Springfield 1903 rifle

The Springfield M1903 (more formally the United States Rifle, Caliber .30, Model 1903, also known as the ‘03 Springfield) is a magazine-fed, bolt-action rifle used primarily during the first half of the 20th century.

It was officially adopted as a service rifle on June 19th 1903, and was officially replaced as a service rifle by the faster-firing, semi-automatic M1 Garand, starting in 1936. The M1903 saw notable use in World War I and World War II, and some cases in Vietnam. It was also used as a sniper rifle in WWII, Korea and Vietnam. Furthermore, it remains in use as a civilian firearm and among some drill teams into the 21st century.

Early Overview

The 1903 adoption of the Springfield bolt-action was preceded by nearly 30 years of struggle and politics, as well as lessons learned from the recently adopted Krag (production of it began in 1894)and previous bolt-actions. The 1903 not only replaced the various versions of the Krag, but also the Lee Model 1895 and M1885 Remington-Lee used by the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, as well as the remaining trap-door Springfields (Model 1873). While the Krag had been issued in both a long rifle and carbine, there would be only one Springfield type; this was a break from existing trend.

The two main problems usually cited with the Krag were its slow-to-load magazine and its inability to handle higher chamber pressures for higher velocity rounds. Which of these was more important is a matter of debate, as is the impact of the Mausers encountered in the 1898 war. What is known is that the Mauser design that competed in the 1890s competition with a stripper clip magazine was defeated by the Krag (as well as many other designs) with its rotary magazine reloaded one bullet at a time. Note that a special sort of stripper clip for reloading the Krag magazine all at once came later. Also the Mauser model in the trial had about the same muzzle velocity as the Krag.

After the Krag's adoption, however, there was a trend to greater cartridge power, such as the Model 1893 Spanish Mauser, which generated a flatter trajectory, and a higher muzzle velocity (about 2300 ft/s) from the 7 x 57 mm Spanish Mauser cartridge.

The ballistics of the 30-40 Krag and the 7 x 57 mm Mauser rounds were actually not that much different. Both cartridges had round nosed bullets; pointed, streamlined bullets (spitzers) were later introduced by Germany. The smokeless powder used by both was an advantage over the older black-powder rifles still used in the war (on both sides of the conflict), such as issued to volunteers and the local militia. US troops were greatly impressed, however, with the volume of fire that the Spanish troops could produce with their faster loading Mausers, compared to the US Krags.

The U.S. Army attempted to introduce a higher velocity cartridge in 1899 for the existing Krags, but its single locking lug on the bolt could not handle the extra pressure. A stripper-clip arrangement was also worked out for loading the Krag. It was around the same time that work on a new rifle began.

The fact that the U.S. was adopting a new rifle after a few years was not actually much of an oddity, as many nations were switching to new firearms in this general period.


Late 1800s: the lead up to adoption

The situation from which the 1903 resulted itself stems from a previous period going back nearly thirty years. Since the late 1870s, the Army had been looking for a replacement for the existing service rifle of the average soldier, the trap-door Springfield (i.e. the Model 1873). The Army was rather under-funded during the period so the regular soldiers were usually stuck with model 1873, though a variety of bolt-action rifles and carbines were also used to varying degrees, and more wealthy soldiers often bought commercial weapons. The Army budget in 1865 was over a million dollars, but this had rapidly tapered down with end of the U.S. Civil War; the Army budget in 1892 was less than 50,000 dollars a year. The need for a new rifle had become apparent, especially with a switch to a smokeless powder going on (started by the French in 1886). The bolt action Lee rifle in 1879, which had a newly invented detachable box magazine, was adopted in the 1880s in limited numbers by the Navy. A few hundred 1882 Lee Models (M1882 Remington-Lee) were given a trial by the Army during the 1880s, though it was not formally adopted. The Navy went on to field the 1885 model, and later, a rather different style Lee 1895 Model (a straight pull type). Both the 1895 and 1885 would see service in the Spanish American war along with the Army weapons. The detachable box magazine used on the Lee rifle was invented by James Paris Lee, and would be very influential on later designs. Other advancements like the aforementioned smokeless powder had made it clear that a replacement was needed. This lead to the 1890s' competitions that resulted in selection of the Krag over 40 other types (including the Mauser design). The Krag types entered production in 1894 after a delay, but would be officially replaced about ten years later by the M1903. The Krag rifles were slowly replaced during the next decade as 1903 rifles became available.

