Request value for Model 1884/1888 ramrod-bayonet Model Springfield Trapdoor rifle.

drm3m

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Montreal Quebec
Inspector stamped 'SWP 1893'. Serial numbered near the end of Trapdoor production.













Thanks for any help.
What do you think the demand might be in Canada.
 
friere---- you are right---pricing can certainly affect demand!

sail32---I sent photos to Al Frasca back in December 2011 regarding this Trapdoor----I looked at his web site today and realize the he describes this model as M88 RRB Rifle (M1888 Ramrod Bayonet rifle)
(Back then he suggested $1,000 for the rifle and $200 for the sling.)

There is certainly more demand for these Trapdoors in the U.S. but to assume that U.S. values may be similar to those in Canada might not be correct.

In looking at the values on his web site-- add 30% for the exchange to U.S. dollars plus the shipping.
I am not sure if our market can digest those prices.

Thanks for responding to this post.
 
I certainly wouldn't think that that rifle is worth less than a grand and wouldn't surprise me if $1400 couldn't be realized from it...like everything else in the "Internet collecting world" the "as originally produced" Trap Doors are very collectable.
I attended a cowboy shoot this past weekend and a couple of the boys were using Trap Doors in the Cowboy long range sidematch, they both performed very admirably on the 100 yrd 6 in. gong.
 
In May 2005 I bought this Model 1887 sling on eBay for $171.39 U.S.

E.H.S. for(E.H. Schmitten Leather Goods--Rock Island.)





AEA ---probably and inspector.



Stock marking.

 
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Inspector stamped 'SWP 1893'. Serial numbered near the end of Trapdoor production.













Thanks for any help.
What do you think the demand might be in Canada.

That, SIR, is a thing of beauty!!!!!!! Easily 1200 to 1600 without the sling ad another 200 with sling.
Been collecting the T.D for decades and unfortunately sold off the majority. Have had several '88s in the collection that have all been sold.
In the halcyon years parts of the collection were in displays I presented across western Canada and Montana. Those were the good times.
My last 1888 ended up in a collection just south of Portland Oregon. Got to see it again a few years ago and the owner nearly crapped when I told him all about it.
The fellow wrote a book on Lewis and Clark and the fellow I was travelling with got an invite to his estate to see the collection.
 
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Alonzo thanks very much for your response and insight into the potential value of this M88 Trapdoor and sling.

I bought this Trapdoor on March 27 2004 together with a superb vet bring back M1911A1 Colt pistol rig.
I was primarily interested in the Colt rig but I took the Trapdoor because it was in the vet's son's furnace room with some rusty old shotguns.

My antique collection is focused on the U.S. Civil War period and the M88 Trapdoor does not fit within that period.

On September 26 2017 I traded the Trapdoor for a P56 East India Pattern carbine.
The Confederates bought about 10,000 of these P56 carbines during the U.S. Civil War, but the one that I have is a British carbine---with a Tower stock roundel and a VR on the lock plate.









The fellow that I traded the Trapdoor to has shown interest in a couple of my WWII guns which he would trade me for the Trapdoor plus cash.

I would not mind getting the Trapdoor back but I really had no idea what it might be worth today.
Your comments have elevated the value of what I have been hearing----but you have collected these guns and have a substantially better knowledge of them than I do.

I have no idea if there is a trade to be made--- as dealing with this fellow is like "trying to pick up Jello".
One day he is interested the next day he is not.
 
Well sir...if there is a deal to be made then it happens...been down that road as well. Actually some of my best deals have been multi gun trades that ended up with a great piece.
The one that comes to mind is trading a pre-64 94 Winchester 30-30 a spaghetti hawken and Siamese mauser 45-70 for a Shiloh Sharps 45-90 #1 sporting rifle and 200 cash. Used that Sharps in BP competition for a few years and every match it entered took no less then third place. It was traded straight across for an M1911 Springfield Armory ca. 1917...yes the real Springfield Armory. Total investment, all in was 750 dollars. Still have the M1911.

BTW would I be correct in saying that you had the 88 on Nutz a while ago?? For some reason the photos look familiar.

Love the "Jello" observation...have used a similar line to describe a lady I asked out several time. Trying to get a date with her is like trying to nail Jello to the wall.
Cheers
 
Alonzo I don't remember posting photos of the M88 on CGN. (Certainly never for sale.)

I have done four trade/purchases with the fellow that has the Trapdoor.
When the deal was done for the P56 carbine he was supposed to take an Inland M1 Bavaria Rural Police marked WWII carbine and at the last minute he decided that he wanted the M88 Trapdoor rifle.

The most complicated trade (on September 17 2017) involved his New Model 1859 Sharps rifle for my M1 Garand with bayonet and a Nazi marked Browning High Power rig plus an amount of cash that we had agreed upon-- and then he didn't want the High Power rig and wanted more cash----I was not a happy camper.

This was the original deal--plus some cash.



After everything is said and done --I am very happy with the Sharps rifle.



He got the Garand and the bayonet---in a later deal he got the ammo pouch.



I originally got the Trapdoor with a M1911A1 Colt rig from the son of the vet that brought back the Colt rig.
The vet was an American from New Jersey who came to Canada in 1941 to fly with RAF Ferry Command out of Dorval Airport in Montreal.

At this point no one knows where the M88 Trapdoor came from as the vet died on August 17 1977 and the vet's son died on December 31 2016.

Further described here.

https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/for...ured-in-1942-and-the-Vet-that-Brought-it-back
 
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