1869 US Springfield

Question
I sent a question earlier about a Stevens Pistol.  My same friend has a US Springfield trap door rifle.  It has the year 1869 on it and has the number 20638.  Can you give me info on the gun and approximate value?

Answer
Daren,

Trying to place a value on this rifle without benefit of seeing it, is nothing more than an educated guess based upon general information concerning like firearms in fair condition. That said, I would assume that your friends rifle to be valued between $500 and $1000. Depending upon certain criteria, it could be more or less.

By the end of the civil war, the U.S. began looking for a breech loading design rifle.  With excess muzzle-loading rifles left from the war, the government decided to convert them to breech loaders.  

About 30,000 rifles were convereted to "trapdoors". The name of course referring to the method of opening the rifle at the top of the breech to load a cartridge.

In 1868 they ceased converting the old weapons and developed a new rifle using a production version of the "trapdoor".  This rifle became the model 1868/9. This rifle was used for over 30 years while undergoing various modifications.

Thank you for the question.

Sid Lark