BlackReed Posted August 28, 2015 Share #1 Posted August 28, 2015 Hello folks and Semper Fi to those Jar Heads out there and to all the others that represent our armed forces past and present! Not to long ago my father in law passed and to say that he was an avid gun collector would be an understatement. His collection ranges from the revolution era up to the current decade, often with duplicate examples of the same piece. We all live in Gettysburg, Pa so I thought I could get some opinions from people in the area concerning this particular carbine. Instead it was like watching Ray Charles trying to throw darts....kinda funny and scary at the same time. Now I have done some research and understand that these "Custer" carbines are far and few in between. This one was obtained by my father in law about 30 years ago and I probably walked past it a thousand times without a second look as there are firearms of all types all over the house. A friend of mine and myself have basically traced this serial number back to Fort Abraham Lincoln and from there as being issued to either Benteen or Reno during the Battle of Little Bighorn. I am almost positive however that it was not at the center of that battle. Like I said, I took this item to several people in and around Gettysburg and got a wide variation of input on this gun. 1. it was pieced together from parts. A wall hanger worth about $350. 2. it could be worth more than my house and my neighbors houses combined. Plus everything in between. I have many pictures that I would have to resize in order to post here as they were all 10 - 12 mb's in size so I will work on that. In the meantime please feel free to comment or squash this post till I have the pics ready....thanks! Ohh the SN# is 41131 by the way. Thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronny67 Posted August 28, 2015 Share #2 Posted August 28, 2015 Hey there. If you want help the first thing would be to authenticate the firearm and make sure it is not a cut down long rifle. That means pictures of the muzzle, and the front of the stock. It looks like yours has the right rear sight for the time period. There are lots of fellows who specialized specifically in 1873 trapdoor carbines. They can spot a fake a mile off, and can save a lot of time. I would recommend hiring someone like that to research your gun especially if it has the potential to be worth so much... And its confidential and not on the open web. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Ragan Posted August 28, 2015 Share #3 Posted August 28, 2015 There is a website called "Trapdoors Galore". Send him the serial number of your carbine and see what his records show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorin6 Posted August 28, 2015 Share #4 Posted August 28, 2015 You might do better on Al Frazca's site here: http://www.trapdoorcollector.com/ He litterally wrote the book on Trapdoors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
45govt Posted August 29, 2015 Share #5 Posted August 29, 2015 Hello BlackReed That serial number is not in the SRS database so there really is no way to trace unless you have some period documentation that lists that serial number. The best bet would be as thorin6 suggests and go to trapdoorcollector.com as there is a gentleman there that has a database of serial numbers for 1873 carbines You can also try http://www.jouster.com/forums/forum.php they have a trapdoor forum there as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackReed Posted August 29, 2015 Author Share #6 Posted August 29, 2015 Thanks to all that responded....I will check out those sites and see what happens. Any additional comments are also welcome of course. I would like to say that I am not much interested in it's possible value as I am interested in the story that may come with the piece. I would assume that back in the day on the spot repairs were made as the local Amazon drop box wasn't available back then for replacement parts. It would be cool to have something special but as it is a family piece it will always be priceless. Thanks for all the input and if more pics are needed please let me know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackReed Posted August 29, 2015 Author Share #7 Posted August 29, 2015 Hey there. If you want help the first thing would be to authenticate the firearm and make sure it is not a cut down long rifle. That means pictures of the muzzle, and the front of the stock. It looks like yours has the right rear sight for the time period. There are lots of fellows who specialized specifically in 1873 trapdoor carbines. They can spot a fake a mile off, and can save a lot of time. I would recommend hiring someone like that to research your gun especially if it has the potential to be worth so much... And its confidential and not on the open web. I will work on those pics now....gimme a few minutes and i will post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackReed Posted August 29, 2015 Author Share #8 Posted August 29, 2015 Hey there. If you want help the first thing would be to authenticate the firearm and make sure it is not a cut down long rifle. That means pictures of the muzzle, and the front of the stock. It looks like yours has the right rear sight for the time period. There are lots of fellows who specialized specifically in 1873 trapdoor carbines. They can spot a fake a mile off, and can save a lot of time. I would recommend hiring someone like that to research your gun especially if it has the potential to be worth so much... And its confidential and not on the open web. