Trapdoor Rifles

I was wondering if anyone could point me in the direction to find out (if it's possible) what weapons were issued and to whom. Just like ideas and time frames. Is there such a thing? As an example, roughly 50k rifles were produced of M1866 (in 1867). Where did they go? Is there info that will say xx number of Model 1866 were sent to Ft xxx or to xx Infantry. Thanks in advance.

Frank- Short answer is NO. Nothing of that sort exists now, and firearms manufacture and issue did not quite work in a smooth logical process like that.

Arms were not made or shipped in strict serial number sequence, so a crate of 20 rifles may have serial numbers spread over several thousand numbers. Once the creates were stacked at Camp Swampy or wherever, they were not pulled and issued to units in exact sequence the crates were packed. So, while there may be some patterns in the way arms reached using units, there are probably even more cases which fall outside of any pattern.

Your best (and nearly only) way to confirm usage by any unit or individual is through obscure records buried in the National Archives. Usually in what were considered to be temporary records normally thrown away after an arm issued to PVT Snuffy was returned and the regiment disbanded. But, for whatever reason, the record book for part of that unit got turned in and filed away.

Sometimes there will be formal correspondence reporting loss, transfer, defects, or the like for one or a group of guns.

The above documentation was mostly found by the late Frank Mallory who spent decades in the National Archives digging into thousands of old records, and occasionally finding some serial numbers, but often not finding any. That is referred to as the "Springfield Research Service database."

Some arms are "self testifying" by having had unit marks applied. This was strictly forbidden by Ordnance regulations, but while the regular army mostly obeyed, state militias were far less obedient, and New York very aggressively marked their arms.

If you want to ask about a specific firearm, post the maker and model here and someone with access to the SRS database will probably check for you. But, be advised that for the over 600,000 trapdoors made, records have been found on less than 25,000 numbers. And the trapdoos seem to have a higher percentage of numbers with data than most other types. Much of the info is not very exciting, such as "tested at Springfield Armory on [date]." But there are some great finds out there too, so it is good to check.

Thanks again John! I appreciate it.