hello all. new to this forum so in advance i thank you for all your help. I recently aquired an H&R 1873 Trapdoor Officer Model. Seeing as the 45/70 round is well not cheap i plan to re load the rounds. interested in any info about reloading for this rifle. or any info about this rifle, from when it was made by H&R as i can not find this information anywhere. All reload info states lower pressure for the antique trapdoor but no information for a modern model.

Thanks for the help.

Those are good looking guns! When they mention the lower pressure, it is appropriate for modern Trapdoors.
Logically, the H&Rs would have been able to handle SAAMI pressures for the .45-70 which is 28000CUP. That is the level Hodgdon places its Trapdoor loads on its website, although Lyman and Lee (only paper manuals I have) both suggest lower pressures for the Trapdoors. A Quote from a post by Kragman71 "When I bought my H & R Officer's model Springfield,I inquired of them if their gun was capable of fireing high pwered ammunition.They wre emphatic in warning me that their gun was not designed to fire anything that the 'origional' gun could not."
Andy

Put about 20 rounds of Hornady Leverevolution with a 325grain Round through it today. was shooting fine but i was just curious. Put 3 rounds inside 1 inch at 100 yards.

You can always call Hornady and find out, but I am certain the Leverevolution ammo is loaded to SAAMI pressure or below, or it would be head stamped +P.
Andy

I bought my H&R Officer's Model Trapdoor in 1973,sight unseen,when they first came out.I still have it.It will be one of the last guns that I relinquish.
The hinge on the breech is alittle different then the one on the origional Springfield.
Some people say that this is a weakness.In any event,it may not be stronger then the origional.
If you like shooting,you'll love it.
good luck
Frank

It's a rapdoor, modern materials notwithstanding. Stay with that level loading. If anything, they are not as strong in the latch as the originals due to their design.

The guns were for the H&R centennial, 1971.

I bought one in the second serial number range when they were first out and have enjoyed it much. Most of my loading has been black powder with the Lyman 457122.

planning on just re-loading with the lee clasic hand loader. nothing special. has some basice tables in the back.

They are beautiful rifles made of modern materials, but are actually not as safe as the originals. The fault is in how the locking cam is attached to the thumb piece. On the H&R the shaft of the cam where it connects to the thumb piece is round and held in place by a set screw. The original is a square shaft fit into a square hole. It has been reported that the set screw on the H&Rs can loosen and allow the shaft to rotate slightly and lose it's "timing". If it's off far enough, the breech block won't lock down. If it's off slightly, the breech block will stay down but won't be locked securely. When the hammer is dropped on a live round in this condition the breech block will fly open, sometimes with catastrophic results. Hammers have broken and breech blocks became UFOs. Some people who shoot them regularly drill and pin the thumb latch to the locking cam shaft to eliminate this possibility. Others have fitted original Trapdoor parts to their H&Rs. If you're going to shoot them, be aware of this.

Thanks tmitch4570. went ahead and pinned the latch.