Home Forums Hunting & Shooting BPCR Springfield Trapdoors

I found one locally and its a nice clean example. I have a Sharps already but don't know much about Trapdoors. What should I look for in them? Any things specific, any tips?

You don't know much about Sharps either, or you wouldn't be looking at a trapdoor.

Probably not but if I wanted a real functional rifle it wouldn't be a Sharps, instead I'd get a rolling block.

Now you really are talking out of your azz.

Your talking out you pushy. I just want an historical piece of history and you have to ridicule it. I already have a Sharps. Prissy pussy lipped asshats like you make me hate elitists and people in shooting sports. Your a pussy and a piss poor representative of any shooting community.

The buffington rear sight on the 1884 model makes it more desirable than the 1873 model in my book ymmv though. MB

Thank you for that insight. Yes. I found this one has a Buffington rear sight. I wasnt aware how similar this sight was to my old 1903 Springfield rifle.

I have an 1884 that I shoot a few times a year. I suggest you slug the bore to find the true diameter. You can then make or buy cast bullets that will properly fit. Load it with some BP or Accurate 5744 and you might be surprised at how well it shoots. Mike Venterino has published some useful loading data.

405wcf

Thank you very much for this. I will do as you say and slug barrel.

I think I have a Venturino book about buffalo rifles. I will look also to the 5744 you speak of. Thanks.

My intent is to use an historic rifle on an elk hunt, public land, with otc tag in lieu of more modern equipment. We have an unit not far from me that has any weapon for bull elk during the rut. I have newer production Sharps ive mentioned and a 50-70 rolling block. But it would be interesting to use an original historic weapon for the experience. I may have to fall back onto my Sharps but the trapdoor rifle intruiges me because there were so many actually used as army rifle and even hunting rifles. It will be a journey for me.

Get the book by spence wolf. The bores run big on these but a 500 gr bullet will bump ut with black powder. Im happy with the 400 gr Lee hollow base bullet which expands to fill the bore. I think mine sluged .462

I would say the price depends on the parts - does the trapdoor date match the era of the serial number? As said above - Buffington sight? Is the stock cartouched with a date matching the trapdoor date an serial number? If not, then its a shooter grade and the price should reflect that.

Mine is an 1889 serial number, Buffington sight with an 1873 dated trapdoor and a plain stock - but it looks and shoots great! Been meaning to track down an 1884 trapdoor for the last 30 years but never got around to it!

Thank you. I will do such.

I have a carbine and on Spence's advice have run the lee 405 Hollowbase cast from 20-1 alloy and shot many a Cast Bullet Silhouette match with them

Excellent!.

I have one (marked 1886 on the stock) which had fired approximately 100 rounds when a family member, who had borrowed it for a match, loaded a double charge of Unique behind a 500 and wrecked it. I have another (1884) which is decent but not great but which I can use to fix up the wrecked one. I also have a H&R replica Officers Model which is one of the nicest rifles to carry that I have. GD

Wow. I'd be sad to see an original artifact get damaged. Im soory to see that. Your H&R officers model sounds really nice, kinda in the vein of an Sharps hunters carbine model.

There's an H&R at the LGS and man is that thing Purdy. At first I didn't like the ramrod but it has

I have shot thousands of rounds out of Trapdoor rifles and carbines. The bores run large and the barrels are soft steel so jacketed bullets are not the best way to go. The jackets and gas blow-by wear them out prematurely.

Hard to beat the Lee 405 hollow base. They generally drop at .462" I cast them at 20-1 or even 40-1 alloy. I lube mine with a soft lube and set them in .45 ACP pistol trays to let the lube dry a bit so not to stick to the fingers when loading them. SR4759 was the best powder that I found but it is discontinued and my supply is about gone.The Lee bullet has a slight flat nose which does better on deer. Unless you hit bone, they just punch right through deer. They run a bit but leak out quickly. I try and get a load of 1350 fps at the muzzle. If you don't cast check with Buffalo Arms for the correct bullets. Commercial cast of No.2 alloy or wheel weights never did well for me.
You will find that the bullets impact about 8" high at 100 yards. They were regulated for 165 yards. Rifles have a fixed front sight but carbines have a pinned front blade that can be replaced with a higher front sight blade and then filed down for adjusting impact to point of aim.

The 500 grain RN shoots well but I find the recoil heavy.

The Buffington sight is a marvel of engineering. If you notice, it has a slight off-set for longer distances. This was done to compensate for long distance drift caused by the bullet spin. Yes, it was adapted for the 1903 Springfield.

Feel free to reach out to me if I can help.

WStrayer speaks with straight tongue. ^^^ He just saved you months of tinkering and tweaking.

From a historical stand point, it was the Springfield that was the gun that won the west. Winchester used the phrase as a marketing tool.
When you hold and shoot a Trapdoor, image the tales it could tell....