Springfield 1903 rifle Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
The Springfield 1903 rifle (more formally the United States Rifle, Caliber .30, Model 1903\) was the rifle issued to United States troops during the First World War. It saw service throughout most of the first half of the twentieth century, but due to the slow bolt action operation of this rifle, it was replaced during World War II with the M1 Garand, which was of a preferred semi-automatic nature.
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2 Specifications 3 See also 4 References |
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.
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.
The retooling gave an opportunity to incorporate improvements discovered during experimentation in the interim, most notably the use of German-style pointed ammunition. 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.
Additionally, tests revealed that the design was effective with a short, "cavalry-style" barrel of 24 inches 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. 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.
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 manufacturer Remington Arms, 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.
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 preventing easy changing of the magazine.
Due to its balance, it is still popular with various military drill teams and color guards.
Specifications
The Springfield rifle model 1903 was 1.0976 meters long and weighed 3.95 kilograms. A bayonet could be attached to the tip. The bayonet blade was 40.6cm long and weighed 0.45kg. During World War I the rifle fired the .30-caliber model 1906 cartridge. There were four standard types of cartridge:
- 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. The bullet of this cartridge, when fired from the rifle, had an initial velocity of 823 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 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 1.76 kilograms. Bandoliers were packed 20 in a box, for a total of 1,200 rounds. The full box weighed 45 kilograms.
The following table gives the approximate maximum penetration in various materials.
| Material | At 180 meters. | At 550 meters. |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial steel | 0.76 cm | 0.25 cm |
| One-inch broken stone, gravel | 12.2 cm | 10.9 cm |
| Hard coal between 1-inch boards | 23 cm | 18 cm |
| Brick masonry, cement | 5.6 cm | 3.0 cm |
| Brick masonry, lime | 6.1 cm | 3.0 cm |
| Sand, dry | 23 cm | 31 cm |
| Concrete, 1-3-5 | 7.6 cm | 5.1 cm |
| Oak | 69 cm | 30 cm |
| Sand, wet | 38 cm | 33 cm |
| Pine | 66 cm | 30 cm |
| Earth, loam | 51 cm | 41 cm |
| Grease clay | 152 cm | 81 cm |
The smooth bore of the rifle is 7.62mm in diameter. It was then rifled 0.1mm deep, making the diameter from the bottom of one groove to the bottom of the opposite groove 7.82mm 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 2.60km and was seldom used.
The open sight at the upper edge of the drift sight was adjustable from 1.28km to 2.51km. The open sight at the bottom of the triangular opening in the drift sight could be adjusted from 90 meters to 2.24km. 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".
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