"And it smells great too." *wheezing seconds later*

Correction. The carbine load was 45-55-405 with a cardboard wad used as filler. The original 1873 rifle load was 45-70-405. In 1880 it was found during the Creedmoor matches that the 485 grain Martini Henry bullet out performed the 405 grain Trapdoor bullet at longer ranges. So special trials guns were made in an experimental 45-80-500 cartridge and a new twist rate was also experimented with using a 5 groove rifling instead of the original three groove rifling. Further testing showed the extra 10 grains of powder wasnt needed and the 500 grain bullet matched and then would out perform the Martini Henry at the same ranges the 405 grain bullet wouldn’t. The 45-70-500 cartridge would be adopted in 1883 hence the 1884 model trapdoor. The carbines would maintain the use of the 45-55-405 cartridge until they were withdrawn from service. Other aspects of the 1884 model is it has an improved and heavier duty breech block as issues had been noted in the field of even the 405 cartridge guns had issues of blocks coming partially open during firing. The solution was simply to add more weight that had previously been removed. That improvement had been rolled into production in 1879 and finalized with the 1884 and latter 1888 models.

Cant wait for the sequel series where Ian discusses all the technical details of "enjoying white powder"

I worked as a reenactor and we used these rifles for our time period. Definitely one of my favorite rifles ever. Easy to work on, dependable, and satisfying as hell to shoot.

I actually have one, handed down from my grandfather. Stamped on the butt is "stolen from Lubin Manufacturing CO" which was an early film studio in Philadelphia. Assuming my coal mining grandfather wasn't a thief, he bought it when the studio burned down.

How could anyone see this and not think that firearms can be so wholesome?

I definitely love seeing the two of you dressed like that. I don't know if it's the setting, the hat, (and I know it's a reenactment outfit) but I can't help but think of Fallout's NCR seeing you like that.

Cool to see a video about shooting an older gun, and some of the history behind it

I have an 1873 that my father bought from an old farmer in Tennessee back in the 60's. He, unfortunately, had it re-blued. It is a beautiful gun. I used to pretend I was Danial Boone and play with it as a kid (Yea, I had no concept of history at the time..LOL).

As the owner of several antique firearms for which I have never even been in the same room as a live cartridge for them, this is very interesting.

Loved black powder ever since deer hunting as a kid. These odd transitional period guns right before modern cartridges are always super interesting.

Guy "shot a Martini." Sure hope he wasn't at a crowded bar!😂

There is something very satisfying about hearing that mechanism operate.

More of this sort of thing please. I love this sort of era of weapons.

Really like the premise of this series, keep it up! I know it's not a military rifle, but an 1874 sharps would be appreciated to be seen, mostly because I want a Mathew Quigley impression from Ian 😄

I look forward to this. I've wanted a Martini Henry since i first saw Zulu on TV as a kid. And Ive wanted a magazine Vetterli since I ran across it in books.

Tom is a fine co-host! Happy to hear more of this is coming :)

This makes me want to get my grandfather’s Springfield 1873 trapdoor rifle back to shooting condition. Apparently the firing pin is broken and has been since the 50s. Enjoyed the video.

Thanks Ian, now my area of interest will get 2x as expensive as people realize how easy it is to shoot these... (I mean BP guns as a whole, not trapdoors).

I like the way the rifle goes "chuff" instead of "bang"!

The Springfield Trapdoor is such a beautiful rifle, and I love the trapdoor mechanism it has. Just love this beautiful rifle.

When I acquired an M1884 Carbine I was surprised how well the extractor works and how fun it is to shoot. No wonder Geronimo like to carry one of them!

Mines an 1873 with the Buffington sight made in 1884 and yes, they definitely shoot high. Mine started out as a rifle but some time after the guns were sold as surplus it was cut down into a carbine. The stock has a lot of wear but the barrel is in very good condition. An expert in these rifles told me it was very likely cut down just as soon as it purchased as surplus and used as someone's hunting/defense rifle which would explain the heavy wear on the stock and very little on the receiver and barrel. I have no idea how much of that is true but I absolutely love the gun. Loved this video! I wish there were more videos talking about and shooting these guns.

I recently discovered CapandBall's channel and I've been really enjoying his videos on these weapons. I'm really looking forward to this series.

I love my Trapdoor and handloading straight wall cases is probably the easiest round to load. Recoil is mild even though the .45/70 looks like an elephant round when compared to other rounds of the period.

Dude has great camera presence with Ian! Great work guys!

This looks like it's going to be a fun series. I look forward to seeing more.

