1873 Trapdoor issues..

V

VintageGuy

Inactive
Recently I bought a Trapdoor for Deer Hunting. It appeared to be a Fencer variation with good bores, but without any of the milling of the action or the plugging of bores you often find with fencers. It did have a hole drilled into the barrel just ahead of the stock. I had the barrel cut off behind the hole and the barrel recrowned. So far, so good. Since the rifle never had sights, I had rail installed and put on a simple Reddot sight. I purchased a .45 cal laser beam boresight and Trapdoor specific, soft cast lead loads and got ready to go to the range.

Now comes the problem. The ammo I bought won't go all the way into the chamber. It goes about 3/4s in. The boresight fits fine. I read that usually these rifles.are a little bit oversize if anything. Even though this rifle may never have been fired, do I have a chamber polishing issue or something more serious? Any input is appreciated. Thanks
 
I am inclined to believe that you have a plug/ insert in the camber that was put there to render it inoperable.
Please take it to a competent gunsmith and have them evaluate it. A chamber cast will provide more info.

A note- if you do manage to get it up and running DO NOT use modern ammo. SOFT Steel and high pressures do not mix well.
 
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"...a plug/ insert in the camber..." Quite possibly because the thing is unsafe to shoot. Fencers were training tools usually with most of the operation parts removed. Can you see through the barrel?
 
mikejonestkd said:
I am inclined to believe that you have a plug/ insert in the camber that was put there to render it inoperable.
Please take it to a competent gunsmith and have them evaluate it. A chamber cast will provide more info.

A note- if you do manage to get it up and running DO NOT use modern ammo. Cast iron and high pressures do not mix well.
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"Cast Iron"!? What working firearm was EVER made of cast iron?
 
My apologies, I typed faster than my brain was working.
Not cast iron....NOT

The 1873 springfield was the first US issue rifle to use a steel barrel.
 
"Cast Iron"!? What working firearm was EVER made of cast iron?
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Lots of them. Cannons, Sharps rifles, Colt revolvers, Remington derringers, Henry rifles, Winchester 1873, the list goes on and on.
 
I read the chapter on these and one line stated these were typically built up using condemned or out of spec parts. That is a caution FWIW.

This may have had more value as a low end collectable than a working gun.

My guess is someone added a hammer. And firing pin? Funny there is no lead (plug) in the barrel. Could someone have melted it out? One guess is the chamber was not given the final or finish reaming, before it was picked out of the scrap pile to assemble a fencer.

Fun to speculate, but the OP will probably have to show the gun to someone who knows more.
 
Scorch said:
Lots of them. Cannons, Sharps rifles, Colt revolvers, Remington derringers, Henry rifles, Winchester 1873, the list goes on and on.
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Cannons maybe, but I do believe you are wrong about the rest. Cast Iron is an alloy with so much Carbon in it that it is very brittle. They may have been made of "Wrought Iron". http://firearmshistory.blogspot.com/2014/10/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cast_iron
However, I could be wrong...can you provide a link to where it says that Sharps rifles, Colt revolvers, Remington derringers, Henry rifles, Winchester 1873 were made of cast iron?
 
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Cast Iron

There is a form of cast iron known as malleable iron. Many J M Marlin Ballard single shot receivers were made from malleable iron. They are durable, I have one which is a .22LR.
 
First time post by the OP and he gets to read this 'stuff'. Not cool. I lay out even money we never hear from him again.
 
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