Recently shot the family heirloom 1873 45-70 trapdoor that was given to my brother 50 years
I used to shoot ground hogs with it
I forgot how much that steel butt plate hurt!
I don’t have as much natural padding as I used to
Bit heavy for a ground hog.
Mine has a barrel that is just short of 33”, and with the bayonet fixed it really looks long. They were surprisingly accurate but the heavy bullet dropped fast after 200 yards.
This one was made in 1882, my father’s grandfather fought in the Spanish American War. My father was 3 years old when he gave him the gun. So dad had it 92 years. Pretty amazing.
I have one of the 500 grain black powder bullets with the $ stamp on the primer.
Also have a 405grain bullet mold to cast flat nose round point bullets for it.
I bought a new rifle tonight and cannot wait to pick it up tomorrow.