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Crate of unissued 1873 springfield trapdoor rifles
Crate of unissued 1873 springfield trapdoor rifles











One method to remove it was to pry it out with a knife.

crate of unissued 1873 springfield trapdoor rifles

Firing the rifle created heat that caused the copper cartridges to expand, making the spent cartridge difficult to extract from the breech. The Army had yet to switch over to brass cartridges and still relied on copper. The problem, however, lay not with the rifle itself but with the ammunition. In addition to sparking public outrage against the Indians, Custer’s ill-fated excursion into the Black Hills brought the various flaws of the Springfield Trapdoor to light. No member of Custer’s detachment survived the day. The troopers of the 7th Cavalry fought bravely, but were eventually overwhelmed by the attacking Sioux and Cheyenne’s superior numbers and firepower. Reno’s column repulsed by the Sioux, the Indians were able to reform and surround Custer’s force. Custer ordered an attack that would go down in American military history as the greatest blunder of the Plains Wars. During the Little Big Horn campaign, Lieutenant Colonel George A. The disaster at Little Big Horn on 25 June 1876 led many within the Army to criticize the M1873’s performance.

crate of unissued 1873 springfield trapdoor rifles

The M1873 performed well in combat, and a cavalryman described it as a weapon that “would shoot and kick hard, carrying up to 500 yards very well.” While it was an effective weapon, the M1873 had a powerful recoil, and many soldiers who used it would claim that the rifle could knock down two men with each shot-the man it hit and the man who fired it. 45-55, with a reduced powder charge of fifty-five grains as opposed to the normal seventy grains. Cavalry units armed with the Sharps carbine were re-equipped with a carbine version of the M1873, which had a reduced barrel size of twenty-two inches. By 1875, the M1873 began to replace the Army’s stocks of older rifles. The 10th Cavalry, stationed in San Antonio at Fort Sam Houston, was among the first units to receive the new rifles in the spring of 1874. In addition to its impressive firepower, the M1873 was one of the first rifles to have a blued steel finish rather than the more reflective “National Armory Bright.” Not only was the cartridge an excellent anti-personnel round, it could also bring down a horse. The new round could deliver a 405 grain bullet at a muzzle velocity of 1,350 feet per second. The M1873 had a 32 5/8-inch barrel and fired a new. To load a round, a soldier had to open the latch and manually insert a single cartridge. The rifle got its nickname from its breech-loading mechanism, which resembled a trapdoor. Later designated the Springfield Model 1873 and nicknamed the “Springfield Trapdoor,” the rifle would serve the American military for the next twenty years. 99 as the standard infantry weapon of the U.S. In 1873, the Ordnance Department adopted the Springfield No.

#Crate of unissued 1873 springfield trapdoor rifles series#

Eager to correct this flaw, the Ordnance Department began a series of trials to find a suitable replacement to the M1866. However, there were flaws in its design, most notably, the breech block tended to swing open when under pressure.

crate of unissued 1873 springfield trapdoor rifles

On the frontier, the M1866 performed admirably during several engagements with Indian warriors, and it gained a reputation as a dependable firearm. 50 after a series of trials in 1866, resulting in the Model 1866.

crate of unissued 1873 springfield trapdoor rifles

Allin modified his design by lowering the caliber from. 58 caliber bullet with sixty grains of powder. The M1865 used a copper-cased cartridge which propelled a. This resulted in the development of the Model 1865 Springfield, known as “Allin’s Alteration” and later the “Needle Gun” for its long firing pin. Allin, the master armorer at the Springfield Armory in Massachusetts, was tasked with converting the Army’s muzzle-loading rifles into breech loaders. The origins of the M1873 Springfield date back to the waning days of the Civil War. Today, it is a favorite weapon of gun collectors. The rifle also saw service in the Spanish-American War and the Philippine Insurrection. The Springfield Model 1873 was the Army’s standard issue rifle during the Indian Wars of the 1870s and 1880s.











Crate of unissued 1873 springfield trapdoor rifles