My Dad's 1873

Before my Dad passed away, he sent me home with all of his guns. One of them is a pretty nice 1873 trapdoor. The bbl is a little frosty, no rust or pits, it has a nice finish with quite a bit of blue and a little color left on the case colored parts, the stock is pretty ding free with no cartouche and a bayonet.

When we went through some old paperwork, we found a list from when he was a gun dealer in the 1950's and this gun was on it. So we have had it a while. When I was a kid my dad took it shooting a couple of times.

It is rock solid and has a decent bore. Is it a good idea to shoot it? Is there a ballpark value for the thing? This is a family piece, not my usual area of interest.

Some pic' would help, And a sr#.

Go to: Springfield Arms

Scroll down for M73's and check your's against Al's for an idea.

based upon your description, price range sounds like about 500-700 with the bayonet. if the rifle seems to be in good and sound shape, it can be shot safely with "cowboy" marked lead ammuntion or with any other factory ammuntion that says "safe to shoot in all firearms in good condition" on the box. This includes "standard" type green-box 300 grain remington which can be quite accurate.