My bud has one for sale at his shop for $350. I didn't look at it closely, but metal looks good and a rough stock.
Tell me about them.

If the bore is decent, buy it! Very pleasant cartridge to load for and shoot. Jamison makes brass. Lee makes moulds. This is the rifle Buffalo Bill used to earn his nickname. It is dripping with American history.

Thanks very much.

Buy it anyway, but what model is it? 1866 or later; how long is the barrel. Early ones were made from converted 1863 rifle muskets with lined barrels. Later ones were all newly made.

Starline also makes brass. I love my 50-70 Sharps.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
Buy it anyway, but what model is it? 1866 or later; how long is the barrel. Early ones were made from converted 1863 rifle muskets with lined barrels. Later ones were all newly made.

It sure ain't a musket.I'll pick it up Tuesday. He is gunshowing in the Houston area this weekend.

Butch.

Even if the barrel or stock are cut, as long as the bore is decent, the breech block is reasonably tight, and it functions cotrrectly it is worth the price. Heck, if you decide you don't want it, let me know.

Dave

quote:

Originally posted by loud-n-boomer:
Butch.

Even if the barrel or stock are cut, as long as the bore is decent, the breech block is reasonably tight, and it functions cotrrectly it is worth the price. Heck, if you decide you don't want it, let me know.

Dave

I looked at it only briefly thinking my brother in law might want it. My sister said he could have no more even if free. I didn't realize the made them that long. I will take photos on Tuesday.

It ain't a musket? Unless it is a carbine, it should be of musket length. The 1866s are 55 15/16ths inches long, the 1868 and 1870 models are 51.8.
Carbines are 41 inches long and are half stocked.

Tom,
I probably used the wrong terminology. It is long and not a carbine. These ain't my expertize. To be honest I better search the term musket. I really don't know what it means, but have heard the term forever.

Muskets are always smooth bored, long barreled weapons, used by line infantry. How long? Long.
Back then there were three basic designations of Military Infantry Weapons; Muskets, Rifles, and Carbines. Each had a specific purpose and basic length. (which varied) IE, rifles would never be assigned to line Infantry troops as they were too slow to load.
When rifling was developed, the military did not adopt it as there was no way to load rifled arms fast until the Minie bullet was developed, whose hollow base allowed a weapon to be loaded as fast as a musket, yet be as accurate as a rifle. That allowed armies all over the world to rifle some of the old Muskets; a bad idea as all of them were of very large caliber; the most common was the 69, which the French and US used, and the 75, which England used. Those would be called "Rifled Muskets". Riffling such a large bore and using a conical bullet caused some pretty hefty recoil, so the caller was reduced to about .58; a good compromise. The 1855 Springfield was our first RIFLE-MUSKET. For line infantry. There were Rifles made at the same time with 33 inch barrels; those are for special troops like skirmishers, and are not correctly called muskets. Our most common Rifle-Musket is the 1861, and 63, with which we fought the Civil War. Caliber .58. Rifles were very rare in the civil war, although they were made (1863 Remington "Zouave"being one).
When we adopted cartridge weapons for the Army in general, we converted the 1863 Rifle-Musket to 50-70 by lining the barrels and putting the trap door in it. Are those Muskets? Not really, but they certainly are of Musket length. The 1868 and 1870 Springfields have new barrels, and real trap door receivers, but are still very long weapons. The Ordnance Department called them Rifles, but they are still as long as a Musket, and much longer than the older rifles like the 1855 and the 1842. Tactical thinking was still, that the troops needed a long barreled weapon, with a long bayonet to engage enemy troops (left over from the Musket days). This was some pretty backward thinking and we were behind the rest of the world in it.
Sorry. I like all these things too and have most of them. I also wrote a paper on this for a class in the Command and General Staff College.

Butch, looking forward very much to seeing photos of your new prize. Might want to pick up a copy of your fellow Texan Croft Barker's book, "The .50-70 Shooter's Handbook."
There is a variety of new and original parts for these fine guns available from different sellers.
My .50-70 is on a Swedish rolling block action.

Tom and Bill, thanks for the information. I called my bud at the gunshow. He said it was a 1863 model converted in the olden days to 50-70 military. It has rifling. I will put my hands on it Tuesday.

Butch, I am excited for you. You may want to bookmark this Website:

http://www.trapdoorcollector.com/

Good; then it is a 1866 model; they brazed a 50 cal liner in the old barrel, and cut out the rear part of the barrel to hold the trap door. There is no separate receiver on these. Called the Allen conversion as he invented it to be able to use up some of the surplus rifle muskets built for the civil war.