There are various reason given about why development started on a Mauser based design; the rifle is often said to have been developed due to observations of actions during the Spanish American War, in which Spanish troops were armed with Mauser Model 93 rifles. As mentioned, these were deemed superior to the U.S. Krag-Jørgensen rifles, either attributed to their magazine design or the ballistics of the round. The Mausers were fed from a stripper clip, which tends to allow for faster reloading. While the U.S had actually fielded some removable magazine fed weapons earlier in 19th century (such as the Spencer, or the various Lee Models), the Krag was the existing Army service rifle and its 5 round magazine had to be reloaded one cartridge at time. The other issue was that while the Mauser trialed in the 1890s had a muzzle velocity of about 2000 ft/s (600 m/s) (about the same as the Krag), the latest designs being adopted by other countries had gone to higher velocities and the Krag could not handle the increased loads for higher velocity. The extent of the actual effect of the Mausers on the war is a matter of debate, for example only the Spanish regulars had the Mauser 93, while other troops had older single-shot weapons. Whatever the extent, the Army leveraged the events to garner support for a new rifle.


Adoption

The basic timeline is that work began on creating a rifle that could handle higher loads and adopted some of Mauser's features, began around the turn of the century by Springfield, with a prototype produced in 1900, and going into production in 1903, thus gaining its nomenclature. There was actually an interim rifle that almost entered production, the Model 1901. Springfield was sure enough that the Model 1901 would be accepted that they began making some parts, but it was not accepted and further changes were asked for. The design was further modified and accepted, type classified and entering production in 1903.

The War Department had exhaustively studied and dissected several examples of the Mauser Model 93 rifle captured during the Spanish-American War, and combined features of both the U.S. Krag Rifle Models 1894-1898, and the Mauser Model 93, to produce the new U.S. Springfield Rifle, Model 1903. Still, the 1903's used so many design features from the German Mauser that the U.S. government was compelled by court order, until World War I, to pay royalties to Mauserwerke.

By January 1905 over 80,000 of these rifles had been produced at the federally-owned Springfield Armory. However, President Theodore Roosevelt objected to the design of the bayonet used (a rod-type) as being too flimsy for combat. All the rifles to that point consequently had to be re-tooled for a knife-type bayonet, called the M1905. A new improved Model 1904 sight was also added.

The retooling was almost complete when it was decided another change would be made. It was to incorporate improvements discovered during experimentation in the interim, most notably the use of pointed ammunition, first adopted by the French in the 1890s and later other countries. The American rounds with this feature to be used in the Springfield were designated "Cartridge, Ball, Caliber .30, Model of 1906"; this is the famous .30-06 ammunition used in countless small arms to the present day. The rifle's sights were again redone to compensate for the speed and trajectory of the new cartridges. The round itself was based on the .30-03, but rather than a 220-grain (14 g) bullet fired a 2,300 ft/s (700 m/s), it had a 150-grain (9.7 g) pointed bullet fired at 2,800 ft/s (810 m/s); the case neck was a fraction of inch shorter as well.

Additionally, tests revealed that the design was effective with a short, "cavalry-style" barrel of 24 inches (610 mm) in length, so the decision was made to issue shorter rifles to the infantry as well, an innovation during a time when long rifles for infantry were the norm.

As a whole, these changes led to a vastly efficient and deadly shoulder arm. Some dubbed it the "weapon of the silent death," since a person could be struck by its bullet before ever hearing the weapon's report.