My first rifle that I actually owned was a 58 caliber black powder carbine. Ended up trading it years later, as anyone will tell you, that was a huge mistake and, again, as everyone knows, I regret it to this day. I do now own an 1885 high wall. (45-70)

Thank you. This sounds like a great series. Please keep it up.

My FIL has a trapdoor that his great great grandfather used in the Texas militia. He carved his initials into the stock and it's dated 1883 or 1884 I believe. It sat in a barn for decades and is pretty much rusted shut, it still has the bayonet attached.

Oh, this is going to be a fun series.

It looks like Ian's efforts to "gamer it up" gave him the edge!

The carbine load has a 55 grain load of powder, .45-55-405. The military also adopted the .45-70-405 for the rifle.

As someone who owns a bunch of semi auto guns there is a part of me that longs to buy a bunch of black powder guns and do some turn of the century larping

Good idea for a series. Many people seem to equate black powder with muzzleloaders and percussion revolvers and that smokeless powder and metallic cartridges appeared on the scene at the same time. Loading and shooting black powder cartridges is fun and takes you back to the mid-to-late 1800s. Most modern firearms will happily accept black powder ammunition although I would not recommend it in an AR-15. I did have a friend who shot a Wild Bunch match with black powder ammo; his 1911 made it through 120 or so rounds with no malfunctions.

A small error: According to the Pitman Notes (vol.3), the original load was .45-70-405 (that's a 405-grain bullet) for the 1873 rifle and carbine. Later, the carbine load was changed to 55 grains of powder because of the recoil, retaining the 405-grain bullet. Later, too, they changed the rifle load to use the 500-grain bullet because it had better external ballistics. All of the Manuals of Arms for the rifle after about 1880 refer to the 500-grain bullet for the rifle. As to shouting higher from the prone, note that the US manuals for this rifle by Captain Henry Blunt (1885 and 1889) specifically says that the dangerous space is increased because of the lower position. The sigh was set on the assumption the rifle was 56 inches from the ground. If you're going to do an episode on the Snider (and you should, they are perfect for this series), check out a book called "Historical Shooting with the Snider-Enfield Rifle" on any of the big book outlets.

Love this series. Black powder in any form is a lot of fun.

Thanks for the wonderful video, I have always been found of the 45-70, I even had plans to build one years ago however the action I chose was too short to accommodate the round, my fellow gunsmith gave me the idea to chamber my chosen action in .444 Marlin, which I did. Made a great rifle out of the old Styer Straight Pull although the clip system was a pain in the rear, I modified the action so the clip didn't get lost and stayed in the rifle till you needed to feed her more ammo. I took the little rifle with the 18 inch barrel and open sights that I mounted on her out to the field and took a nice White Tail Buck with the gun. Took it to a gun show just to display, another dealer fell in love with the rifle and made me an offer I could not refuse so I let it go. I still had the reamers for the round and a second barrel blank, so I turned that down and built another .444 on an 1917 Enfield action, mounted it on a fiberglass stock, put a nice scope on it, took a deer with that one as well but again, at the next gun show I took a nice Dan Wesson Pistol pack with 4 barrels in trade across the board for my build. I had another smith who helped me with the builds, I gave him the reamers and gave up on my desire for a big bore rifle. Sort of wish I had kept my little carbine though

First generation of breechloaders had often a different load for rifles and carbines. Sometimes cartidges had also different csse length.

Ian has had lots of guests who are good at shooting or who know a lot about guns. Tom is good at both of these but he's excellent at coming across on video and communicating, too.

Dude this is super cool! Can't wait for more of the series.

I shot some old black-powder rifles for fun when I was younger. After a while of shooting muzzle-loaders I got to play with a Martini-Henry. It was like night & day. I can imagine the feeling of the first armies equipped with breech loaders against those with muzzle loaders, they must have shot them to pieces. That & easily re-loading from cover must've been a real game changer.

Excited for this, these are my favorite era of firearms.

Can’t wait for the series. Wonderful series idea!

Excellent subject, I can’t wait for this series.

Great work and had NO PROBLEM with the sound.

Cool video and cool series idea, I'm looking forward to future episodes!

gunna be a legendary series

oh i am going to love this new series

When firing a original blackpowder firearm someone will usually comment"that things too old to fire safely". If the gun is inspected and is mechanically sound, use proper loads and your ok.

First First American breech rifle to be issued in quantity

Every firearm has a learning curve just some more than others.Thanks

Looking forward to this series sounds awesome.

A new series about accessible historical firearms? Take my money!

At this point, I have a Gras, a Martinie-Henry, and a Snider, and I've shot none of them because I don't the ammo.

