The term Springfield rifle may refer to any one of several types of

small arms A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes c ...

produced by the

Springfield Armory The Springfield Armory, more formally known as the United States Armory and Arsenal at Springfield located in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, was the primary center for the manufacture of United States military firearms from 1777 until ...

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

, for the

United States armed forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

. In modern usage, the term "Springfield rifle" most commonly refers to the Springfield Model 1903 for its use in both

world wars A world war is an international conflict which involves all or most of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World WarI (1914 ...

. There were also numerous limited production, experimental, marksmanship, and sporting rifles produced by the Springfield Armory which are referred to as "Springfield rifles". Some examples of the

smoothbore A smoothbore weapon is one that has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars. History Early firearms had smoothly bored barrels that fired projectiles without signi ...

Springfield Model 1842 The US Model 1842 Musket was a .69 caliber musket manufactured and used in the United States during the 19th Century. It is a continuation of the Model 1816 line of muskets but is generally referred to as its own model number rather than just a ...

musket that were later modified with rifling and used during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

may also be referred to as "Springfield rifles". Rifled musket: *

Springfield Model 1855 The Springfield Model 1855 was a rifled musket widely used in the American Civil War. It exploited the advantages of the new conical Minié ball, which could be deadly at over . It was a standard infantry weapon for Union and Confederates a ...

– .58 caliber

Maynard tape primer The Maynard tape primer was a system designed by Edward Maynard to allow for more rapid reloading of muskets. Invention Muskets in the early 19th century were flintlocks, which had a high rate of misfire and performed poorly in damp and humid w ...

percussion lock The percussion cap or percussion primer, introduced in the early 1820s, is a type of single-use percussion ignition device for muzzle loader firearm locks enabling them to fire reliably in any weather condition. This crucial invention gave rise ...

rifled musket. *

Springfield Model 1861 The Springfield Model 1861 was a Minié-type rifled musket used by the United States Army and Marine Corps during the American Civil War. Commonly referred to as the "Springfield" (after its original place of production, Springfield, Massachus ...

– .58 caliber percussion lock rifled musket. *

Springfield Model 1863 The Springfield Model 1863 was a .58 caliber rifled musket manufactured by the Springfield Armory and independent contractors between 1863 and 1865. The Model 1863 was only a minor improvement over the Springfield Model 1861. As such, it is s ...

– .58 caliber percussion lock rifled musket. Single-shot rifle: *

Springfield Model 1865 The Springfield Model 1865 was an early breech-loading rifle manufactured by U.S. Armory in Springfield, Massachusetts. It was a modification of the Springfield Model 1861. It was later replaced with the Springfield Model 1866. Description Duri ...

– .58-60 caliber

trapdoor A trapdoor is a sliding or hinged door in a floor or ceiling. It is traditionally small in size. It was invented to facilitate the hoisting of grain up through mills, however, its list of uses has grown over time. The trapdoor has played a pivot ...

rifle. *

Springfield Model 1866 The Springfield Model 1866 was the second iteration of the Allin-designed trapdoor breech-loading mechanism. Originally developed as a means of converting rifle muskets to breechloaders, the Allin modification ultimately became the basis for ...

–

.50-70 The .50-70 Government (also called the .50-70 Musket and .50 Government) is a black powder cartridge adopted in 1866 for the Springfield Model 1866 trapdoor rifle. Description Derived from the .50-60-400 Joslyn, the cartridge was developed af ...

caliber trapdoor rifle. *

Springfield Model 1868 The Springfield Model 1868 was one of the rifles which used the trapdoor breechblock design developed by Erskine S. Allin. History and Design Originally, the trapdoor Springfields were created to convert Springfield Model 1863 rifled muskets to ...

– .50-70 caliber trapdoor rifle. *

Springfield Model 1869 The Springfield Model 1869 was one of several model "trapdoor Springfields", which used the trapdoor breechblock design developed by Erskine S. Allin. History and Design Originally, the trapdoor Springfields were created to convert Model 1863 Spr ...

– .50-70 caliber trapdoor cadet rifle. * Springfield Model 1870 – .50-70 caliber trapdoor rifle. *

Springfield Model 1870 Remington-Navy Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queensl ...

– .50-70 caliber

rolling-block A rolling-block action is a form of firearm action where the sealing of the breech is done with a specially shaped breechblock able to rotate on a pin. The breechblock is shaped like a section of a circle. The breechblock is locked into place b ...

rifle. * Springfield Model 1871 – .50-70 caliber rolling-block rifle. * Springfield Model 1873 – .45-70 caliber trapdoor rifle. *

Springfield Model 1875 The Springfield Model 1875 was a variant of the Springfield Model 1873 rifle. History and Design The Model 1875 officer's rifle was checkered fore and aft of the trapdoor breech and tipped with white metal. It was fitted with a "globe and pinhe ...

