first find Springfield Trapdoor

[ssgross]

A couple of slips might have been enough to discourage me

believe me I was discouraged. at each fail I gave up, and came back an hour later. The "slips" were not drastic. I went very slow and as soon as I saw the receiver start to turn on the rubber pads, I stopped. It really just needed a firm hard hold. Hardwood or aluminum vice pads would have worked....or some pieces of lead sheet I had.

slugging the bore will have to wait until I get some more lead balls. In the mean time...
here are some pics of the bore....as I found it. It hasn't been touched by me yet.

Crown, halfway in, throat where chamber meets the lands, and the chamber wall.
Attachment 116311Attachment 116312Attachment 116313Attachment 116314

This one was pretty lovingly maintained. I didn't see any cleaning rod damage at the crown, although a few Knicks and dings on the outside. I inserted a .452 jacketed bullet and saw little to no muzzle erosion.
I busted the little bit of rust off of the internals, cleaned re oiled and greased and put the assemblies back together. The lock was pretty simple and fun. There was some grit in its feel before, but it's like butter now. I still need to decide what to do with the stock. I'm leaning towards lifting out out the sweat and grime with Murphy's oil, then evening out the color with laquer thinner or acetone. This will, of course, remove the rack numbers too.