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackReed Posted August 29, 2015 Author Share #9 Posted August 29, 2015 Hey there. If you want help the first thing would be to authenticate the firearm and make sure it is not a cut down long rifle. That means pictures of the muzzle, and the front of the stock. It looks like yours has the right rear sight for the time period. There are lots of fellows who specialized specifically in 1873 trapdoor carbines. They can spot a fake a mile off, and can save a lot of time. I would recommend hiring someone like that to research your gun especially if it has the potential to be worth so much... And its confidential and not on the open web. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackReed Posted August 29, 2015 Author Share #10 Posted August 29, 2015 I have about 50 hi rez pics done by a close friend of mine that specializes in photographing fine blown glass and miniture items. That's why the originals are at about 12mb. He is an awesome photographer but he was called in at the last minute and had a limited field to work with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackReed Posted August 29, 2015 Author Share #11 Posted August 29, 2015 In addition to this carbine I also have what I believe is an 1873 Cadet model and also a 1865 Springfield (possible .50 cal)Trapdoor. I would love any conformation to these claims if available Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackReed Posted August 29, 2015 Author Share #12 Posted August 29, 2015 Here is a better view of the rear sight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M1Garandy Posted August 30, 2015 Share #13 Posted August 30, 2015 You might post this on the CSP (www.jouster.com) Trapdoor forum as well. There are a number of sharp Trapdoor collectors there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackReed Posted September 3, 2015 Author Share #14 Posted September 3, 2015 You might post this on the CSP (www.jouster.com) Trapdoor forum as well. There are a number of sharp Trapdoor collectors there. Will do, Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kilgarvan Posted September 5, 2015 Share #15 Posted September 5, 2015 I'm a huge Custer fan. Please let us know how you make out researching this. Good luck and I hope it is indeed a Custer serial range Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pony soldier Posted September 13, 2015 Share #16 Posted September 13, 2015 Hello: Black Reed: On your "Custer " Springfield as others have noted more pictures will confirm what it is. With what you have shown I can guess it may well be a parts gun. The serial number is in the correct range, however most Custer guns fall into two other different ranges. The first thing I saw was the rear sight is wrong, you have a M1879 type rather then the 73. Here are a number of other items to check. The knurling on the hammer should be coarse. No holes in the buttlplates for cleaning rods. The stock will be of the "long wrist" variety. The lock will have three clicks on the tumbler rather than two because of the serial range. On the barrel near the breech on the left hand side there should be no letters. The breechblock itself will have the date and an eagle and arrows with the block being of the high arch type. These are the most common items to check for it being a real early 73, I have a serial number base not with me at this location will check later. The two trapdoors sites listed are great references, If these points do not check out then the odds are this is a parts gun. In addtion to 73's I have collected Custer material for 50 years and currently have a library of about 1000 volumes on the man and the fight. Very interesting subject but I finally decided to move on to the Spanish American War period. Pony Soldier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Walker Posted September 14, 2015 Share #17 Posted September 14, 2015 Yea, talk to Dick Hosmer at the jouster Trapdoor Forum forum site. He's THE expert on the subject. A good friend of mine. Fred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackReed Posted September 20, 2015 Author Share #18 Posted September 20, 2015 Thank you for all the input. I will get to work posting more pics once they are resized. I do know it is a 3 click lock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackReed Posted September 20, 2015 Author Share #19 Posted September 20, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackReed Posted September 20, 2015 Author Share #20 Posted September 20, 2015 This is the best photo of the hammer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackReed Posted September 20, 2015 Author Share #21 Posted September 20, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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