Robert J Samples Loc: Round Rock, Texas

It was lunchtime and I had already made all the calls on the pharmacies and such in Donna and Mercedes. I was working the area between Donna and Weslaco at the time, the local doctors were taking their siestas.

Sometimes when I had such a lull in businesses that I could productively call upon, I would often find an arroyo and do some target practice with a pistol. However, on this occasion, there weren’t any suitable areas that I knew about.

However, there was a small museum/junk shop that I hadn’t visited before, so I decided to give the place a visit.

I went in and there wasn’t much to see except for one old rifle, a .45-70 Springfield rifle and bayonet with its case. They were asking $50 for the entire assortment.
Now, this was reasonable but still more than I had as pocket change in the 1960s. I simply made a note to remember where and what this was.

A few weeks later I was calling on a young physician in Harlingen. We talked guns about as much as drugs. I told him about this weapon and they were asking $50. He said if I would pick it up, he would buy it.
I then told him, that was a deal and if I ever wanted to purchase it from him, the price would still be $50. So, on my next trip, I did pick up the rifle and delivered it to the doctor.

It wasn’t a year later that I was promoted and was moving to Houston as the hospital representative for the Houston Medical Center.
I go by my doctor’s office and pay him the $50 and pick up the rifle and bayonet.

I did not realize it at the time, but there would be a whirlwind of moves ahead, but I would always hang this rifle and bayonet over the fireplace wherever we lived. This was from Houston, to New York, then New Orleans. Due to problems with my children getting into drugs and going wild, I resigned the management position and moved back to Texas.
More years go by, my children finally come to their senses and things settle down. I have finally found success as a broker and financial advisor in Houston. In 2017 I retired, and we have chosen to sell our townhouse and move to Round Rock, Texas to be closer to the children and grandchildren.

I often wondered just how this rifle had wound up in the small museum. There had been a lot of unrest along the border between Texas and Mexico and even armed conflict at times. It could have been a soldier from the U.S. who might have gone AWOL and either threw his rifle away or sold it.

Recently, due to health conditions, I decided to divest myself of my small arsenal. I offer to sell some weapons to friends on Fishing Stages, and others to a gun dealer in Houston.

I take the .45-70 Springfield and a .44 Colt replica black powder pistol to the Collectors Rife Arms to sell. I was surprised to receive over $800 for the Springfield, and around $200 for the Colt replica. Unfortunately, in one of our last moves, one of the movers had sticky fingers and stole the bayonet and case.
While the bayonet and case would have brought $200 to $300 more, I considered this a good deal, since I had only paid $50 for the rifle! Now I had owned it for over 20 years and that was a factor, but the weapon was in good condition.

As far as I can determine, the .45-70 trapdoor rifle was never in a major battle but did see service against Indians in the West after the Civil War. It seems the most pressing story was a detail of Cavalry soldiers in New Mexico or Arizona who were sent out to harvest grass from their mounts. They were jumped by an Indian war party but were able to hold them at bay with these single-shot rifles! Just Sayin…RJS

bknecht Loc: Northeast pa

Great commentary RJS, that is one caliber I’ve never had the pleasure to shoot.

Gordon Loc: Charleston South Carolina

Good read Robert. Do you have any pictures of the .47-70 Trapdoor rifle?

MuskyJohn Loc: Benton Harbor, MI

Very cool story!
I have never been able to shoot one either. My Dad had a very old Cap and ball rifle hanging below his mantle at his house. When Dad passed away, I purchased the gun out of the estate for like $200. I never plan on shooting it. It doesn't look safe to do that. I am sure it is 1800's.
I have a Iditarod winning vintage dog sled that is my TV stand, sort of, in my Wisconsin cabin. Since I just have a wood stove up there and no fireplace, I am trying to find and old rifle holster to hang on the dog sled like Sergeant Preston of the Yukon did in that cool 50's show. And I need a few antique blasting powder boxes and a TNT detonator for decor to sit on the sled.
At least that is the plan.

Thanks for another good story, RJS.

John

Gordon Loc: Charleston South Carolina

Good luck John. You can find them on ebay but they are pricey

Robert J Samples Loc: Round Rock, Texas

Yes, I think so. The biggest problem is inserting the photo into any system that I can send to you. I will try. Just Sayin...RJS

audigger53 Loc: Severn, MD

https://blog.gritrsports.com/the-us-springfield-1873-4570-trapdoor-rifle/


Good article and pictures of it.

Gordon Loc: Charleston South Carolina

Thanks Audigger. That's a very interesting rifle.

Sport Loc: Sacramento county north. California

A neat rifle, I believe the '73 was the US rifle '73 'til '83. Then the krag- Jorgensen until '03 when the Springfield was adopted. The Lyman black powder handbook tells the history of these rifles. An informative book, one of my favorites.

Kerry Hansen Loc: Bremerton, WA

I like them!

BCKliche Loc: Suffolk, VA

I have one, too. In pretty good condition but no rod and no bayonette. Always wanted to shoot it but the barrel is pitted so don't want to chance it. I understand you have to use black powder cartridges in them because modern powder and modern cartridges are too strong.

Barnacles Loc: Northern California

I have an old Danish rollingblock that my Dad had got from his Dad. It's in splendid condition, but not worth much because gazillions of them were imported and sold here in the US. The value os so low that many were made into lamps!

Well, we all thought that it was a .45-70 and we've run several hundred rounds through it with no problems. It's quite accurate, I attest much of that to the extraordinarily long sight radius of the long old piece. Recently, I was sniffing around the internet to see what I could learn about these old "shootin' irons" and I was stunned to learn that it's NOT a .45-70!! It's actually chambered for an obsolete metric cartridge, 11.4x51R! Fortunately, they're very similar - the biggest difference is that just ahead of the rim, the diameter of the .45-70 cartridge is about .015" smaller than the metric cartridge. Going forward, I'll do the same as most others who still shoot these old guns, a new round gets a narrow strip of tape around the base to keep it centered in the chamber. The case is fire-formed to fit the chamber by this first shot and in the future I'll only neck size the cases so that they'll hold the bullet securely. No need to full length size them!

I've only ever fired modern smokeless cartridges through it, but since I reload I'm toying with the idea of trying black powder.

Sport Loc: Sacramento county north. California

Don't shoot it. Keep it clean and show it to one that would appreciate it. There are reproductions of nearly all historic arms. No need to risk it. I believe 15k is max pressure for that type rifle. Repros included. I sold my shikara, a good shooter. I have the 1874 sharps, cheap import. A good shooter also. All are low pressure loads. The shikara is break action, long barrel and kicked like an angry mule.

Sport Loc: Sacramento county north. California

Is the barrel not marked? The 11.'s I'm aware of are .43 Spanish and .43 Mauser. Do a chamber cast before you accept an internet, sight unseen evaluation. Hundreds of rounds is a pretty good evaluation.

Barnacles Loc: Northern California

The barrel isn't marked for the proper cartridge. I sent away for a few 11.4X51R brass cases from a specialty outfit and did a lot of measuring and comparing against new .45-70 brass and some that had been previously fired through this old gun. It all checked out against the info I'd found on the internet. Now I'm comfortable to keep on using .45-70 Government or equivalent handloads through it and I'll handload to the same pressures that would be right for a trapdoor Springfield. I'll have to keep on my toes though, there are some bolt and lever guns that use .45-70 at modern high pressures and one of those cartridges would be the end of my gun - and possibly me!