New barrel for old 1873 Springfield 45-70.

[Gman]

My brother has an original 1873 Springfield in 45-70.  He would like to shoot the gun but the barrel is very pitted.  Need a recommendation of where he can get another barrel made for it.  Will he be able to shoot modern 45-70 rounds in it or reload for orignal type bullets?

[PaulS]

Gman,
The action strength is the limiting factor for what pressures the old Springfield will handle, so standard loads are the way to keep the gun safe. You can get barrel blanks (rifled tubes) from many sources and any competent gunsmith can thread, chamber and headspace it to the action.

PaulS

[marlinman93]

You might want to check with Numrich Arms for a barrel. They did have some originals once, and also some barrels for the H&R Trapdoor repros, that might also work.
 Another choice would be to reline the barrel, and have the pits polished out, if they're not too deep.
 If you end up getting a new barrel blank fitted, have your smith check on a Green Mountain BPCR barrel. I had one fitted to my old Ballard #4 Perfection in .45-70, and it is an excellent barrel! I ordered a second one for my restoration of my Remington Hepburn Creedmore rifle, as I was so happy with the first one! They're one of the most reasonably priced barrels made. brownells carries them, or you can get them directly from Green Mountain.
 Hoe this helps.

[445supermag]

Numrich has a lot of springfield barrels!!!!! BUT they are cased in concrete and have people walking on them and parts stored on them. They used them for rebarb.[/img]

[Sgt. Drydock]

You might check with Pedersoli, they are making Milspec trapdoor barrels, and I believe they are properly threaded to fit original actions.