1. Crown of barrel peened over (from my measurements it would have needed the barrel cut back at least an inch).
2. Forearm of stock spit from mid barrel band to front barrel band with a 8" X 1/2" section missing.
3. Pewter nose cap missing along with stock that it should have been mounted to.
4. Heavy pitting and barrel corrosion from muzzle to just in front of rear sight, still retained some patina and bluing.
5. Missing ladder of the rear 1877 sight.
6. Bore appeared to be worn out, dark, and very rough.
7. Ejector was broken.
8. Hammer main spring either missing or broken.
9. Missing firing pin.
At the time, I felt that $100 was enough as a possible parts gun, but actually went to $140 before begging off and let Amos the Hick take it.
Six months passed and while at my favorite gun shop, the proprietor says that he has a Trapdoor in parts that one of his customers needs to sell 'cause he is in an awful way. Out from the back he pulls the receiver with barrel and the now seperated stock with a bag of parts. As soon as I saw the serial # it was evident that the gun was the one from the auction. You would not have believed it, Amos chopped the stock just in front of the rear barrel band spring retainer, hacked the barrel off at 19" (on a very coarse angle), and then dipped the entire barrel-receiver assembly in caustic bath that not only took all the rust off but any of the remaining bluing. He also cut a dovetail on the top of the barrel and inch or so from his hack job. To me, it was junk. But, being the kind hearted folk I am and knowing that any donation I made to the Amos Heart Fund, I put $300 in the bucket and the proprietor says "here ya go, know it ain't worth it, but at least you got something for your donation to a fellow rifleman".
So I brought it home and over the course of a couple of years acquired all the missing or damaged parts (almost spun a different barrel on it, but then used it elsewhere), squared and crowned the muzzle, had most of the hardware re-blued, rebuilt the tumble assembly and installed new-old springs, put in a usable ejector and ejector spring, then put it all together. Guess I got carried away, 'cause by the time I finished, there is almost $700 stuck into it and it is basically a 1877 mfg '73 model camp gun without any historical significance. But it shoots well, albiet a bit of a shoulder kicker, with 60 grains of FFg behind a .030 Veggie wad and a 20-1 435HB cast bullet w/SPG lube. Also shoots well with a 405gr Hard Cast using 29 grains of H4198. Oh yeah, after scrapping the bore clean, it turned out to have a great bore w/rifling under all the crud.
The hammer is the only thing that retains the original patina.
