Springfield 1873 Trapdoor Carbine

[PennStateCarry]

Hi Everyone,

My neighbor just gave me this this old Springfield. He's wheelchair bound and I fixed his elevator a week ago after the lift company said it was toast and he surprised me with it today. He wouldn't take no for an answer. It's beat, but I am excited to own a real piece of American history. He told me he shot it about 40 years ago and that was all he's done to it. He hasn't even cleaned it since then. As you can tell in the pictures, it's got quite a bit of surface rust, is missing the front sight, has paint specks on the stock, and has a crack in the forearm. Mechanically, it seems sound and the barrel still has good rifling. Does anyone know much about these? I would like to at least clean the rust off and I'm assuming I can't hurt the value at this point considering it probably doesn't have much. Also, does anyone know what the 38 above the butt plate means? Anyways, here's my newest piece of American history. If my wife lets me, it's going over our wood stove

IMAG0106_zpsxzc0l8ba.jpg

IMAG0105_zps6jicibti.jpg

IMAG0104_zpso3jq09sy.jpg

IMAG0103_zpsaufsn4x0.jpg

IMAG0109_zpstdix6tcj.jpg