The Springfield 1903 rifle (military designation United States Rifle, Caliber .30, Model 1903) was the bolt action rifle issued to United States troops during the First World War. It saw service through most of the first half of the twentieth century, and was replaced during World War II by the faster-firing semi-automatic M1 Garand. A bolt-action firearm is one that is manually operated (i. ... A rifle is any long gun which has a rifled barrel. ... Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... M1 Garand battle rifle The M1 Garand (more formally the United States Rifle, .30 Caliber, M1) was the first semi-automatic rifle to be put in active military service. ...

M1903A1

File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

History

The rifle was developed due to observations of actions during the Spanish American War, in which Spanish troops were armed with German Mauser Model 93 rifles, which were deemed far superior to the U.S. Krag-Jørgensen rifles, in large part due to their durable internal magazines. Work began on creating a rifle comparable to the Mauser, and a prototype was produced in 1900, going into production in 1903, thus gaining its nomenclature. The Spanish-American War took place in 1898, and resulted in the United States of America gaining control over the former colonies of Spain in the Caribbean and Pacific. ... Mauser is the common name of German arms manufacturer Mauser-Werke Oberndorf Waffensysteme GmbH, as well as the line of bolt action rifles they built for the German armed forces. ... Closeup of the Krag-Jørgensen receiver and magazine door on a Norwegian M1912 Carbine 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. ...

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 Model 1905. From 1794 to 1968 the Springfield Armory was a center for the manufacture of U.S. military small arms and the site of many important technological advances. ... Order: 26th President Vice President: Charles Warren Fairbanks Term of office: September 14, 1901 – March 3, 1909 Preceded by: William McKinley Succeeded by: William Howard Taft Date of birth: October 27, 1858 Place of birth: New York City Date of death: January 6, 1919 Place of death: Oyster Bay, New... The US Marine Corps OKC-3S bayonet From right to left: a carbine, a straight infantry officer sabre, a short curved infantry sabre (briquet), two bayonets. ...

The retooling gave an opportunity 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 version of these rounds which were 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 redone to compensate for the speed and trajectory of the new cartridges. .303 in. ...

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.

By the time of U.S. entry into World War I, 843,239 of these rifles had been produced; however the demands of the war spurred the production of an additional 265,620, not nearly enough to train and arm American troops. This prompted production of 2.5 million of the U.S. Model of 1917, also in .30-06 caliber, but from a British (Enfield) design. The 1903's similarities to the German Mauser were so numerous that the U.S. government was compelled, until World War I, to pay royalties to Mauserwerke. A settlement was reached after the armistice. It was ironic, as the Mauser design itself had been plagiarized from French and British designs, see Mauser. Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... Mauser is the common name of German arms manufacturer Mauser-Werke Oberndorf Waffensysteme GmbH, as well as the line of bolt action rifles they built for the German armed forces. ... Mauser is the common name of German arms manufacturer Mauser-Werke Oberndorf Waffensysteme GmbH, as well as the line of bolt action rifles they built for the German armed forces. ...

After the end of World War I, several thousand unserviceable Springfield rifles were collected from the field and re-assembled from their interchangeable parts, some at ordnance depots in France, others stateside.

World War II saw another jump in production of the Springfield, with manufacturing taking place at the Rock Island Arsenal and by private manufacturers Remington Arms and Smith-Corona Typewriter, in addition to the Springfield Armory. It was produced as the M1903A3, a variant of the 1903A1 simplified for mass-production. The most noticeable difference in this revision was the replacement of the collapsable rear sight mounted to the top stock, with a smaller, simpler rear sight mounted near the bolt assembly. Indentations on the sides of the lower stock were also omitted. Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... RIA is a company located in the Phillipines. ... Remington Arms is a major American manufacturer of rifles, and shotguns, as well as other firearms and all-terrain vehicles. ...

The rifle was used by the U.S. military only in the opening years of the war, however, before being phased out in favor of the M1 Garand. It remained in service for snipers (using the M1903A4) and grenadiers (using the M1 rifle grenade launcher). It should be noted that the M1903A4 could only be reloaded one bullet at a time, due to the scope position directly over the action, which prevented charging (loading from 5-round stripper clips) the magazine. M1 Garand battle rifle The M1 Garand (more formally the United States Rifle, .30 Caliber, M1) was the first semi-automatic rifle to be put in active military service. ... The traditional definition of a sniper is an infantry soldier especially skilled in field craft and marksmanship who kills selected enemies from concealment with a rifle at large distances. ... A Grenadier was originally a specialized assault trooper for siege operations, first established as a distinct role in the early 17th century. ... A grenade launcher is weapon that fires or launches a grenade to longer distances than a soldier could throw by hand. ...

