Help Me Identify 1884 Trapdoor

[John S.]

Hi- Most of us started from a similar level of lack of knowledge about trapdoors and probably did some of the same inappropriate things, but eventually learned better ways.

We may be talking about different guns here. Your serial number in the photos is 132xxx and that is a perfectly suitable (mechanical) match for an 1884 dated block and 1887s dated stock, although almost certainly not assembled at the armory that way.

I could not view the video, and have no patience for the YouTube commissars and their constantly changing rules. I did see the broken stock in the first frame. That is a nice clean break easily repaired with epoxy (a little black dye will make the break blend in nicely. the hard part is getting the wood pieces lined up properly, but the trigger guard will really help with that. Make sure you use LOTS of release agent so you don't epoxy it to the wood forever!
Regardless of how careful you are, it will probably require just a tiny bit of sanding at the joint to get rid of squeezed out epoxy, and get the wood leveled to the other piece. Then you will need to do a little bit of staining to blend in the freshly sanded wood with the rest of the stock. I like to use Feibing leather dies, but everyone has their own personal preferences.

Repairing the stock is a whole lot easier, and probably a LOT cheaper than trying to get a replacement, even one of the usually pretty poor replica stocks which would require a lot of inletting, exterior sanding and finishing.

I you are handy with tools and like woodworking, you can do this yourself. If not, consider paying a gunsmith to do it. Check around as many "gunsmiths" today only know how to change parts on black plastic gun and know less than you do about trapdoors. My guess is that the cost may run $200-300, so balance that against your own mechanical skills.

This has more sentimental value than high end collector interest, so if you have fun working on it, and it does not turn out perfect, you can still use it, and will have learned something. Good luck!
Hope that helps.

[Dick Hosmer]

Don't know if your grandfather was the "guilty" party or not, but no Army facility would have mated that barrel with that breechblock, or that stock. Many commercial firms put guns together without regard for what was supposed to go with what, and then sold them for $1.25 each. Only since about 1970 have people really started to get picky. What you have will function, and the stock should be fixable - a new one, when you can find it, will cost upwards of $250.

Note to John S. - yes, there ARE two dfferent guns on this thread. You MIGHT want to split them?

[John S.]

Dick- Pretty sure this thread is about ONE gun, albeit the initial post had serial number 132586 which was corrected in subsequent post to be 132589, as confirmed by photo of the number.

Perhaps you may be confusing this thread with the one asking about two cadets, which had some really weird parts cobbled together IIRC.

(or maybe the video I am not able to view showed a different gun...)

[LordTimothyDexter]

Dick- Pretty sure this thread is about ONE gun, albeit the initial post had serial number 132586 which was corrected in subsequent post to be 132589, as confirmed by photo of the number.

Perhaps you may be confusing this thread with the one asking about two cadets, which had some really weird parts cobbled together IIRC.

(or maybe the video I am not able to view showed a different gun...)

The thread should be about one gun, I however interjected with a response about my own trapdoor that had some similarities and started a bit of an offshoot (pun intended) discussion about my trapdoor. So there are several comments that do not relate to the original posters rifle.

I appreciate the responses I got but will begin a new thread for my line of inquiry as I want the original poster to be able to achieve his aims (yes another pun) as well.

[Dick Hosmer]

Dick- Pretty sure this thread is about ONE gun, albeit the initial post had serial number 132586 which was corrected in subsequent post to be 132589, as confirmed by photo of the number.

Perhaps you may be confusing this thread with the one asking about two cadets, which had some really weird parts cobbled together IIRC.

(or maybe the video I am not able to view showed a different gun...)

No, as Lord Dexter has since written, there ARE two guns mixed. His is 89995, and separate post(s) should be coming . . . I am especially interested because of my 1877 carbine 89998, which passes all the smell tests but never had a close number with which to compare. Hmmmm???