Mixmaster Trapdoor

[kbuck11]

Hi, New here. Just got my first Trapdoor. I did a little research beforehand and knew it was a parts gun of some sort, but the goal was to get my feet wet with something I could hopefully shoot and tinker with a little without breaking the bank. It was advertised as a model 1873 but by the serial# (406355) I knew the action was from May-June 1888 according to the Springfield Armory site, making it a model 1884? Below is a description of what I think I see and a link to a few pics along with a couple of questions.

The breech block is missing most of writing on top, you can just barely make out the top of the ‘U.S.’ near the hinge. But it locks up tight with no up/down, forward/back movement, just a little lateral wiggle at the back. QUESTION #1 - If I were to decided to get a new breech block with the stamping on it, can I just swap them or is there any kind of fitting that needs done that affects headspace, lockup, etc. Sorry if that’s a dumb one, like I say, new to these rifles.

The lock plate is also tight with a cross hatched hammer and no date under the Springfield and Eagle.

The bore was completely dark when I got it but I think it was mostly grease and grime as it cleaned up fairly well with a little solvent. It’s now has a little brightness to it and although the lands and grooves aren’t the sharpest they look good enough to me.

The stock/trigger housing looks to be older than the action. It is the longer wrist and has an ‘ESA’ inspector cartouche WITHOUT a date under it. I have read that the date was added to the stock cartouche sometime in the mid 1870’s. There is a crack along the top under the front of the lock plate that looks to have been repaired a LONG time ago. When I took the action out, it still seems to be holding solid. The trigger is smooth not serrated which I have also read makes it earlier. Puzzling to me is that the front band has no spring latch?? Not even a slot for one in the stock. In my Googling, I have not seen this in any Trapdoor pictures but maybe I’m searching for the wrong thing. QUESTION #2 - Could this be an even older (pre-model 1873) stock?

Anyway, just thought I’d say hello and show my new/old rifle. Any advice or info from the pics anyone could give would be appreciated. I am having some black powder 405gr loads made up and hope of hear it go bang soon. First shot will likely be in a vice out of caution.

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0f8EDrH ... xG1j5_JkNw

[Tom Trevor]

You can replace the breech block without any problems aside from the extractor spring being a bugger to get in until you have done a couple of them. Interesting you have an early stock cut for a narrow receiver the split by the lock could be caused by trying to force the later wider receiver into the stock without relieving some stock wood in the area. No idea as to the band spring missing. Does the stock have the rod retainer that the rod snaps into? Please post a picture of that area with the retainer removed as the band spring retainer was drilled thru the stock and the rod catch as well it would be nice to get a close up of the stock area and see if the drilled hole is there. In fact shots of the stock end to end with out the barrel out. There would by no reason the plug the retainer notch and you are sure it was not filled. you can fore the rifle with the sling on but without it the retainer would be off in two shots. You can obtain a retainer and if you desire and have a bit of talent cut out the notch and drill thru to install a retainer.

[kbuck11]

Thanks for the reply. Yea, I saw how to take the breech block apart. My immediate thought was "So that's where Mr. Stoner got his front take down pin design from." ha! My reloader buddy got my black powder rounds to me yesterday and I just couldn't resist. Fired 10 rounds and everything went well.

You are correct though, there is no rod retainer, realized this when the rod kept walking out a couple inches after every other shot. Took the action out under the lights and with my glasses on this time and the stock has definitely been hogged out to get the action in there. You can tell by the color variation on the wood. The glue on the split repair is still holding but it was not a nice job , the wood is very thin in a place or two and one place broke thru to the lock cavity which I didn't notice before. I can't see anything that looks like filling in where the front band spring/rod retainer should be. Nor do I see anything that looks like splicing up there...who knows. Also looks like the butt plate is an early model without the reinforcement on the stock side.

I was looking for the parts you mentioned on Numrich and noticed they have brand new reproduction stocks with the short wrist. Not sure which rout I'll go, but as buggered up as the old stock is around the action, it's tempting. Below is a link to the photos of the stock.

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0b3GdGG ... -4q-ocUyeA

[kbuck11]

One more question. Does the firing pin look bent/deformed? Maybe it’s just the angle it’s in there at.

https://share.icloud.com/photos/09f3LaQ ... ICPapU3XhA

[Tom Trevor]

As the pin comes thru the block in an angle its hard to tell. Take the pin out and rotate it there should be no bend in it. The stock had to have been something else grafted onto your rifle.
A reproduction stock will always be just that and you may find a lot more work in fitting it than the sales adds indicate. Look on e-bay or other sites and find an original stock that will take your parts and have proper original fit and finish to match. That will add value to your rifle far above a modern reproduction I see them today from 150.00 up. Hope this helps.

[kbuck11]

Thanks Tom, you’ve been very helpful. A poster on another forum thinks the stock may have been bought as unfinished scrap, rejected due to being somehow out of spec…? Who knows. If that were the case, the cartouche being on there is strange but I’ve found you can buy cartouche stamps on the old interweb also lol. Thanks for the advice about the stock. I took the whole thing apart thoroughly today, the firing pin is not bent, cleaned it all up real well and added some very small dowels in the stock repair area that I think should hold for at least as long as I’m around. I’m a bit of an amateur wood worker. Cleaned it up with lacquer thinner and re-oiled with linseed oil, it actually looks pretty nice… I think the working parts are all solid so I’ll likely just shoot and enjoy it, I’m sure I can figure about some way to hold the front band and ramrod in there with used parts or otherwise.

[Tom Trevor]

One thought is to cross drill the stock right at the barrel band front and use a pin to retain the band leaving enough on each side to hold it in place. Just like my Martini-Henry Mk 2 rifle. Then drill a second hole where the rod retainer would have been so it crosses the rod groove and the rod will snap over it and be retained. Small broken drill bits work good for this and I always seen to have few around
Cheapest way to fix both problems I can think of.

[kbuck11]

Agree, I have some small brass rods I was thinking of using for the same things. We shall see. Just starting into 19th century firearms, a few hundred bucks for a functional one doesn’t seem too bad a deal… . Thanks again.

[kbuck11]

One thought is to cross drill the stock right at the barrel band front and use a pin to retain the band leaving enough on each side to hold it in place. Just like my Martini-Henry Mk 2 rifle. Then drill a second hole where the rod retainer would have been so it crosses the rod groove and the rod will snap over it and be retained. Small broken drill bits work good for this and I always seen to have few around
Cheapest way to fix both problems I can think of.

Bit the proverbial bullet and bought a band spring and cleaning rod retainer…installation went fairly well. The only thing I felt bad about was that I could not get the bottom “nipple” or whatever you want to call it to set flush with the inside of the stock without the hole for it penetrating the bottom of the stock. The few pictures I could find did not show it doing this but since the nipple had the patent on date stamped on it, I thought it actually looked pretty good. (Photos) The front barrel band is retained properly now as is the cleaning rod. Pretty confident now that I have an 1888 action and barrel installed in a reject or otherwise unfinished early stock/trigger gaurd. Happy with it, it shoots well and looks good. Thanks for all the help. https://share.icloud.com/photos/04bd1e ... 9VoEeRMtdA

[Tom Trevor]

That turned out very well. Good work.