A blind squirrel finds a nut.. 1867 Cadet

[nhbandit]

Recently purchased a small lot of gun parts, mostly trapdoor. In the mix was a lock plate marked 1867 and thinner than a Civil War era lock plate. What kind of cobbled up Bannerman nonsense is this I thought to myself. Until I did a bit of research. It appears that I have a lock plate that somehow ended up in the wild from one of the 424 Cadet rifles produced that year.

[nhbandit]

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[carlsr]

The date does not look to have been stamped by Springfield and it also looks to be placed incorrectly?? The lock plate should also be thicker. Here is a complete 1867 cadet rifle on GB.
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/1016322053

[Dick Hosmer]

If anybody wants one, that's about as nice as you're likely to find; considerably better than mine.

The lockplate under discussion is a FAKE. It is a .45-70 plate, inscribed by Bubba (man. that guy got around!) The true 1867 plate is of a thickness between the CW and flat styles, but has a bevel similar to the former.

[nhbandit]

Man you guys are good ! Comparing it to the original in the GB link I can see several things wrong with mine. This is why I come here. Things I noted right away besides the incorrect thickness. The "1" dosn't have a line across the bottom. Numbers aren't perfectly aligned. Eagle is too close to the "Springfield" stamping. I'm sure there's more. The question is why someone would do this ?

[Dick Hosmer]

Man you guys are good ! Comparing it to the original in the GB link I can see several things wrong with mine. This is why I come here. Things I noted right away besides the incorrect thickness. The "1" dosn't have a line across the bottom. Numbers aren't perfectly aligned. Eagle is too close to the "Springfield" stamping. I'm sure there's more. The question is why someone would do this ?

Easy answer - they were trying to fake an extremely rare model for sale to some novice. Either that or they had delusions. You have to do a LOT more to fake that model than change the lockplate. Perhaps they got caught . . .

And, yes I DO realize that my recent heavy "restoration" of M1882 28" TRB 197404 might be considered by some to be in that ballpark, but it was for my own enjoyment, I had the parts, including the properly numbered receiver, I will never sell it, and after I'm gone, there is enough wrong with it to make it clear to anyone that it is no virgin.

[nhbandit]

So the new title is "A blind squirrel trips over a stick and falls down a rabbit hole" lol. Thanks for clarifying what I have. I guess I won't be retiring any time soon..