The Galleries
- Robert E. Petersen Collection
- Ancient Firearms
- The Road to American Liberty
- Seeds of Greatness
- The Prospering New Republic
- A Nation Asunder
- The American West
- Innovation, Oddities and Competition
- Theodore Roosevelt, Elegant Arms
- World War I and Firearms Innovation
- WWII, Korea, Vietnam and Beyond
- For the Fun of It
- Firearms Traditions for Today
- William B. Ruger Special Exhibits
- Freedom's Doorway
U.S. Springfield Model 1855 Pistol Carbine
The Model 1855 Pistol-Carbine was intended to be used with the shoulder stock in carbine configuration by mounted troops, or as a pistol when dismounted. By the time of its production, it had been made obsolete by Colt percussion revolvers. SN F63
The Model 1855 Pistol-Carbine was intended to be used with the
shoulder stock in carbine configuration by mounted troops, or as a
pistol when dismounted. By the time of its production, it had been
made obsolete by Colt percussion revolvers, which fired a smaller
round but gave troops the advantage of having six shots available
before reloading was necessary. From the standpoint of Army
logistics, these pistols used the same .58 minie ball as did the
Model 1855 Rifle-Musket. In addition, both arms used the Maynard
primer system. These arms were produced between 1855-1857, with
fewer than 5,000 examples manufactured during that
period.
The town of Springfield, Massachusetts, located on the banks of
the Connecticut River, was settled in 1636 by emigrants from
Roxbury. The town was nearly destroyed during King Philip's War in
1675, but it was quickly rebuilt. As early as 1776, Continental
Army colonel and future Secretary of War Henry Knox recommended the
establishment of public laboratories, magazines, arsenals and
foundries in secure locations for the production and repair of
arms, ammunition, and other ordnance stores. Both George Washington
and the Continental Congress concurred with this recommendation,
under which an ordnance depot was established at Springfield in
1777. The town's access to raw materials, sources of water power,
and transportation, as well as its inland location which provided
security against seaborne attack, made Springfield an ideal
location.
Over the following year, buildings were rented or erected for use
as barracks and storehouses. In addition to ordnance stores, the
depot at Springfield also handled other aspects of army supply,
including equipment, uniforms, tents, food, and fuel. The end of
the War for Independence also brought a decline in military
activities at Springfield. In 1794, an Act of Congress directed
that national armories be established for the fabrication of small
arms. President Washington selected Springfield and Harpers Ferry,
which was then located in Virginia, as the sites for these
facilities. In addition to the advantages that contributed to the
presence of a Revolutionary War depot in the town, many skilled
armory workers were still living nearby. The government acquired
nearly 300 acres and constructed a dam to furnish power to the
armory complex, as well as shops, offices, and storehouses. The
first permanent structure to be constructed on the site was a brick
powder magazine, which was torn down in 1842. Additional buildings
have been constructed as necessary over the years since.
Production of arms at Springfield began in 1795, with 245 muskets
manufactured during that year, and approximately 80,000 were turned
out before production was discontinued in 1814. The Model 1795
muskets were the first standardized U.S. martial arms to be
produced and were patterned after the French Model 1763 Charleville
musket. Harpers Ferry Armory also produced a Model 1795 musket, but
these were distinctly different from those manufactured at
Springfield. The first known Springfield Armory-marked specimens
were manufactured in 1799, and feature dated lockplates which bear
an eagle stamp and the word "Springfield." The Model 1816 was first
standardized U.S. martial arm to be manufactured at both
Springfield and Harpers Ferry.
These arms enjoyed the longest production run in U.S. history,
lasting until 1844, with nearly 700,000 muskets turned out during
this period. Both armories also produced the Model 1842 percussion
musket and Model 1855 percussion rifle-musket. These arms are
significant in that the Model 1842 was the last U.S. regulation .69
caliber smoothbore, as well as the first to be made at both
armories with completely interchangeable parts, while the Model
1855 rifle-musket was the first rifle-musket to be produced by the
United States, the first to be produced in the new regulation .58
caliber, and the last arm to be produced at both government
armories. In addition to commonly produced arms, each armory was
the sole producer of certain other designs, such as the Model 1855
percussion pistol-carbine and various musketoons and cadet muskets
that were produced solely at Springfield, or the Model 1803
flintlock rifle, and the Model 1841 percussion, or "Mississippi"
rifles, both of which were produced only at Harpers
Ferry.
Model 1861 and 1863 rifle-muskets, which were based on a
modification of the earlier Model 1855, were produced in great
quantities throughout the Civil War. These were the last muzzle
loading, paper cartridge percussion arms to be produced by the U.S.
Erskine S. Allin, Springfield's Master Armorer, designed a method
for converting many of these into metallic cartridge breech
loaders. This conversion consisted of a modification to the breech
to permit the installation of a "trap door" breechblock with a
self-contained firing pin. The famous .45-70 government caliber
"trap door" Springfield rifles and carbines of the Plains Indian
Wars were based on Allin's work, and these accounted for much of
the Armory's production during the 1870s and 1880s.
Springfield Armory was also involved in improving the state of the
art in military rifle design, and toward this end,
limited-production long arms including the Ward-Burton, Lee
Vertical Action, Hotchkiss, and Chaffee-Reese rifles were
manufactured there. These efforts culminated in the 1890s with the
Army's adoption of the smokeless powder Krag-Jorgensen bolt-action
repeating rifle as its standard longarm. These rifles, as well as
carbine versions, were manufactured at the Armory through the turn
of the century.
The Spanish-American War proved the superiority of the
German-designed Mauser, and the .30-'06 caliber U.S. Model 1903
bolt-action rifle, which was built at Springfield Armory and Rock
Island Arsenal under a license from Mauser, replaced the
Krag-Jorgensen as the Army's new standard rifle. Over one million
were manufactured before production was discontinued in 1941, and
many of these, as well as rebuilt or contract model Ô03s, saw
action in both World Wars.
Prior to the First World War, Springfield also manufactured the
M1911 .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol under license from Colt,
and throughout this period, Armory workers continued to experiment
with, produce, test, and maintain various other ordnance materiel
including rifles, pistols, machine guns, and related equipment.
During the interwar years, John Garand, a Canadian-born design
engineer and Springfield Armory employee, worked on a design for a
new gas-operated semi-automatic rifle. After overcoming several
problems, both with his designs and with Army brass, the U.S. Rifle
.30 caliber M1 was adopted by the Army in 1936. The Marine Corps
followed suit, and during the Second World War, over three and
one-half million M1s were produced at Springfield. An additional
500,000 were manufactured by Winchester Repeating Arms Co. This
rifle, which General George S. Patton called, "the greatest battle
implement ever devised," gave American troops a significant edge
over their German and Japanese enemies, most of whom were still
equipped with bolt-action arms.
After the war, Springfield ceased manufacture of the M1 and turned
its efforts to the overhaul and long-term storage of these rifles.
The outbreak of war in Korea in 1950 caused a resumption in
production at the Armory, as well as by International Harvester and
Harrington & Richardson. The return of peace brought a second
and final discontinuation of M1 production. Springfield Armory's
continuing efforts at advancing military rifle designs yielded a
series of improvements to the M1, culminating in production of the
7.62mm NATO caliber selective-fire M14 rifle, which replaced the
Garand in the Army's inventory. In 1968, the Ordnance Department
ceased operations at Springfield Armory. The Armory grounds,
buildings, and museum, with its extensive arms and accouterments
collection, have become Springfield Armory National Historic Site
and are now maintained by the National Park Service.