Target Sports

BLACK POWDER: ORIGINAL SINGLE-SHOT

Created on 26th May 2009

Derek Landers gets his hands on a piece of history, in the shape of a Springfield Trapdoor rifle

AFICIONADOS WHO like to shoot mid to late-19th century American firearms from the era of the American West are spoilt for choice: today's European manufacturers offer a plethora of reproductions. Cowboy Action Shooting would be almost non-existent were it not for the multitude of handguns and rifles available. A glance through the catalogues of Uberti, Pietta, Armi Sport, Pedersoli and Palmetto will bring to light dozens of models in a variety of calibres to satisfy the most demanding enthusiasts. Even with the UK's draconian gun laws those willing to take the percussion route have a bewildering selection of handguns to choose from. One or other of the manufacturers above produces reproductions of every model of Colt percussion revolver, along with offerings from Remington, Rogers & Spencer, Whitney, Le Mat, Spiller & Burr and others. Rifle shooters are not neglected either, with a variety of Winchester, Sharps, Remington and Spencer long guns on offer.

Today's computer-controlled production techniques, coupled with improved materials, mean that these modern guns are generally superior to their earlier counterparts. But there is one area in which they fall behind: the very area they are intended to evoke, which is history. They don't have any. They look and act the part, but they have not been there or done that. They don't have the medal or the t-shirt.

The long and the short of it

Unless you go down the Section 7(3) route, with the corresponding variation to your firearms certificate, then shooting cartridge handguns here in the UK is merely a dream. It is also somewhat unrealistic to use original percussion handguns, as the prices of good examples place them far above the cost of a reliable reproduction. There is also the added risk that, if you wish to shoot the gun regularly, it must be submitted to the Proof House (and added to your FAC). If it fails you will be worse off by several hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds.

For rifle shooters, however, the opportunity to shoot originals is much more feasible and affordable. There are a fair number of early Winchester rifles for sale in a variety of models and calibres. Probably the aficionado's first choice would be Winchester's first centrefire rifle, the model 1873. In a 46-year production run almost ¾ of a million examples of this ‘gun that won the West' left the New Haven plant, in a mixture of .32/20, .38/40 and .44/40 calibres. All of these can be readily reloaded today. Early Western movies were awash with Winchester model 1892 rifles, usually in .44/40 calibre, which used the ubiquitous five-in-one blanks. This Hollywood stalwart (well over one million units were produced up to its cessation in 1941) is still around today in fairly large numbers. The above two models were produced in what we now term ‘pistol calibres', while a number of other available Winchesters used larger cartridges. The most prolific of the Winchester lever action rifles was the model 1894, which was still in production when the company ceased trading recently. The most popular calibre for this model was the .30/30. This was a favourite in the USA but has never really caught on over here. Versions of the more powerful 1876, 1886 and 1895 rifles can also be found in a shootable condition. Examples of the various Marlin lever action rifles are available to a lesser extent, principally because of shorter production runs.

Single pleasures

If the lever action mechanism does not ring your bell, how about one of the many single-shot rifles that abounded in the latter half of the 19th century? It is from this sector that our test rifle comes. While the Sharps rifles (which are expensive), and to a lesser extent those from Remington, can lay claim to association with the romance of the buffalo hunters, the Trapdoor Springfield rifle has its own niche in American history. Tracing its ancestry back to the Model 1841 percussion rifle, the first trapdoor cartridge models were .58 rimfire calibre conversions of the Model 1861 percussion musket. Around 5,000 were produced in 1865, and a year later some 25,000 Model 1863 percussion muskets were converted to .50 calibre centrefire by over-boring the barrel and inserting a liner. (Both these models can be purchased without a firearms certificate in the UK.) From 1867 to 1873 Trapdoors with purpose-built .50 calibre barrels were produced in rifle and carbine configurations. In 1873 came the .45/70 Trapdoor rifles and carbines, which were to remain the standard US military single-shot long arms for the next two decades.

Check it out

The review rifle was imported from the USA, and as I eventually acquired it for resale my first course of action was to send it to the Birmingham Proof House to make sure that it was fit for shooting. I removed the woodwork and sent only the barrel and action, and because of the rifle's age and historical significance I asked if the proof marks could be placed under the barrel where they would not be seen when it was re-stocked. I have no way of knowing what sort of powder charge the Proof House used, but I guessed it would be quite a bit more than I planned for using the gun, so as it passed proof successfully and was duly stamped I had no qualms about pulling the trigger for the first shot.

The front sight is a simple blade pinned into a block, which is sweated on to the barrel. This serves as a stud for a socket-type bayonet. The rear sight is graduated from 100 to 1,200yds with the first 500 being marked on the outside of the left wing. From 200 to 500 is in 25yd increments. Tipping up the ‘ladder' gives you the 600 to 1,200yd range. The bar on the ladder, which contains the actual V-notches, is adjustable for windage. There is a groove cut into the front of the breechblock to allow you to see this notch when the sight is at its lowest point. The sight radius is around 26½".

The top of the breech block is stamped US/Model 1873. There are Government inspector's marks (the letter ‘U') on both barrel bands and the top of the steel butt plate is stamped ‘US'. The breech end of the barrel has Springfield's proof marks and an inspector's initial ‘A'. The lock plate bears an American eagle and ‘US/SPRINGFIELD' and the serial number is stamped on the top of the breechblock, just forward of the top tang. There are traces of original finish on the metalwork, but I am of the opinion that the lock plate and hammer have had some cosmetic work, in the form of cold blue, while the stock also seems to have benefited from a light coat of varnish. The barrel has not been touched and is a nice brown colour, and the rifle still has its original ramrod. The front barrel band has a double sling swivel arrangement, while the rear swivel is on the trigger guard. The trigger is grooved with a chequered tip and the hammer has a chequered oval on the top. Altogether the rifle has a very pleasing appearance and everything fits nicely and tightly together. The bore is remarkably good considering the age of the rifle, and as I prepared to shoot it I could not help but wonder when this gun was last fired in anger, and by whom.

You will not need to be told what the figures refer to in the ‘45/70' designation for this calibre. Suffice to say that when the carbine version was issued to the US cavalry they found that 70gn of black powder was a bit of a handful in such a light weapon. Accordingly the load was dropped to 55gn for the carbine, effectively making it a 45/55. With modern brass cases it is not possible to load 70gn of powder, and in fact the 55gn load (I used Henry Krank's medium powder in Winchester cases, ignited by CCI primers), together with a lubricated wad, was enough to fill the case just right for a little compression of the powder with the 405gn lead bullet. Recoil was fairly mild, and the gun was a pleasure to shoot. The ejector flipped the empty brass clear of the gun every time. As a target weapon this old gun will obviously not stand up against the modern reproduction single-shot rifles, at least not out at the longer distances. But in black powder competitions out to 200yd it may hold its own with its decent rear sight set-up. I consider this a ‘fun gun' with a little bonus: you are shooting a bit of history that, if it could talk, might have some interesting tales to tell.

Technical Specification

Make: Springfield
Model: 1873 Trapdoor Rifle
Calibre: .45/70
Barrel length: 32½"
O/all length: 51½"
Weight: 9½lb
Pull length: 13½"
Trigger pull: <7lb

BLACK POWDER: ORIGINAL SINGLE-SHOT

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BLACK POWDER: ORIGINAL SINGLE-SHOT

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