This high quality, commercially manufactured trapdoor sporting rifle was built on an early M1873 Springfield receiver. It has a heavy, 30-inch, full octagon barrel and a walnut halfstock with checkered wrist and forearm. The forearm tip has an ebony inlay. The barrel is blued, and the receiver, breech block, hammer, lock plate, trigger guard and buttplate are casehardened with bright colors. The barrel is fitted with a Lawrence folding leaf rear sight and dovetailed front sight with brass blade. The buttplate is marked "U.S." on the toe and has a sliding brass trap. The rifle has an 1873 high arch breechblock, two-notch tumbler, and early hammer with coarse checkered spur. The lock plate is marked with the eagle and shield in front of the hammer followed by "U.S./SPRINGFIELD" in two lines. The lack of a date on the lock indicates that it was manufactured after 1877. The top of the barrel is marked ".45 CAL. 70 GRN." in small letters between the rear sight and the receiver. The rifle is nearly identical to the rifles illustrated in the Lovell Arms Company, E.C. Meacham Arms Company and Hartley & Graham catalogs from the mid-1880s.

Exceptionally fine. The barrel has 98% of the bright blue finish with only very minor wear on the edges. The casehardened components have 97% of the case colors. The varnished walnut stock is in excellent condition; the checkering on the wrist and forearm is sharp. Wear is limited to a few minor handling marks between the checkering on the wrist and the side plate screws. All markings are sharp. An exceptional example of a period retailer built Springfield M1873 trapdoor sporting rifle that is seldom encountered, let alone in this spectacular condition.