'03 SPRINGFIELD RIFLE

There are a number of firearms that are better known by their nicknames than by their official designation. The Peacemaker, the Schofield, the Farand, the Webley, the Spencer, the 1911, the BAR, and the Sweet Sixteen all provide instant recognition of the firearm, its operation, and maybe its place in history. But few of these are as easily recognized as the name, '03 Springfield.

The U.S. Rifle Model 1903 Springfield has an interesting history that begins in the latter days of the 1800's and continues through to present. Like most firearms, the '03 Springfield has a rather mixed history of development. One might say it began during the American Civil War when many of the firearms were muzzleloaders. Following the war, many of these rifles were converted to breechloaders which we know as trapdoor rifles. These rifles were used throughout much of the Indian wars. Although they were good quality firearms their weakness was single shot rifles which was a severe limitation in combat. By the 1890's these were being replaced by the magazine fed Krag- Jorgensen rifles.

The Krag-Jorgensen is another well manufactured rifle but when used in combat it was found to be less than ideal. That combat was the assault on the Kettle and San Juan Hills of Cuba during the Spanish American War. Here they faced Spanish soldiers using Mauser rifles.

The search for a better battle rifle began in 1900 and the Springfield Armory began designing a new rifle and a new cartridge which would replace the Krag-Jorgensen rifle and its .30-40 cartridge. The new rifle was designed using several features of the Mauser rifles the American troops had faced in Cuba. Through a lot of testing and design changes the new rifle was adopted in 1903 and the Springfield Armory was soon manufacturing them.

The new cartridge developed in 1903 was designated as the .30-03 but was found to give less than ideal allistics. By changing powders to a new Dupont product and dropping the round nosed 220 grain bullets in favor of a 150 grain spitzer bullet, a new cartridge was created in 1906 and has been known since then as the .30-06. And then the lawyers got involved! Because the United States had copied some parts from the Mauser rifle, they were obligated to pay $200,000 for patent infringement. Then in 1909 the DWM munitions factory sued the United States for patent infringement on the spitzer bullet used in the .30-06 cartridge. Before this suit could be settled we were at war with Germany, and the suit was dismissed as being groundless. After the Armistice in 1918, the suit was again brought forward, and the court awarded the DWM company $300,000 in 1921. The money to settle the suit was not appropriated until 1928, so we then had to pay an extra $112,520.55 to DWM. In total, the United States paid $612,520.55 to settle the lawsuits, but it was a bargain.

The '03 Springfield became our main battle rifle throughout WWI, was used again in WWII, and even saw service in Korea and Vietnam as a sniper rifle. As for the .30-06 cartridge, it too served well. Aside from the '03 rifle it was the cartridge used in the M1 Garand and has been a favorite hunting cartridge in America for well over a century. The .30-06 cartridge is also the basis for other favorite cartridges such as: the 250 Savage, .270 Winchester, 280 Remington, and the .25-06.

Despite the advantages of such a firearm, the War Department purchased only 1700 Henry rifles, but their reluctance was not shared by many Union soldiers who purchased the firearm with their own money. It is estimated that three fourths of the total production of Henry rifles saw action during the Civil War.