– .45-70 caliber trapdoor officer's rifle. *

Springfield Model 1877 The Springfield Model 1877 was a variant of the Springfield Model 1873 carbine. In 1877, many changes were made to both the Model 1873 rifle and the Model 1873 carbine (the carbine was just a shorter version of the rifle). Historically, the Mode ...

– .45-70 caliber trapdoor carbine. * Springfield Model 1880 – .45-70 caliber trapdoor rifle. * *

Springfield Model 1882 The Springfield Model 1882 Short Rifle was a trapdoor rifle based on the design of the Springfield Model 1873. It is usually referred to as a "short rifle" but is sometimes called a "carbine". History and Design The Model 1882 was an experiment ...

– .45-70 caliber trapdoor short rifle. *

Springfield Model 1884 The Springfield model 1884 was one of the "Trapdoor Springfield" rifles. It was an improved replacement for the previous longarm of the U.S. Armed Forces, the Springfield model 1873. Description The model 1884 traces its roots back to the desig ...

– .45-70 caliber trapdoor rifle. *

Springfield Model 1886 The Springfield Model 1886 was one of several models of carbines which used the trapdoor breechblock design developed by Erskine S. Allin. It was Springfield Armory's second attempt to create a single longarm that would satisfy the needs of the ...

– .45-70 caliber trapdoor carbine. *

Springfield Model 1888 The Springfield Model 1888 was one of several models of rifles produced by Springfield Armory for the United States military in the late 19th century. It was the final design in a long line of rifles which used the Trapdoor mechanism, trapdoor br ...

– .45-70 caliber trapdoor rifle. Repeating rifle: *

Springfield Model 1892–99 The Springfield Model 1892–99 Krag–Jørgensen rifle is a Norwegian-designed bolt-action rifle that was adopted in 1892 as the standard United States Army military longarm, chambered for U.S. caliber .30-40 Krag cartridges. All versions and v ...

–

.30-40 The .30-40 Krag (also known as .30 U.S. and .30 Army) was a cartridge developed in the early 1890s to provide the U.S. armed forces with a smokeless powder cartridge suited for use with modern small-bore repeating rifles to be selected in the 1 ...

caliber

Krag–Jørgensen The Krag–Jørgensen is a repeating bolt-action rifle designed by the Norwegians Ole Herman Johannes Krag and Erik Jørgensen in the late 19th century. It was adopted as a standard arm by Norway, Denmark, and the United States. About 300 wer ...

bolt action Bolt-action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the bolt via a bolt handle, which is most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the weapon (as most users are right-handed). Most bolt-action ...

rifle. * Springfield Model 1903 – .30-03, .30-06 caliber bolt-action rifle. *

Springfield Model 1922 The Springfield Model 1922 is a .22 caliber bolt-action rifle. It features a 24-inch (61 cm) barrel and a 5-round magazine. It was built as a cadet rifle, designed to mimic the M1903 Springfield rifle for training purposes. It was produced in ...

–

.22 LR The .22 Long Rifle or simply .22 LR or 22 (metric designation: 5.6×15mmR) is a long-established variety of .22 caliber rimfire ammunition originating from the United States. It is used in a wide range of rifles, pistols, revolvers, smooth ...

caliber bolt action training rifle. Self-loading rifle: *

M1 Garand The M1 Garand or M1 rifleOfficially designated as U.S. rifle, caliber .30, M1, later simply called Rifle, Caliber .30, M1, also called US Rifle, Cal. .30, M1 is a semi-automatic rifle that was the service rifle of the U.S Army during World War ...

– .30-06 caliber semi-automatic rifle. *

M14 rifle The M14 rifle, officially the United States Rifle, Caliber 7.62 mm, M14, is an American selective fire battle rifle chambered for the 7.62×51mm NATO (.308 in) cartridge. It became the standard-issue rifle for the U.S. military in 1959, ...

–

.308 The .308 Winchester is a smokeless powder rimless bottlenecked rifle cartridge widely used for hunting, target shooting, police, military, and personal protection applications globally. It is similar but not identical to the 7.62×51mm NATO ...

caliber

select-fire Selective fire is the capability of a weapon to be adjusted to fire in semi-automatic, fully automatic, and/or burst mode. The modes are chosen by means of a selector switch, which varies depending on the weapon's design. Some selective-fire we ...

rifle.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Springfield Rifle Springfield firearms Rifles of the United States History of Springfield, Massachusetts Massachusetts in the American Civil War Military in Massachusetts

See also

References