Trapdoor Rifles

Good morning all,
I am considering purchasing an 1873 Trapdoor Springfield rifle that has been buffed/polished by a previous owner. I would typically avoid such examples; however, this rifle's stock markings and possible provenance make it desirable to me as a collector. I figure I could keep the rifle as is in its ugly polished state or at least restore the finish to as close to original as possible. If I go with that option, can anyone recommend a gunsmith specializing in refinishing trapdoors? If no one provides that service, what bluing process would provide an authentic finish? As always, any assistance provided would be greatly appreciated.

Cliff

To me it would depend on what provenance the rifle may have, you don’t want to destroy what value it may have left if in fact it has some sort of documentation.
Gun smiths who work on antiques are far and few in between.
A name that comes to mind is Robert (Bobby) Hoyt. He is in Fairfield PA. And the last time I talked to him his number was 717-642-6696. I know he does a lot of re barreling, not sure if he does blueing?? Others here may know that answer. I had an issue with one of my trapdoors years ago and instead of me sending it to him he explained how I could fix the rifle myself, which I did, great guy to talk with!!
He doesn’t have a website so you need to call, usually late afternoon is a good time to reach him.
I recently had a trapdoor barrel done by a local gun smith here in NJ. The rifle had no provenance and the barrel had something spilled on it that had removed the finish on the front half so it was quite ugly. The breech had excellent color so that part I wanted untouched. He used a cold blue but applied it lightly until reaching almost the same color as the breech, he did an excellent job. I don’t believe he takes work by mail so unless you live in south Jersey he wouldn’t be of help.
You could do a rust blue on your own, there are several videos on YouTube going through the process.
Good luck with your project.

As long as you are "considering a purchase" let's start with "Should you buy it?"

Unless the markings really have some special historical significance (and are indeed genuine period marking) I would strongly recommend you pass on it.

Even if nicely refinished it will never be "original finish" again, and highly buffed pieces will always have the markings sort of faint and smeared by the gun butcher who buffed it. The cost of refinish may raise the value by maybe half the cost of the refinish, or may not raise it at all. A doubly refinished gun is still a refinished gun, just maybe a little less ugly than the first time.

Most collectors will pay more for a gun with some historical provenance, but on a refinished gun, that added value is probably offset by at least as much by the refinish.

If the history really screams to you and you want it for that, go ahead, but recognize it is probably a poor investment.

Trapdoors usually had a rust blue finish, with the breechblock color case hardened. Some small parts were niter blued which is hard to do and a rust blue will look okay instead. Rust blue is an easy process, just needing time to repeatedly expose the metal parts to high humidity and a rusting solution, then removing the rust with an ultra fine wire wheel. Repeat 5-10 times over a couple of weeks and it should look great. However, a great rust blue on ugly heavily buffed metal with rounded corners and blurred markings will still be ugly.

Out of curiosity, what provenance does this have that makes it so interesting?

Hope that helps.