Trapdoor Rifles

A buddy of mine just gave me these Nine 50-70 cartridges.

And?

Nice gift Fred you have good friends. Not arsenal issue but looks to be Berdan primed brass cases.

He’s set up at the KC show. He’s dying. He was and is selling his gun parts and acutrements for Pennies
on the dollar.
He’s selling all of his Krag and early 1903’parts for chump change.
A mint 1898 Krag front band and screw for $5.00, unopened boxes of Krag 30-40 blanks for $5.00, a bag of twenty something early pre WWII 1903 Springfield windage knobs for $10.00, a big box with about twenty pre WWII straight handle bolts and a Crap load of other collectible 1903 parts for $300.00 etc.
He almost didn’t come to the show because he’s very weak and feeling really bad.
It’ll be his last show I think. After 42 years setting up with him at this show.
There’s a rubber tube under his skin draining fluid from his brain out of his skull down into his stomach.
It bought him some time after his stroke a few years ago.
We shook hands as I left Saturday. It’ll be the last time we’ll see each other I think.

That is SO sad. Death comes to all of us of course, but we pray for the lightning strike in the middle of the night while we are asleep, rather than wasting away in agony. You have my deepest sympathy - for you AND your friend. Of the guys I knew, and interacted with, in my "gun-show days" (1970-2000) nearly all are gone - in fact, only one close one comes quickly to mind . . .

I have GOT to sell off, but I just cannot bring myself to do so - idiocy at work.

Heck, I understand. For me personally, the more guns I collected it seemed the less I’d spend time studying and messing around with each.
Attention span thing I think.
Anyway, now I just have my 1863 Springfield, my
1866 .58 Caliber center-fire Remington Rolling Block, an 1896 Krag rifle, an early Martini Henry rifle, and an 1884 Trapdoor.
My wife has an 8 gauge double barreled shotgun made in London in 1880, a GEW98 that her first husbands father picked up in the field after the 2nd battle of The Somme.
She also has a November of 1942 M1 rifle.
None of that would really interest many if any collectors,
but they’re fun for me to mess with.

You sold #6?

Oh no. There were two interesting offers for trade, but there wasn’t much cash flowing at the show.
Seems that all or most of the big antique arms collectors are dead.

Oh no. There were two interesting offers for trade, but there wasn’t much cash flowing at the show.
Seems that all or most of the big antique arms collectors are dead.
I might put it on the Buy Sell Trade here with a ridiculous price. I’ll see what happens. There’s no special need to sell it, I’m just wanting to buy another neat old gun down the road and it’d be great to have some money when I see something.

Any interest in selling the 50-70 ammo? Ide love to put at least one through the 1868.