Question regarding 1873 T'door metal finish.

This is a Model 1873 Trapdoor that belonged to my grandfather. It has been in the family as long as I can remember, and now it has been passed on to me. I have always just assumed that the black paint(?) that is flaking off here and there was applied by my grandfather many years ago. However, a friend who was visiting recently saw it on the wall and told me it was 'amazing' that it had that much 'original bluing' left on it. I told him it was probably painted years ago, but he was adamant that the still glossy blackness was original finish. I'm very skeptical, and can find no reference to a black paint like finish on these rifles. But I have been wrong before! Hope the pics show well.

Yeah, definitely some kind of paint. Definitely not original. Looks like I can see some of that “original bluing” dripping from the buttplate down onto the stock, haha.

Good news is, paint is a great protectant. If the metal was nice when it went on, it’s probably nice under there now!

Paint - no question whatsoever! The only "official" use of paint MAY have been on a very few carbines issued to Indian scouts, and even those "references" could be anecdotal/coincidental. If so, it would have been done at the field level, never by SA, and not at the period of that rifle.