Early Cartridge Conversion
U.S. .45-70 Trapdoor Springfield Breechblock
Also called trapdoor, rolling block, falling block, breech-block, breech block.
Looking to buy? Ordering is not open on this new site yet. Parts can be bought today: Shop parts for the U.S. .45-70 Trapdoor Springfield at Butch’s current store (opens Butch’s current store in a new tab).
The component sealing the breech. Hinged on Springfield and Snider, rolling on Remington, falling on Sharps and Martini, rotary on Werndl.
The reference
Documented on this arm
- U.S. 45 70 Trapdoor Springfield Breechblock
Interchange
What a U.S. .45-70 Trapdoor Springfield breechblock also fits
No interchange has been recorded for this part yet. Butch Schoeller writes these notes only from parts he has handled — a blank here means nothing has been checked, not that everything fits.
From the bench
Availability
Stock
No breechblock for the U.S. .45-70 Trapdoor Springfield at the moment
Almost everything here is one of a kind, so it turns over item by item rather than in runs. A wanted listing is the reliable way to hear when the right one surfaces — and it is also what tells Butch which parts are worth making next.
Put it on the wanted board · Everything for the U.S. .45-70 Trapdoor Springfield
How the mechanism works
Plates & drawings
Original patent drawings for this mechanism, filed by the people who designed it, with every component called out and numbered. They are grouped by how the part works rather than by which arm it came off — the classification that put them here names the mechanism and says nothing about the gun.






All U.S. .45-70 Trapdoor Springfield parts · Breechblock across every arm · The early cartridge conversion era