Due to its balance, it is still popular with various military drill teams and color guards.

Specifications

The Springfield rifle model 1903 was 27 7/8 in (1.098 meters) long and weighed 8 lb 11 oz (3.95 kilograms). A bayonet could be attached to the tip. The bayonet blade was 16 inches (406 mm) long and weighed 1 lb (0.45 kg). During World War I the rifle fired the .30-caliber model 1906 cartridge. There were four standard types of cartridge: Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... The word caliber (American English) or calibre (British English) designates the interior diameter of a tube or the exterior diameter of a wire or rod. ... Rimmed, centerfire . ...

• Ball cartridge — consisted of a brass case or shell, primer, a charge of smokeless powder, and the bullet. The bullet had a sharp point called a spitzer bullet, and was composed of a lead core and a jacket of cupro nickel, and weighed 150 grains (9.7 g). The bullet of this cartridge, when fired from the rifle, had an initial velocity of 2700 feet per second (820 meters per second).
• Blank cartridge — contained a paper cup instead of a bullet. It is dangerous up to 30 meters.
• Guard cartridge — had a smaller charge of powder than the ball cartridge, and five cannelures encircle the body of the shell at about the middle to distinguish it from ball catridges. It was intended for use on guard or in riot duty, and it gave good results up to 180 meters. The range of 90 meters required a sight elevation of 410 meters, and the range of 180 meters required an elevation of 590 meters.
• Dummy Cartridge — this was tin plated and the shell was provided with six longitudinal corrugations and three circular holes. The primer contains no percussion composition. It was intended for drill purposes to accustom the soldier to the operation of loading the rifle.

The rifle was sighted for 2,500 yd (2,300 meters) and had a point-blank range of 500 yards or meters. The maximum range of the ball cartridge, when elevated at an angle of 45°, was 4890 yd (4.47 km) .

The rifle was a clip-loader and could fire at a rate of 20 shots per minute. Each clip contained 5 cartridges, and standard issue consisted of 12 clips carried in a cloth bandolier. When full the bandolier weighed about 3 lb 14 oz (1.76 kilograms). Bandoliers were packed 20 in a box, for a total of 1,200 rounds. The full box weighed 45 kilograms. A bandolier is a pocketed belt for holding ammunition. ...

The following table gives the approximate maximum penetration in various materials.

For single shot, 150 rounds concentrated at one spot will break a 23 cm wall of brick masonry at 200 yd (180 m). Plasticine is a putty-like modelling material; the word remains a trademark but is used generically. ... Dressed masonry in Barcelona, Spain, with lintel and arch. ...

The smooth bore of the rifle is 7.62 mm in diameter. It was then rifled 0.1 mm deep, making the diameter from the bottom of one groove to the bottom of the opposite groove 7.82 mm of the barrel.

The rifle included a leaf that could be used to adjust for range. When the leaf was set down, the battle sight appeared on top. This sight was set for 500 meters and was not adjustable. When the leaf was ranged it had four sights. The extreme range sight at the top of the sight was set for 2875 yd (2.60 km) and was seldom used.

The open sight at the upper edge of the drift sight was adjustable from 1400 yd (1.28 km) to 2750 yd (2.51 km). The open sight at the bottom of the triangular opening in the drift sight could be adjusted from 100 yd (90 m) to 2450 yd (2.24 km). The scales for the various ranges were listed on the sides of the leaf. On the right front end of the base of the sight is the windage screw. This could be used to adjust the wind guage, and each graduation was termed a "point".

See also

• Pedersen device

The Pedersen Device was an optional attachment for the Springfield 1903 rifle that allowed it to shoot a small 7mm pistol-sized round in semi-automatic mode. ...

References

• "Engineer Field Manual", War Department, Document No. 355, 1909.
• "Manual for Noncommissioned Officers and Privates of Infantry of The Army of the United States", War Department, Document No. 574, 1917.