Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire was given a few guns today by an older relative.. please look

I never had one of these. I have no idea if this is the real thing or a replica. Either way it is one fine finished rifle. Pics don't do this gun justice. The finish on the butt plate, trigger guard, trap door and receiver is extremely well done. Can someone tell me if this springfield is authentic or a copy? I notice the firing pin and part that the hammer hits upon firing seems to have a broken spring or something. I didn't take pics of entire gun, just the markings. It has a really deep blued barrel, stand up peep and the cleaning rod.

What's this thing worth. I'm including serial # for help on this

Modern reproduction made by H&R in the early '70s but they are still worth a good little bit of money.

http://www.nramuseum.org/the-museum/the-galleries/freedom%27s-doorway/case-81-left-display/harrington-richardson-model-1873-officers-trapdoor-rifle-repro.aspx

Are they safe to shoot modern ammo ? I read some of these should only be shot using a black powder cartridge and lead bullet

Would be perfectly safe with modern standard pressure factory ammo (Winchester, Federal, or Remington) or an equivalent handload. Absolutely no hot 45-70 factory loads like Buffalo Bore or Cor-Bon which are intended for Marlin Guide guns and Ruger #1s.

Yep, right on the money.

Spot on! Look for the Remington yellow & green box of .45-70 marked "For any rifle" and you will be good to go. Fun rifle!

If you handload, you can duplicate the old cavalry loads using lead bullets. Drop down to the BPCR forum and look around. BrentD, Ranch13, Paul39, EvilTwin, Sharpsguy, and a host of others can help with load info.

Enjoy!

Ed

It needs a spring or something inside the firing pin trap door part. The firing pin floats around freely and the metal that the hammer contacts does not pop out when hammer is cocked.

Guess ill break out my coon skin cap

PM Crossfireoops. He knows a LOT about the insides of those things.

Ed

Not broke, these do not have a retracting spring

Why or how does the firing pin strike the primer when that metal button looking thing the hammer hits does not stick out when cocked??

Inertia is overcome and so force is transmitted to the firing pin.

So with the trapdoor open, its normal that I can push the firing pin in and out with no resistance?

Thanks for the help guys

The firing pin on a trapdoor is free floating. The only time it will stick out so that the hammer can strike it, is if the other end is seated against the primer. It wasn't the safest design method, but then it was designed at a time when it was expected people would use common sense when handling weapons, loaded or otherwise.

There is NOTHING broken on the carbine. I owned one of those H&Rs for many years and it was a decent shooting carbine.

Dan

Ok thanks.. can you explain how the firing pin strikes the primer so I.can explain it to my dad... He wants to bring it to a smith for repair.

It is an inertia-type firing pin. Falling hammer hits it and it is driven by the inertia into the primer of the loaded round. Same principal as getting hit in the head by a baseball hit from a bat. Hurts don't it? Bat never touched you, tho.

Yes but what I'm confused with is how the hammer hits just the frame of where the round metal piece that looks like where the percussion cap used to go before Thry were transformed to trap doors.

I believe that an inertia-type firing pin is shorter than the block it rides in. That way the hammer can be lowered to the fired position and the firing pin will not be in contact with the primer. The firing pin is held to the rear by a spring and when is is struck by the hammer, the weight of the pin and forward motion is enough to set off the primer when the pin strikes it. The hammer, firing pin and primer are never all in contact at the same time. An original Trapdoor Springfield doesn't work this way. I don't know about the H&R reproduction.

On an original trapdoor Springfield the firing pin is long enough that a portion of it is sticking out of the breach block at one end or the other. When the chamber is empty the firing pin protrudes through the face of the breach block into the chamber and is flush with the rear of the breach block. When a cartridge is in the chamber the firing pin rests on the primer and the rear of the firing pin protrudes through the rear of the breach block so that it is ready to be struck by the hammer. On this type of firing mechanism the hammer, the firing pin and the primer are all in contact at the same time.

It is easy enough to check by pushing the firing pin back into the breach block with your finger and seeing if it protrudes at the rear of the block.

Are you saying I need a primer to.fire this rifle? If so, whst kind?