1873 Trapdoor Carbine

[Shrapnel]

I was recommended here for a SRS on this carbine, I don't know what that stands for but here it is. I came across this carbine at a gun show and bought it. I believe it was way under the money, in great original condition. I posted about it on the Shiloh Rifle Forum and they told me to come here and have it analyzed. Here are pictures, I hope to find out something about this carbine. I have already kilt a gopher with it...











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More pictures...

[Lead Snowstorm]

Neat looking piece. SRS stands for Springfield Research Service, which compiled a list of serial numbers found during records searches. Most weapons will not appear - only a small minority of numbers appear in the SRS database, and they were not issued sequentially, so a miss is as good as a mile - but it is interesting to see the configurations (carbine, rifle) of nearby weapons.

Unfortunately I?m away from my books right now so I can?t help much. But from what I recall, there are some notable features.

First, it looks like rather a low number serial. That?s interesting as the pre-LBH carbines command a premium. I don?t recall the exact serial hotspot ranges for the 7th Cav, but I know some here do.

The rear sight is also early, and also retained by the original slotless screws. That?s good.

The eagle over crossed arrows on the door and the ?1873? on the lock plate also go with early guns.

The stock does not appear that it would have been original, as in the first stock placed on the gun. Eyeballing it, it seems to have the short wrist/long comb configuration. That?s not necessarily unusual, as most of the early trapdoors were overhauled.

If possible, could we get photos of the left side of the barrel just in front of the receiver; a detail of the front sight; the muzzle crown; the underside of the stock fore-end; and the buttplate? Those will make a good start in assisting the folks here who know more than I to help with more info.

[1mark]

Is the butt plate smooth or is there a sliding door? Can you post a picture of the front of the stock at the curve.

[JimF]

Shrapnel . . . take a look here . . . .

The U.S. Springfield Trapdoor Rifle Information Center

. . . .read through everything!

[Shrapnel]

If you look closely, you can see the letters J C stamped lightly in the stock to the rear of the bottom tang.

[Shrapnel]

Neat looking piece. SRS stands for Springfield Research Service, which compiled a list of serial numbers found during records searches. Most weapons will not appear - only a small minority of numbers appear in the SRS database, and they were not issued sequentially, so a miss is as good as a mile - but it is interesting to see the configurations (carbine, rifle) of nearby weapons.

Unfortunately I?m away from my books right now so I can?t help much. But from what I recall, there are some notable features.

First, it looks like rather a low number serial. That?s interesting as the pre-LBH carbines command a premium. I don?t recall the exact serial hotspot ranges for the 7th Cav, but I know some here do.

The rear sight is also early, and also retained by the original slotless screws. That?s good.

The eagle over crossed arrows on the door and the ?1873? on the lock plate also go with early guns.

The stock does not appear that it would have been original, as in the first stock placed on the gun. Eyeballing it, it seems to have the short wrist/long comb configuration. That?s not necessarily unusual, as most of the early trapdoors were overhauled.

If possible, could we get photos of the left side of the barrel just in front of the receiver; a detail of the front sight; the muzzle crown; the underside of the stock fore-end; and the buttplate? Those will make a good start in assisting the folks here who know more than I to help with more info.

[Shrapnel]

[Shrapnel]

Neat looking piece. SRS stands for Springfield Research Service, which compiled a list of serial numbers found during records searches. Most weapons will not appear - only a small minority of numbers appear in the SRS database, and they were not issued sequentially, so a miss is as good as a mile - but it is interesting to see the configurations (carbine, rifle) of nearby weapons.

Unfortunately I?m away from my books right now so I can?t help much. But from what I recall, there are some notable features.

First, it looks like rather a low number serial. That?s interesting as the pre-LBH carbines command a premium. I don?t recall the exact serial hotspot ranges for the 7th Cav, but I know some here do.

The rear sight is also early, and also retained by the original slotless screws. That?s good.

The eagle over crossed arrows on the door and the ?1873? on the lock plate also go with early guns.

The stock does not appear that it would have been original, as in the first stock placed on the gun. Eyeballing it, it seems to have the short wrist/long comb configuration. That?s not necessarily unusual, as most of the early trapdoors were overhauled.

If possible, could we get photos of the left side of the barrel just in front of the receiver; a detail of the front sight; the muzzle crown; the underside of the stock fore-end; and the buttplate? Those will make a good start in assisting the folks here who know more than I to help with more info.

[Shrapnel]

Neat looking piece. SRS stands for Springfield Research Service, which compiled a list of serial numbers found during records searches. Most weapons will not appear - only a small minority of numbers appear in the SRS database, and they were not issued sequentially, so a miss is as good as a mile - but it is interesting to see the configurations (carbine, rifle) of nearby weapons.

Unfortunately I?m away from my books right now so I can?t help much. But from what I recall, there are some notable features.

First, it looks like rather a low number serial. That?s interesting as the pre-LBH carbines command a premium. I don?t recall the exact serial hotspot ranges for the 7th Cav, but I know some here do.

The rear sight is also early, and also retained by the original slotless screws. That?s good.

The eagle over crossed arrows on the door and the ?1873? on the lock plate also go with early guns.

The stock does not appear that it would have been original, as in the first stock placed on the gun. Eyeballing it, it seems to have the short wrist/long comb configuration. That?s not necessarily unusual, as most of the early trapdoors were overhauled.

If possible, could we get photos of the left side of the barrel just in front of the receiver; a detail of the front sight; the muzzle crown; the underside of the stock fore-end; and the buttplate? Those will make a good start in assisting the folks here who know more than I to help with more info.

[Tom Trevor]

Along with a later stock the shaft breech block and extractor ride on is is from a later wide receiver post December 1878. Still a very nice carbine.