World War I

By the time of U.S. entry into World War I, 843,239 of these rifles had been produced at Springfield Armory and Rock Island Arsenal. The demands of the war, however, spurred the production of an additional 265,620, still not nearly enough to train and arm American troops. This prompted production of 2.5 million of the U.S. Model of 1917 (M1917 Enfield), also in .30-06 caliber, but from British (Enfield) P13 and later P14 rifle designs. Most US soldiers were in fact armed with M1917 rifles during the conflict. Towards the end of the war, Springfield turned out the Model 1903 Mark I. The Mark I has a cut on the left hand side of the receiver meant to act as an ejection port for the Pedersen device, a specialized insert that replaced the bolt and allowed the user to fire .30 caliber pistol cartridges semiautomatically from a detachable magazine. The stock was also slightly cut down on the left side to clear the ejection port. In all other respects, the Mark I is identical to the 1903.


World War II

World War II saw another jump in production of the Springfield, with manufacturing taking place at private manufacturers Remington Arms and Smith-Corona Typewriter. It was produced as the M1903A3, a variant of the 1903 simplified for mass-production. The most noticeable difference in this revision was the replacement of the barrel-mounted rear sight with a smaller, simpler rear sight mounted on the rear of the receiver. Finger grooves on the sides of the stock were also omitted, and some metal fittings were made from stampings instead of machined forgings.

The M1903 and the M1903A3 rifle were used in combat alongside the M1 Garand by the U.S. military during the Second World War and saw extensive use and action in the hands of U.S. troops in Europe, North Africa, and the Pacific. US Marines were initially armed with 1903 rifles in early battles in the Pacific, such as Guadalcanal. By midwar, however, US combat troops had been re-equipped with the M1 Garand.

It remained in service for snipers (using the M1903A4) and grenadiers (using a spigot type rifle grenade launcher). It should be noted that the M1903A4 could only be reloaded one cartridge at a time, due to the scope position directly over the action, which prevented charging (loading from 5-round stripper clips) the magazine.

Following August 1943, the Free French were re-equipped by the United States primarily with Springfield M1903 and M1917 Enfield rifles, making the Springfield M1903 rifle one of the primary rifles of French forces until the end of the war.

Springfield M1903 rifles captured by the Germans were designated Gewehr 249(a).


Korea

The M1903A4 was slowly phased out during the Korean war by the Army, but saw extensive use in the Marine Corps in the form of the M1941 Sniper rifle. This new rifle was simply equipped with a very long and powerful Unertl 7.8x (as compared to the M73B1 2.5X telescopic sights issued with the army's M1903A4) varmint type scope. It was used in situations when the range to the target simply exceeded that of the Marines' M1C and M1D sniper rifles, which were effective to about 500 yards. In some rare cases, kills from up to 1,000 yards were reported by Marines using the M1941 sniper rifles.


Today

Due to its balance, it is still popular with various military drill teams and color guards, most notably the U.S. Army Drill Team. M1903 rifles are also common at high school Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) units to teach weapons handling and military drill procedures to the cadets. JROTC units use M1903s for regular and interschool competition drills, including elaborate exhibition spinning routines similar to a majorette spinning a baton. Exhibition teams often use fiberglass stocks in place of wooden stocks, which are heavier and more prone to breakage when dropped.

For safety reasons, JROTC M1903s are made permanently unable to fire by having a metal rod welded into the barrel and soldering the firing pin hole on the bolt.

In 1977, the Army located a rather large cache of unissued M1903A3 rifles which were then issued to JROTC units as a replacement for their previously issued M1 Garand and M14 rifles, which were then returned to Army custody due to concerns about potential break-ins at high school JROTC armories. After the creation of the privatized Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) in 1996, the Army has located additional M1903 and M1903A3 rifles which have been made available for sale to eligible CMP customers.