Building a trapdoor sporting rifle

[Texcl2]

I’m having a .50 3 1/4” sharps rifle rebarreled into a .45/70 and will have the original Shiloh sharps barrel left over and was thinking of cutting the chamber end off and having it installed on a trapdoor receiver and chambered for .50/70. My question is can I use a late 1873 received for this or will I have to go with an 1868 receiver? I would prefer the ‘73 but am worried about the extractor issue and barrel thickness. What do y’all think? If I can’t use a ‘73 action I’d probably be better off building it into a Remington rolling block #1 action as they are cheaper and more plentiful than ‘68 actions.

[Dick Hosmer]

If you want a trapdoor, why not use an 1870 action?

[Texcl2]

They are hard to find and more expensive, I can buy an excellent 1880’s ‘73 stripped action for $35. The 68 and 70’s are more expensive and tend to be ridden hard. I compared the barrels and actions today and will definitely need to go with an earlier pre-73 action or just go with a rolling block. Just thought it would be a neat sporting trapdoor with an octagon barrel and all the ‘73 parts available would be a bonus. I also thing the Springfield camming action is superior in operation to either the sharps or rolling block, it also is the only one of the 3 with an ejector.

[Jim]

. . . . . . I also thing the Springfield camping action is superior in operation to either the sharps or rolling block, it also is the only one of the 3 with an ejector.

I vote you go with the rolling block! (Only “down-side” is the l-o-n-g lock time!)

What is a Springfield “camping” action?

Also . . . .I see no need for an ejector . . . .
Extractor, Yes! . . . Ejector, No!

[Dick Hosmer]

Probably meant "camming" - the TD provides great leverage for chambering a stubborn cartridge. AND, I just found out that the #$@#&&&^%* auto-correct changes "camming" to "camping"!!!!

[Jim]

Probably meant "camming" - the TD provides great leverage for chambering a stubborn cartridge. AND, I just found out that the #$@#&&&^%* auto-correct changes "camming" to "camping"!!!!

OK, Dick . . . .thanks for clearing that up!

Yeah . . . .this auto-correct crap leaves a lot to be desired!

Between human posters that DO NOT PROOFREAD their posts BEFORE hitting the “submit” button . . . .and the auto-correct that does NOT RECOGNIZE firearms terminology . . . . . . .in a forum where “WORDS MATTER”! . . . .we are left to try and figure out WHAT a poster is trying to convey!

Posters MUST proofread BEFORE hitting “submit”!

[Texcl2]

Yup camming, the sad thing is I did proof read it, lol. I think the rolling block is the logical choice. I think I want a trapdoor sporter more though, but not by a huge amount, if that makes sense. I’ve seen some really beautiful ones over the years with octagon barrels in .45/70 and even the .40 calibers. It’s pretty easy to find a ‘73 action with great bluing and even a block with nice colors still intact. You would just need to age match the other parts a bit, I love that slightly used look.

[Dick Hosmer]

Point taken, but pause for a minute and reflect on how bad Al's (bless his heart) site got at the end, and how lucky we are to have this one.

[varsity07840]

I built a Gemmer TD on an '84 action. I tried to post a pic but I get an error message saying the board has reached photo capacity.

[Texcl2]

I’d love to see it! Hopefully the pics get worked out.