Gun Tests Magazine took a look at the Pedersoli Officers Model 1873 Trapdoor. Buffalo Bores lever ammunition and other brands specifically intended for use in modern single-shot rifles and other weapons with strong breech designs have no place in Trapdoors, neither old nor new ones. The Trapdoor gets its name from its top-opening, hinged breech, which is no paragon of strength but adequate for the hottest black-powder loads of its heyday, and for many normal 45-70 loads of today, or at least reproductions are. armed forces from 1873 until it was supplanted by the Krag around 1892.
The older "low arch" breech was replaced with a breechblock with a more curved inner configuration, and modifications such as the elimination of the firing-pin spring and other configurational alterations were made.The Trapdoor Springfield has a golden history, having been used by the U.S. The carbine butts were fitted with traps that held a jointed cleaning rod and broken shell extractor. In 1877, the Springfield Trapdoor carbines again underwent some alterations. There is good reason to believe that the carbine was actually used as something of a scapegoat to deflect attention from Custer's faulty handling of the battle and the defeat of modern troops by the Indians. Recent forensics have shown that this did take place in some circumstances, but the extent to which it affected the battle is conjecture. After the battle, it was claimed that many of the soldiers' carbines jammed because the sharp extractor finger was tearing away the heads of the soft cartridge-case base, necessitating the men to try to pry the stuck shells out with their knives. Custer's famed 7th Cavalry were carrying Model 1873 Springfield Trapdoor carbines at the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876.
#1873 SPRINGFIELD TRAPDOOR FRONT SIGHT MODS#
Other mods involved a new long-range rear sight and larger cam latch. It was decided to shorten the gun's barrel and to adopt an en bloc receiver that could be screwed onto the rear of the barrel. The extractor still left something to be desired, and a new version was designed that involved a spring-loaded claw set into the receiver at the hinge of the breechblock. 50-70.Įven though the 1866 was considered a successful arm, some modifications were deemed to be in order. In 1867 a shorter Cadet Rifle appeared but still no cavalry carbines - that role being handled by the thousands of Spencer repeaters still in the system and Sharps percussion carbines converted to. The block itself was also slightly modified by employing coil springs for both the firing pin and latch.ĭubbed the Model 1866, 25,000 of these rifles were turned out at Springfield using Model 1863 rifle-muskets as platforms. Too, the old rack-and-pinion extractor was found to be lacking, and a new ejector, which involved a small spring-loaded stud set in the breech just behind the chamber, was adopted. Because of this, even the rear sight didn't have to be changed.Ī lighter carbine load featuring a 400-grain bullet and 45 to 50 grains of black powder was also issued, and, as might be expected, the velocity and muzzle energy were somewhat reduced. 58-caliber copper rimfire cartridge that approximated the ballistics of the original muzzleloader's paper cartridge. The system was adopted in 1865, chambering a. These were honeyed words to penurious ordnance officials. All that is necessary is to cut away the barrel on the top at the breech and add the block and shell extractor, cut the recess in the breech-screw and modify the hammer. Allin explained: "It is particularly adapted to the alteration of the Springfield rifle-musket (or any other), as it can be done without changing the features of the musket or without throwing away any of its parts. Fast, slick and easy.Īs well as being relatively efficient, the conversion allowed the maximum use of original parts. Upon reopening the block, a rather complicated rack-and-pinion extractor ejected the spent case. The block was then closed, the hammer put on full-cock, and the rifle aimed and fired.
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