Trapdoor movie gun.

[marlinman93]

This was a find this morning at our local OAC gun show. A 1873 Trapdoor Springfield with some unique history. The gun is marked with MGM Studios marking, and appears to be internally in unfired condition. The gunsmith who owned this rifle passed away Tuesday, and before he retired a lot of us locals used him for color case, rust bluing, and stock replacement. George was in the same class as Al Springer, and this was a rifle he was restoring for himself, but never finished. He got the breech block color cased, and got the new stock inletted and fitted, but didn't get the bluing done, or the stock externally sanded or finished.
The the gun was in sad shape externally as many movie guns are, but the bore appears as new inside! Everything mechanically is like new, so George just planned to refinish and restock it before he passed. A mutual friend brought some of George's guns in to sell, and I grabbed this one as an easy project to finish up. All the hard work is done, so once it's sanded, and rust blued, then it's set to go.
I also got a small box full of Trapdoor parts including another complete action, and a bunch of other assorted parts for the actions. So I'll see if things like the trigger and tang assembly are maybe better than the one on the gun, or if I might need any spares before selling off the extra parts.

[hpbear101]

That's going to be a beauty when you get it finished. My sister has (her late husbands) a BATJACK trapdoor carbine. It is very rough inside and out, the bore is extremely pitted so I suspect it fired a lot of BP blanks over the years.

Tom

[marlinman93]

That's going to be a beauty when you get it finished. My sister has (her late husbands) a BATJACK trapdoor carbine. It is very rough inside and out, the bore is extremely pitted so I suspect it fired a lot of BP blanks over the years.

Tom

I think many got those blanks, and others were relegated to extras to just hold during various scenes. And a lot of these old Trapdoors and Rollers were used in movies as old percussion rifles in background shots where they wouldn't be recognized as cartridge guns.

[gamekeeper]

The movie industry also "tried" to make Trapdoors look like flintlocks, they even cut some down to look like flintlocks pistols.....

https://youtu.be/j0lOyjZ8Gew

I'm glad that yours didn't suffer a similar fate..... congratulations on a great find

[marlinman93]

The movie industry also "tried" to make Trapdoors look like flintlocks, they even cut some down to look like flintlocks pistols.....

https://youtu.be/j0lOyjZ8Gew

I'm glad that yours didn't suffer a similar fate..... congratulations on a great find

Yes, the Trapdoors and Rolling Blocks often were used in westerns to be passed off as guns from decades earlier! Of course Hollywood didn't care about preserving these old guns and often did horrible things to them to make them look era correct at a distance. But Trapdoors and Rolling Blocks are still extremely plentiful, so only the best of the best, in original condition bring big money. This one finished will hopefully look good, but wont ever have huge value, or collector interest. But that's part of why I bought it.

That video was actually shot in Mike Carrick's basement! Mike is a friend and I immediately recognized his basement gun room.

[marlinman93]

I began sanding down the stock today, and after removing the barreled action, and all metal parts it took me only an hour to get it sanded down to 320 grit, and the first coat of WOP applied! I was amazed how close the stock was, and how easily it sanded!
Not sure how far to take the coats of finish as I see so many different finishes on these old Trapdoors. Some being very smooth, with high sheen, while others are fairly flat finish. I guess I'll look at a bunch of pictures, and then decide when to stop adding coats.

[gamekeeper]

Sounds like it will come out real nice, personally I would shy away from a too shiny finish but whatever you do I'm sure it will look great, I think the "flintlock" in the video will need a bit more than 320 grit though.

[marlinman93]

Sounds like it will come out real nice, personally I would shy away from a too shiny finish but whatever you do I'm sure it will look great, I think the "flintlock" in the video will need a bit more than 320 grit though.

Yes, I wont make it too shiny, as that's certainly not what I've seen on any of them. I do use a gloss finish, but only because I've found it's easier to knock down a gloss finish than to try and bring up a flat finish.

[marlinman93]

Easiest project I've ever finished up! After getting about 5 coats of WOP on the wood, I decided to stop before it got shiny. It will come up slightly more after it cures for a week, and I wax and buff it. But I like the satin look for a Trapdoor.
Used Mark Lee Express rust bluing, and worked all day getting it blued. I fought the rear sight, and then remembered it's likely too hard, and wont take rust bluing. Came up a little darker, but not dark enough. It will need to be nitre blued, or hot blued, so I'll get that done later. Lock plate was a little better, but also not quite as dark. I can live with it as it is. I didn't blue the barrel bands, or sling swivels as they were pretty darn good as is.

[samsi]

Looks good. I've shot a couple of those MGM Trapdoors over the years, fun stuff.

[gamekeeper]

I like the way it's turned out, looks ready to be issued to the infantry..... !,!

[hfcable]

great find and great job ! will be great fun to use !

[marlinman93]

The stock will darken and have a little more sheen once it cures and I wax and buff it. So don't want to go too much and have to knock the sheen down.