1873 Trapdoor what is wrong with it although I like it

[OLDER THEN DIRT]

Pull the breach plug & scrub the hell out of chamber with one of those copper Chor-boy scrubbers. What you do is get a 410 brush & wrap a piece of the scrubber around it & use some penetrating oil, etc. If you have a cleaning rod that breaks down into 3 sections, then chuck it in an electric drill & do it to it.

[browningautorifle]

Sounds about right...one way anyway.

[Ben Cartwright]

You know you guys may be correct. I had spent about 2 hours running a brass brush up and down the bore from the muzzle end, but would that do anything for the chamber?

what is the best way to clean the chamber on a 45/70 trapdoor, you can't use a solid cleaning rod from the rear due the shape of the receiver

[browningautorifle]

You may have to soak it with penetrating solutions first. I doubt you have the equipment to unscrew the breech end. It's not hard, but if you haven't done it you may not want to start here.

[OLDER THEN DIRT]

Pulling the breach plug is quite simple. Chuck the receiver top up in a hefty vise. You will notice that the plug is tapered on the under side of the tang. Use a big adjustable wrench, the bigger the better & grab the tapered part from under , tighten the jaws & un screw it. If you don`t have a big wrench, you can put a cheater pipe on it & do it to it. You won`t break the receiver, but you might break the wrench. LOL

[Ben Cartwright]

I have a 3 foot long adjustable wrench, used on the battleship Massachusetts, so that shouldn't be an issue (it weighs a ton)

I am trying a wire brush in a drill first as the cartridges won't go all the way in without excessive force so there may be rust bubbles or something

[Ben Cartwright]

I see 1884 barrels on Ebay and Guns International, are the 1884 barrel receiver groups interchangeable with the 1873?

[Patrick Chadwick]

grab the tapered part from under , tighten the jaws & un screw it. If you don`t have a big wrench, you can put a cheater pipe on it & do it to it. You won`t break the receiver, but you might break the wrench.

If you don't take some care, you are likely to seriously distort the edge of the tang. Been there, done that, learn from my mistakes!

Going at it like a berserk plumber is not the way, even if your impress-your-friends wrench ("mine is longer than yours") is a yard long and was recycled from a battleship.
It is worthwhile taking some time and trouble to add in a wedge-shaped piece of soft-ish iron, bronze or brass to form a reasonably parallel-sided block together with the taper on the tang. You can then apply an adjustable wrench much more securely and with a greater torque without FUBARing the tang.

---------- Post added at 09:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:41 PM ----------

I am trying a wire brush in a drill first

But for heavens sakes, not a steel brush! Better would be first to dunk the breech end in an electrolytic bath for an hour or two, which will convert that hard rust into a black sludge that will brush out much more easily - with a bronze or brass brush!

[Ben Cartwright]

I just got back from friends house we used a bore light to check the chamber and it appears to be mostly gunk solidified in there. We used an older 12 ga. bronze brush to clean the chamber and now the cases slide right in, and it looks pretty good. I will take it to the range Saturday and see what the fired cases look like.

[browningautorifle]

Can't wait...bet it works fine. If it does, you'll have to send that "Gunsmith" a card...(he was going to ream your chamber)