Dodgeman414
Member
I had a great opportunity to pick up a trapdoor Springfield recently. Now I am trying to educate myself and determine if it's safe to shoot. It's a Model 1873 built in 1877 by the serial number. It has a high arch breech block. The previous owner shot the rifle as recently as two to three years ago. The rifle is in very good shape overall. Bore is shinny with some lead fouling. It measures .456ish to .458 (to the best of my limited tools). Lands and grooves are well defined with surprisingly sharp edges. My largest concern is with the trapdoor. When it's open it wobbles allover. When it's closed it locks up fine, but still has maybe .020 side to side (what I'd call a yaw) movement. It has no discernible fore and aft, or vertical movement. There is wear showing everywhere as I would expect, but it all appears to work perfectly fine. The breech block doesn't show any excessive wear, but there is some pitting on the breach face.