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Ready on the Right--Ready on the Left--Ready on the firing line

Only the earliest rifles were converted muzzleloaders. By 1870 they were made with a musket barrel, stock and lock but with a newly manufactured action. From 1873 on they were made new from the ground up with no leftover musket parts.

The thing which amazes me about trap door Springfield is that there were so many of them. Remember this was an era in which the army had shurnk to almost non existance. During much of the 1870's and 80's, and right up to just before the Spanish Ameican War there were only 26,000 men in the entire United States Army (and in 1877 it took congress 5 months to argue over a defense appropriation, forcing the soldiers to serve without pay the whole time).

And by the way, 1884 rod bayonets are rare, the vast majority of rod bayonets were 1888's.

See Flayderman's Guide for an extensive listing of all the myriad types. The 8th edition I have in front of me now states that there were only about a thousand true model 1884 rod bayonets, but there are man
Seth from Massachusetts | 02.01.05 - 12:34 pm | #

but there are many 88's marked 1884! The difference between the 84 and 88 is in the latches which secure the bayonet.

It was also the longest serving arm in American History. Examples were carried by many state guard units during World War One, and the very last unit to dispose of their trap doors was the Michigan National Guard in 1947 (thought the rifles had been in storage for a couple of decades and saw no use in that war).

The cartirdge, however, remains in service. .45-70 blanks power the line throwing guns used by the Navy today.

Completely confused now? Good, that's what makes gun collecting so interesting.

Seth from Massachusetts
Seth from Massachusetts | 02.01.05 - 12:36 pm | #

$\"Gravatar\"$ I've got an 1888 myself, as well as a much more modern one. The .45-70 is a great cartridge! In its most modern incarnation it is nearly an elephant gun, but even the original was more than enough for buffalo.

A possible answer to \"how come so many of these were made when the Army was so small\" could be that the states still had significant militias in those days.

You can still get parts for them too. If yours has the original firing pin made of bronze expect it to break. Get a new model steel one, which should fit any of the older models.

Your rifle looks naturally browned from age but the stock is still red. When they were new the stocks were redwood colored, the locks were beautifully color case-hardened, and the barrels were blued to a high luster. If you take the action off the stocks you might find that the hidden part of the barrel still has that blued finish. Many do.

enjoy this shooter, but don't use jacketed bullets, only lead ones.
Drew458 | 03.11.05 - 3:38 pm | #

$\"Gravatar\"$ I'm very greatful you reposted this article. Black powder is my first love and historic fireams my passion. I would trade one of my kids (I get to pick) for a fireable original.

Flintlock Tom
Tom Simpson | 03.23.05 - 6:58 pm | #

$\"Gravatar\"$ on the Buffington sigh, how do you know which one to use? I own a 73 that's a shooter if I could figure out the sight. Any help would be appreciated.

Ugly Dog
Steve Ervin | 10.10.05 - 1:58 pm | #

$\"Gravatar\"$ I own an 1875 Trapdoor with a bayonet
that looks more like a philips screw driver than a knife. I all so heard that do to a large surplus the Ary was still carring them long after the Winchester and Henerys were made and in the hands of them Indians, the trapdoor could not compeat at the battle of little big horn. A Indian
with a bow could get off five arrows
to one trapdoor shot.
Jeff | 03.14.08 - 6:54 pm | #

$\"Gravatar\"$ This is in response to the question regarding the rear sight on the 1884 Springfield. If that is a Buffington Sight you have, it does take some explaining. You can find all the information you need on pages 134 & 135 of Joe Poyer & Craig Riesch's book, THE .45/70 SPRINGFIELD, North Cape Publications, Inc.,P.O. Box 1027, Tustin, CA 92781. I bought the book at a gun show for $17 and I suggest you take it to the range with you.

I am a lucky man indeed, because an old friend of mine down in Tennessee traded some fellow a little .32 pistol for an 1884 in excellent condition because he thought it would look great on the wall of his den. He called me and asked if I was familiar with the rifle and wanted to know just what he'd gotten in the trade. This was in 1986, before the internet, so I headed for the library with the information he'd given me and then I called him to tell him it was quite valuable and was a real keeper.

I was down that way a few months later and he showed me the rifle, hanging on the den wall. It was a beauty and I guess he could see the gleam in my eyes so he said he'd only paid $30 for the pistol he'd traded for it and if it was a real keeper, then he'd like for me to keep it. He insisted and I accepted so the rifle actually cost me a steak dinner.

When I got back to Colorado, I took the rifle to a gunsmith who specializes in Trapdoors and had him check it out. He said as long as I kept it clean, used black powder and lead bullets and stayed somewhere around 1400 FPS, it should last forever.

I had absolutely no experience with Black Powder so when I visited a friend in Wyoming who belongs to a Black Powder Cartridge Rifle club, I told him about my rifle and asked a lot of questions. He said he'd load some for me so a couple weeks later the delivery truck dropped off a box on my porch containing fifty rounds with 405 grain lead bullets. A couple of weeks later, I still hadn't made it to the range so I loaned it to a fellow I work with to use in a shooting match he was headed to in Kansas. He shot a nine inch group at 300 yards and his dad held a six inch group which was good enough to take first place in the Trapdoor match. That's 2 MOA from a 123 year old military rifle, which should be bragging rights any day.

I finally got to shoot it off the bench but only out to 100 yards. It was a pretty windy day but I still managed a 3 inch five shot group and for me, that is excellent.

I've had several offers to buy the rifle, the first from the gunsmith who checked it out for me. The offers have ranged from the ridiculous low of $450 to the hard to turn down $2,300. This gun was a gift to me and will some day be a gift to my grandson, and I hope he will be able to pass it on as a gift also.

Enjoy your Trapdoor!
BIG JOHN | 09.25.09 - 12:24 am | #

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