He also learned how to determine the amount of use a rifle or carbine had seen by the wear of the parts and the condition of the muzzle. Spence’s education of Trapdoors broadened as he learned of the different models, arsenal modifications and upgrades to earlier models and the reasons for such changes. Since the sights are calibrated for specific distances, the ammunition must be loaded with the correct bullets and to the correct velocities in order to regulate with the sight settings. 464 inch to accommodate accumulated fouling, yet still remain serviceable and sights that are calibrated to specific distances.
Such features include the wide, three equal-width lands and deep-groove rifling, an oversized bore as large as. The Trapdoor has several other features that differentiate it from sporting rifles of the time. A Trapdoor is just a collection of parts without the stock to hold all the assemblies in the proper relationship. Unlike a Rolling Block or a High Wall single-shot rifle, the barreled action is a single functioning assembly. One of Wolf’s “Old Warriors,” a nice 1879 Springfield rifle.The stock holds the action, lock and trigger assembly together in the proper relationship. The few photos that Spence took during his research are included in this article. 50-70 Trapdoor, but never got the opportunity. Spence had plans to publish additional data on the. Also, Pat gave me two boxes of 35mm slides taken by Spence during their research and testing. Several years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Pat Wolf and listening to how she and Spence accumulated the knowledge for writing the book. Sadly, Spence Wolf’s life was cut short by cancer in September 1993. 45-70 Springfield Rifle And Carbine.” The first edition of the book was printed in 1991. At the end of the journey, Spence and Pat Wolf left for us their affection for the “Old Warrior” and an invaluable resource, “Loading Cartridges for the Original. But learning how to recreate the original arsenal loadings would send Spence and Pat Wolf on a journey lasting three years, while consuming many pounds of black powder, lead and tin in 15 original. Spence surmised that the key to accuracy is finding how to craft the ammunition as it had been created in the past. He purchased 25 or 30 rounds of the old ammunition to play with in the “Old Warrior.” To his astonishment, with the UMC ammunition he put five shots in a group measuring three inches at 100 yards! The old rifle really would shoot after all. 45-70 UMC, military contract black powder ammunition loaded for the Springfield rifle. At a gun show Spence came across some original. Believing that whatever accuracy the Old Warrior had once possessed had faded with the passing of the cavalry, Spence put the rifle away and went on with other projects. Next, Spence tried loading the cartridges with smokeless powder but the groups did not improve. He was aware of the history of these old rifles and accuracy to which they had been fired in the past, so when his rifle and the loads that he had assembled scattered bullets all over the place he was sorely disappointed. His results were dismal with groups measuring around five feet at 100 yards.
Spence acquired some 500-grain lead bullets, seated them into cartridges loaded with black powder and headed for the range. Also, like most of us, that’s about all he knew. 45-70 Springfield Trapdoor rifle, which he proudly referred to as the “Old Warrior.” Like most of us, Spence had some knowledge of Trapdoors and knew that his newly acquired rifle, equipped with the Buffington sight, was designed for shooting 500-grain bullets atop 70 grains of black powder. In 1975, Spence Wolf purchased his first. 45-70 Government, as well as the new Model 1873 Springfield rifle to fire this powerful cartridge.
45-70-405 service cartridge that became known as the. In 1873, the Army Ordnance Board adopted the new. To those who shoot rifles from the late 1800s, though, Trapdoor is the nickname of the models of the. Spence and Pat Wolf – 1990.an image of a secret passageway.