for years I've wanted an 1873 springfield trapdoor carbine. never found one that was good and affordable. so I decided to make one up. last year a junk trapdoor rifle was made available. it was a mess, but mechanically sound. some one had cut the barrel to 25'' without removing the barrel from the stock first. they also welded a chunk of another front sight on while the barrel remained in the stock. start to get the picture? it took 3 weeks to rework it into a correct m1873 carbine. the serial number put it in the year 1877. so all work and additional parts had to be original and correspond to that year. the finished gun was treated to a worn patina so it has the look of a piece that was carried through the late western indian wars but is a totally sound shooter. my initial concept was for the gun to have the persona of a captured indian gun and to decorate it with brass tacks. a year later 100s of rounds down range still no tacks. I've never been this indecisive about the design of one of my guns. so I'm asking - tacks or leave it plain? I would welcome and appreciate any thoughts or opinions. thanks. b.c.
