Found myself an 1868...

[Fred]

Yep, the better top notch conditioned rifles are the tough ones to find. They take longer to find but are worth the investment.
Dick, I’m going to try and bird dog a nice and sharp 1869 for you. I had number 216 in my sights that looked nice but the owner wouldn’t answer my correspondence to him.

[Dick Hosmer]

Yep, the better top notch conditioned rifles are the tough ones to find. They take longer to find but are worth the investment.
Dick, I’m going to try and bird dog a nice and sharp 1869 for you. I had number 216 in my sights that looked nice but the owner wouldn’t answer my correspondence to him.

Fred, I greatly appreciate the effort, but do NOT go too far down that road - it's basically wishful thinking on my part - and I'd have to steal it, can't really afford to buy any guns just now. Thanks.

[Fred]

I understand Dick. But Maybe one such as you’re seeking will show up in a garage sale or at the tail end of an auction when everyone has already run out of money!
It’s happened before.

[Lead Snowstorm]

Alright. I equipped myself with Kroil and some liquid courage, and got this old warhorse apart. I'm happy to say the bands are back in the correct orientation, and without any terrible marring of the screws!

A few pics of the innards..but not with the good photo backdrop. I used my kids' thick playmats as a working surface and backdrop. Don't tell my wife.

Some of that odd inletting of the stock (not my best photos, honestly...blame the liquid courage):







You can see a seam where the tang break occurred:







The traditional 1868 witness marks are present at the barrel-receiver junction:



This barrel was originally armory bright:







The lockplate:



Bunch of different letters on the parts.

[Fred]

Excellent photos.
It looks to me as if somebody at one time widened the stock to accept a Wide receiver of a 45-70.

[Dick Hosmer]

Shouldn't be too hard to find a decent 68 with a matching degree of wear, minus the buggering, and simply swap stocks. You could recover part of your money by just re-selling the leftovers. There's nothing unique to the wood, so your "sin" would be minor and forgivable.