet but my 45 cal brush fell right through so im starting to wonder. Im going to try and slug it in the morning after i get off work

Are you sure it is not a 50-70

gmsharps

[Scharfschuetze]

A photo would allow a good guess at it's exact model number, calibre and type of rear sight on it. Each model has some distinctive features that a good photo should show.

[missionary5155]

Greetings
One of my first military rifles was a Trapdoor model 1879. Still have it and right now sits in the Vermilion County War Museum. Alot of fun to shoot. But be sure if you decide to use smokeless powder to get a mold large enough for that throat area. I ended up with a NEI mold that wopuold drop a 50-50 boolit at .465. That was the first smokeless loaded boolit that would shoot a group rather than patterns. That mold also shoots the best BP load when cast from 40-1.
So again get good measurements before trying to waste powder.
If you have a caliber 50-70 that is even sweeter. That would make it at least a 1870 model or earlier.. early plains Indian war material. The breach block should be labeled with a model number.
Mike in Peru

[rmatchell]

I sluged it today and it is a 45-70 but the barrel might need to be replaced. All i had to use for a slug was a unsized lee 452-230tl and it was a loose fit all the way down with a hint of rifleing. It still needs a good cleaning but i need a bigger bore brush. My 45 pistol brush isnt big enough. Ill post pics after we get the kids down.

[Larry Gibson]

Use a .50 cal muzzle loading brush. Or .50 cal milsurp cleaning brushes. Some want to say the M1873 barrels had "oversize" bores but that is not the case. They are made to the specification with the +/- tolerances of the day. From the "Description and Management of the Springfield Rifle, Carbine and Army Revolvers 1874 The "caliber was reduced .....to .45. The rifling consists of three plain concentric grooves equal in width to the lands, .005" deep with a uniform twist of one turn in twenty-two inches." Thus if the bore was .45" then the groove diameter would be .460". With the +/- tolerances we find TDs with varying groove diameters from a reported .458 to as large as .465". My own (a M1884 barrel is .461" groove diameter).

Larry Gibson