M1903 Springfield
The Springfield 1903 rifle (designation United States Rifle, Caliber .30, Model 1903; also known as the M1903 Rifle or simply the M1903) is a bolt action rifle of the United States 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 WWI and WII, and as a sniper rifle in Korea and Vietnam; furthermore, it remains in use as a civilian firearm and among some drill teams into the 21st century.
There were four main variants given official nomenclature, though there are a number of important sub-variants.
- M1903 (1903) developed for the .30-03 (30-45) cartridge. Used original Type S stock.
- M1903 (1905) changed from a rod type bayonet to the knife type Model 1905 bayonet and to the improved Model 1905 sight.
- M1903 (1906) modified again to specifically fire the new M1906 .30-06 cartridge ("Ball Cartridge, caliber 30, Model of 1906")
- M1903 Mark I (~1918) (modified for specific use with the Pedersen Device)
- M1903A1 (1929), changed to a straight stock with different pistol stock grip (Type C stock)
- M1903A2 (1930s-40s) basically a stripped A1 or A3 used as a subcaliber rifle with artillery pieces.
- M1903A3 (1942) modified for easier production with stamped metal parts and somewhat different grip and stock. (late model Type S stock; no finger grooves)
- M1903A4 sniper rifle (1942) A M1903A3 modified to be a sniper rifle using a M73 or M73B1 2.2X telescope and different stock.
There are two main other types, various training types, and competition versions such as the National Match types. Aside from these there are some other civilian versions, experimental versions, and other misc. types. Due to the duration of its service, there is also a range of smaller differences among ones from different periods and manufacturers. One caveat is that M1903 rifles made for 30-06 could still fire .30-03, but not vice versus (hence the need for conversion).
In regards to its military use, it is important to note that during WWI it was actually outnumbered by the M1917 Enfield for much of the war. Also, during WW2 many remained in use early on, especially in the Pacific (generally replaced as M-1 Garands became available), in addition to service (along with other weapons) as a sniper rifle and to launch rifle grenades.
History
Overview of Beginnings
The 1903 adoption of the Springfield bolt-action was preceded by nearly 30 years of struggle, politics, and lessons learned from the recently adopted Krag (production of it began in 1894), previous bolt-actions like the Lee models, as well as some new concepts being introduced at the turn of the century. The 1903 not only replaced the various versions of the Krag, but also the Lee Model 1895 and M1885 Remington-Lee used by the Navy and Marine Corps, as well as the remaining trap-door Springfields (Model 1873). The Krag was on its way to replacing the older weapons entirely, but experience with the Krag in the 1898 Spanish American War and other conflicts during the period would result in a re-examination of the firearm. 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 magazine and its inability to handle higher chamber pressures for higher velocity rounds. The 1903 would improve on this, and also include many features of its own.
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 higher cartridge power, such as the Model 1893 Spanish Mauser (adopted after the U.S. Krag) which gained a higher muzzle velocity (about 2300 ft/s) from a unique 7x57mm Spanish Mauser cartridge.
However, the Spanish rifle is only notable in retrospect; the U.S had noted that Spain and other countries were moving to higher power cartridges, and were mulling higher powered rounds in the Krag before the late 1890s. The experience against the Spanish Mausers, such as demonstrated during the Battle of San Juan Hill, confirmed this, though analyses of the battle do vary.
The Army attempted to introduce a higher load cartridge in 1899 for the existing Krags, but its single locking lug on the bolt could not handle the extra pressure. It was around the same time that work on a new rifle began, that could handle the higher pressures. Interestingly, both the Krag and the M1903 would have a magazine lock that could stop the rounds in the magazine from feeding (allowing an individual round to be fed). Among other reasons, this is especially handy when firing rifle grenades that require a blank cartrdige; a regular bullet then does not get pushed up.
The ballistics were actually not that much different, especially at closer engagements, and smokeless powder was a feature of both firearms. They also both had rounded bullet heads; pointed heads were first adopted by the French and later on other rifles (Pointed, or spitzer head bullets was done Mauser rifles later). The smokeless powder was only 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. 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 in the 1890s 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 first decade as new 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 by novices. 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 bullet at time. The magazine can actually by reloaded nearly as fast as low capacity strip feeder by a skilled user, but not normally by less trained soldiers. 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.
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. 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 off the .30-03, but rather than a 220 grain bullet fired a 2300 ft/s, it had a 150 grain pointed bullet fired at 2800 ft/s (813 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.
WWI History
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.
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, and others stateside.
World War II
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 collapsible 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 is noted that U.S. military units like the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Army Rangers preferred the M-1903 and the M-1903A3 rifle over the M-1 Garand on the grounds that the M-1903 and the M-1903A3 were accurate, hard-hitting at long ranges, and the rifle didn't have the problems the M-1 Garand had. A persistent myth about the Garand is that it makes a potentially deadly loud metallic 'ping' when the clip is automatically ejected out of the rifle after the 8th and final round is fired as well as the sound of the empty clip landing on a hard surface like concrete. This is said to be a problem in close combat because the noise told the enemy that the solider was reloading. In fact, the ping, while real, is much quieter than the act of firing the weapon. Since one-on-one combat is extremely rare, it is likely that the 'ping' noise was a nonissue in almost all situations except for commando, stealth, and recon missions where the sound of the Garand's clip ejecting and the noise of the empty clip hitting a hard surface would give away the soldier's position to the enemy.
Despite this, the M-1903 and the M-1903A3 rifle were used in combat alongside the M-1 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.
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.
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). After the 1906 re-fit 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 (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 cartridges. 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.
The following table gives the approximate maximum penetration in various materials.
| Material | At 200 yards 180 meters |
At 600 yards 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 |
For single shot, 150 rounds concentrated at one spot will break a 23 cm wall of brick masonry at 200 yd (180 m).
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 gauge, and each graduation was termed a "point".
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.