Springfield Trapdoor Carbine

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gerry303ca

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Fredericton, NB
I have a Springfield Trapdoor Carbine. It has a 22" barrel, carbine sling bar, 2 piece trigger guard, trapdoor butt plate, ribbed trigger, Carbine Buffington rear sight, and almost no markings. There is a "US" close behind the rear sight and on top of the butt plate just under the screw. There are no other markings except the serial number 451697 on top of the receiver at the back. The rifle has most likely been refinished at some time. The blueing is excellent as is the stock finish. There is a little very light pitting on the barrel, otherwise it's in very good condition and shoots OK. I assume this is a 1879 model. Can anyone tell me anything else about it? Value? Sorry I can't do photos, I know that would help.
 
From your brief description it sounds more like an 1994 model carbine. There should be a marking on the breechblock...if not it has been removed by someone. Taking into consideration the serial number, which places it at or around 1887 to 1888 that indicates it is a true 1884 model. The value of Trapdoor Carbine depends heavily on condition and a few key features. You mention there is a "Carbine Buffington" sight with almost no markings, which raises some concern. There should be, at the very least, a prominent heavy struck "C" on the sight leaf, indicating use on Carbines. Taking into consideration there are no stock marks visible opposite the lock-plate obviously indicates some work had been done on it. This is not necessarily a bad thing though it does affect value.
The best one can do is to give you a range of value since you do not have photos to determine a multitude of other details. Based on the limited information you provided it could run anywhere from $750 to $950. A check of the serial number books I have will also see if there is some provenance with this gun and confirm if carbines were actually produced in the quarter the serial dated in. Will post any additional information I can find.
 
Further to this;
Serial Number 451697 was made in the third quarter (July to September) of Fiscal year 1889. During this period there were no Carbine reported in the Springfield Armoury record, although the previous quarter (April to June, 1889) 2080 Carbines were reported as being produced.
It did not show up in the reference books quoting serial numbers issued to identified units.
My original reply was off by a year as I was going by memory...sorry for the inaccurate info.
 
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