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U.S. Springfield Model 1795 Flintlock Musket
This was the first standardized official musket made at the first U.S. Armory in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Model 1795 U.S./Springfield Armory Flint-lock Martial Musket
(single-shot/ muzzle-loading/ black powder/ ball ammunition)
When the United States began to function as an independent nation,
one of the initial acts of Congress was to establish arsenals for
the manufacture of military arms. Springfield, Massachusetts,
selected as the site for the first of these, began operation in
1795. The French Model 1763 Musket was chosen as an arm after which
U.S. muskets would be patterned, and its .69 caliber bore was a
U.S. military standard for 60 years. As this example shows, the new
muskets were marked with a U.S." script and eagle on the lockplate
in front of the cock, and the word SPRINGFIELD was stamped at the
rear of the lockplate.
Relatively few muskets were produced in the early years because
the U.S. Army was small (generally fewer than 12,000 troops), and
militia forces composed of private citizens were relied upon for
military defense." --Dr. William L. Roberts, THE AMERICAN LIBERTY
COLLECTION; #28
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.