1892 M1884 Springfield Trapdoor with family provenance

[majspud]

I picked this up on Saturday. It is a very late M1884 Springfield Trapdoor made in the fall of 1892, and is the type with a combination cleaning rod bayonet. The butt trap doesn't have a cleaning kit - it holds two emergency rounds! Bore is great. Rifle has the Buffington rear sight.

The owner's great grandfather, one Clarkson Cortright, a farmer from Middletown in upstate NY, joined the 12th NY Volunteer Infantry in 1894. Springfield Armory documents this rifle by lot (one number per crate of 20, or non-book) as made in the fall of 1892, and records this particular crate as issued to the 12th NY Volunteers. Evidently Clarkson returned from service with his trapdoor. It was handed down three generations to the current owner. It was last fired by the owner's father in 1958. Very clear SWP/1892 cartouche, and (V)iewed and P(roofed) marks.

It is wearing my original M07 sling until my reproduction M87 Trapdoor sling arrives. I've also found and ordered the missing front sight cover. The rifle also came with a M73 bayonet that had been ground down to fit after removing the sight cover; that person not realizing that the cleaning rod doubled as a bayonet. I will be getting a notarized letter from the former owner attesting to the family connection and the Springfield Arsenal documentation shortly. Cartridges load and eject flawlessly. Pics aren't that great; it's been raining for the last four days.

This is my first trapdoor. It also came with 20 rounds of semi-jacketed c. 1958 Remington .45-70 (pictured), and 40 once fired Kleen-Bore brass. Would the Remington ammo be safe to use to try a couple of rounds out of it?

T.

A brief unit history:

The 12th New York Volunteer Infantry served stateside during the Spanish American War, but was sent to Cuba after the war as part of the occupation forces for the island.

The 12th New York Volunteer Infantry was mustered into service on May 13, 1898 at Peekskill, New York. At the time of muster in, the unit consisted of 43 officers and 978 enlisted men. Initially, the unit was first sent to Camp Thomas at Chickamauga, Georgia. Conditions in this camp were terrible. It was overcrowded, unsanitary, and disease-ridden. To stem the losses, the camp was eventually broken up and the troops relocated. The 12th New York became part of the Third Brigade of the Third Division of the Second Army Corps in September, 1898. Eventually, it was sent to Lexington, Kentucky, which is where the unit appears in October, 1898. Santiago had fallen on July 17, and all fighting had ended on August 12, 1898, so the unit did not see action. The war formally ended on December 10, 1898, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris.

The unit may have been sent back to Americus, Georgia before being sent to Cuba as part of the occupation force on December 30, 1898. The 12th New York arrived in Cuba on New Year's Day, 1899. It served in Cuba until March 22, when it returned to the United States, arriving on March 26, 1899.

The unit was mustered out of service on April 20, 1899 at New York City. At the time of muster out, it consisted of 46 officers and 945 men. During its term of service, the unit suffered from high losses. Twnety-three enlisted men died of disease, one man died as the result of an accident, and one man committed suicide. Forty-seven additional men were discharged on disability. Ninety-one men deserted!

From: http://www.spanamwar.com/12thNewyork.htm

It's wearing my old M03 sling until a reproduction M87 trapdoor sling arrives.

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