Taylor Anderson's "Destroyermen" series features trapdoor conversion rifles as a useful weapon! That's how I learned about them

I love seeing the old black powder guns being put through the paces

I love my Trapdoor, had it for 20 years, was the reason for my first reloads, such a great rifle.

I recently got an 1885 Springfield Trapdoor rifle so this is awesome to see!

Definitely recommend the C&Rsenal episode on the US Kraig for details on the buffing ton and other sights the military was dealing with at the end of the 19th century. They couldn’t make up their minds at all

I am SO excited for this series

Safari shirts, wicked cool hats, and a sweet rifle. So dang good

Thanks Ian. That was interesting. I've never seen a trapdoor fired and reloaded before. .

Dude that hat is awesome! Tom is so cool.

I have wanted a trapdoor springfield and a rolling block for a long time. 2 of my favorite rifles

thanks for the black powder content

Seems to me that smoothly, and quickly operating the bolt, etc provide an extremely enjoyable sensation, even greater than accurate firing of the weapon!

This new series should be a lot of fun :D love the satisfying spring ejector of the springfield

this series comes at a perfect time for me, I just got into black powder with an S.C. Robinson Sharps Carbine reproduction I found at work for a really good price, cant wait to go out and use it

I am not really into either guns or military matters at all (other than, y’know, local contemporary european stuff) but forgotten weapons brings something interesting for me. Another way, through guns, their politics, manufacturing, lore etc. To put a really diverse pieces of history (old and new) into context and another brainpath for memorisation, learning motivation. Never fired a gun, might never do, not really something that i have a desire to do, but I am totally hooked on this -stuff-. Thank you very much for this content, well done and superinteresting. Almost always a pleasurable and meaningful ”waste” of time.

Looking forward to the rest of this series

The difference between the original Springfield and the Trapdoor Springfield is enormous. And what a conversion!

10:26 That's some hefty fireball. Nice.

Great video, Ian & Tom...👍

This was really cool! I like these black powder cartridge guns more than muzzle loaders. Looking forward to the other parts of the series.

Much love

I got to shoot a reproduction Trapdoor carbine at a indoor shooting gallery. It was fun shooting it and learning one interesting thing about it. The metal they used back in the 1870s were made of softer material that would expand from the heated gas and would get jammed in the chamber. This was what exactly happend at Little Big Horn to the cavalry troops as the had to pry the jammed casing out of the chamber with their knives. Also, it was a single shot which was a disadvantage compared to a magazine fed repeater like the Winchester.

Nice stuff. The whole Getting toasty" thing was so well known, that British troops in the Cape got into the habit of sewing a band of cowhide around the barrel to protect their hands when the Marini's heated up. I just love these early, first/second gen single shot breach loaders.

Fired an original 1873 rifle pretty extensively back in early 70s when you had to hunt/order the ammunition. The steady diet of factory W-W 405 smokeless ended up being a bit much, she got to puffing back at you and got retired.

Great idea for a series. 👍👍

A younger reloaded this is great content

Looks like fun.

damn i luv trapdoor rifles, so iconic

This is good timing, ever since I shot 2 divisions in the 2024 Cabin Fever Challenge I've been thinking about Division 4 (single shot) and dipping my toes into the single shot world.

Nice idea!! I am interested in more content for sure!!

I love how ians just shooting a single shot walst some dude in the back is ring the heck out of some steal 😂

The one antique rifle that i would love to have.

Mine was born in 1879. Fun rifle.

One of these is on my list to buy by the end of the year.

Now this is going to be fun!

I am so happy about this. I’ve been trying to figure out how to zero a Springfield. Mine hits about a foot or two high at 100yds

Love the trap doors.

Really looking forward to the Chassepot video. Picked one up a couple of years ago and have been having trouble with making ammo for it that works.

i own a cut down trap door and its been in my family for generations

Love the campaign hat, Ian. I have one very similar to it. Obviously, you are a man of good taste.

I LOVE Ian's campaign hat!

Just bought a Pedersoli Trapdoor carbine. Beautiful shooting rifle.

I'll take a rolling block or a Browning high wall, but there all fun to load and shoot, very relaxing!

New item on the wish list.

The high shooting is because the sight is down. These sights were meant to be raised. The "battle sight" is 278yds (why marksmen liked them). Flipping the sight up and elevator (if you want to call it that) down to the bottom, using the bottom sight (they have an aperture above an open) the sight is now 200yds, the lowest range. I made the mistake thinking the down "battle sight" was 100 or 200, and found out through Wolf's book that it was further. This model saw use by NG units in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines during the Spanish American War, and the beginning of the Philippine American War.