Description
nlike previous individual shouldered weapons, such as the Model 1892 to Model 1899 Krag-Jorgensen and the Springfield Trapdoor, which were issued in both rifle and carbine versions, the M1903 Springfield existed only as a rifle. Moreover, it was a bolt-action rifle that fired a new high-pressure, smokeless-powder cartridge with a spitzer bullet.
The rifle’s development was given additional emphasis when Theodore Roosevelt—who had battlefield experience in the Spanish-American War with the slow-loading Krag—became president after William McKinley’s assassination. Specifically developed as an improvement over the Krag, the M1903 Springfield was approved on June 20, 1903, and manufacturing was undertaken by both Springfield Armory and Rock Island Arsenal.
Weighing 8 1/2 pounds, the M1903 Springfield had a 24-inch barrel and featured a full-length wooden stock with an elongated finger-groove forearm and a “humped” handguard to protect the rear sight. Its internal, five-round magazine was loaded via a stripper clip, with cartridges pressed into the magazine through the opened receiver.
The rifle also incorporated a unique “rod bayonet” that slid out from the stock underneath the barrel, providing a comparatively flimsy means of close-quarters combat. Soldiers were thankful when the much sturdier Model 1905 bayonet, with its 16-inch blade, was adopted—largely due to the insistence of Roosevelt who called the rod bayonet, “… about as poor an invention as I ever saw.”
