Trapdoor latch hub and pin change

[Paladin]

In looking at various 1873 and 1884 rifles over the years, I've noticed that at some point, SA stopped flat grinding the hub of the latch lever after it was assembled to the latch pin (or axle if you prefer). On almot all 1873 rifes, both parts look like they were oil quenched, assembled and then flat ground, leaving a bare steel finish on the face of the hub that was not touchd up, as even guns with good oil case hardened finish left on the lever seem to have oxidized hubs. On 1884s it looks like they pressed them together in some kind of die that left a slightly domed shape on the hub and did not post grind them, leaving most of the cabuerized finish on the face of the hub.

If all that I just typed makes sense, can Mr. Hosmer or anyone else tell me when this transition was made? As part of the 1884 model or just around that time?

[raymeketa]

Paladin

They are called the cam latch and thumb piece. The change was made in mid-1886. The reason being that there were reports of the thumb piece coming off the cam latch because too much of the riviting was ground off during finishing.

[Dick Hosmer]

And, as a side benefit, they omitted one machine pass, thus saving a few mills on each rifle! They were frugal in those days.