Item Description
Original Item: Only One Available. Recently acquired from a small museum this antique gun has been demilitarized so it cannot fire again. A hole was made in the breech and the front of the chamber has been welded shut. None of this work was done by IMA. However this is an excellent pristine example of a very rare hard to find trapdoor Springfield rifle. It bears serial number 15730 with multiple clear U.S. government inspection cartouches on the stock, and breechblock is dated 1869.
The Springfield Model 1868 was one of several model "trapdoor Springfields", which used the trapdoor breechblock design developed by Erskine S. Allin. Originally, the trapdoor Springfields were created to convert Model 1863 Springfield rifled muskets to breech-loading rifles at a relatively low cost. This conversion consisted of replacing the percussion lock with the breech-loading trapdoor mechanism, and relining the barrels to convert them from .58 to .50 caliber. This proved problematic, because in the field, the lining tended to separate from the barrel.
To correct this problem, the Model 1868 used a new barrel instead of relining the original older barrel. The new barrel was slightly shorter, 32.5 inches, compared to the 36.5-inch barrel used on the Model 1866. The shorter barrel was affixed using only two barrel bands, instead of the three used on the Model 1866. Since it lacked the middle barrel band, the sling was affixed to the upper barrel band instead. The Model 1868 also differed from previous models in that it used a separate Allin type receiver with the barrel attached to it. The Model 1868 was also the first trapdoor conversion to use the cartridge extractor covered by U.S. Patent No. 68,009, issued August 27, 1867 to W.H. & G.W. Miller. The Model 1868 had an overall length of 517/8 inches.
Over 50,000 Model 1868 rifles were manufactured, chambered for the .50-70 450 cartridge. This model served as the basis for the definitive Model 1873 "Trapdoor Springfield" series of rifles in .45-70-405 caliber, which was adopted in 1873 as the standard military long-arm of the United States armed forces for the next 20 years.
This model is unique in the 'trapdoor' series by being marked with the actual year of manufacture (1868, 1869, or 1870) on the breech-block. The 1868 marking is extremely rare with probably no more than 150 so marked; about 16,000 were marked 1869, with the remaining 36,000 being stamped 1870. As of April 2016, only 18 specimens are known with the 1868 date. Latest to surface is #127.
In the late 1860s and early 1870s, many army units continued to use outdated rifled muskets and other weapons like the Spencer and Sharps .52 caliber percussion rifle. The army wanted to standardize weapons and ammunition, and forced these units to switch to trapdoor Springfields once the Model 1868 went into full production.
- This product is available for international shipping.
- IMA considers all of our antique guns as non-firing, inoperable and/or inert. Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 921(a)(16) defines antique firearms as all guns made prior to 1899. This law exempts antique firearms from any form of gun control or special engineering because they are not legally considered firearms. However as a museum piece, this antique firearm was required to be deactivated. No FFL, C&R or any license is required to posses, transport, sell or trade Antique guns. All rifles and muskets sold by IMA that were manufactured prior to 1899 are considered Antiques by the US BATF (United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms). Therefore, all of IMA's Antique guns may be shipped to all US States and most nations around the world.
This antique gun has been deactivated, and is sold as collector’s items or as wall hanger. Any attempt at restoring an antique gun to be operational is strongly discouraged and is done so at the risk of the customer. By purchasing an antique gun from IMA you thereby release IMA, its employees and corporate officers from any and all liability associated with use of our Antique guns.
Pre-1899 Manufacture, no licenses required, allowed to ship to almost any deliverable address across the globe. Please note that for international shipping, these MUST be shipped using UPS WW Services.
- Not eligible for payment with Paypal or Amazon
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
