The Springfield Model 1873, more affectionately known as the “Springfield Trapdoor,” was the standard-issue rifle by the U.S. Army during the Indian Wars of the 1870s and 1880s. This rifle would not only see action in the Spanish-American War and the Philippine Insurrection but is now a prized possession among gun collectors.
The history of the M1873 goes back to the final days of the Civil War. The Army was directed to convert their muzzle-loading rifles into breech-loaders, the task falling on the master armorer at the Massachusetts Springfield Armory, Erskine S. Allin. He worked out a way to open the breech of the Model 1861 and therefore produced the Model 1865 Springfield, also known as “Allin’s Alteration,” later called the “Needle Gun” due to the long firing pin. The M1865 used a copper-cased cartridge that propelled a .58 caliber bullet with sixty grains of powder. After a series of trials in 1866, Allin reduced the caliber from .58 to .50, creating the Model 1866. The M1866 was reliable, but it had one major defect: the breech block tended to swing open under pressure. This defect led the Ordnance Department to look for a replacement.
In 1873, the Springfield No. 99 was adopted as the standard infantry weapon of the U.S. Army, later designated as the Springfield Model 1873. Dubbed the “Springfield Trapdoor” for its breech-loading mechanism, the rifle would serve the American military for the next two decades. The M1873 had a 32 5/8-inch barrel and fired a new .45-70 cartridge that could deliver a 405-grain bullet at a muzzle velocity of 1,350 feet per second. This cartridge was not only effective against personnel but could also bring down a horse. Furthermore, the M1873 had also been one of the very first rifles to have a blued steel finish and thus, reflective value.
The 10th Cavalry, at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, happens to get one of the very first issues of new rifles in the spring of 1874. In 1875, the M1873 began replacing the Army’s older rifles. Cavalry units equipped with the Sharps carbine were rearmed with a carbine version of the M1873, which had a reduced twenty-two-inch barrel size and fired a variant of the .45-70 cartridge, the .45-55, at a reduced powder charge.
The impressive firepower of the M1873 came with an equally potent recoil, which some soldiers quipped could knock down both the target and the shooter with one shot. The performance of the rifle came under question after the debacle at Little Big Horn on June 25, 1876. The ill-fated attack of Lieutenant-Colonel George A. Custer resulted in his detachment being wiped out, a development that engendered public outcry and cast a bad light on the Springfield Trapdoor’s defects.
The real problem was not in the rifle but in the ammunition. The Army had not changed over to brass cartridges and still was using copper. When fired, the copper cartridges would expand from the heat and would not come freely out of the breech. Men were forced to use their knives or cleaning rods to extract the jammed cartridges, an awkward task in combat. Trooper William C. Slaper of Company M, 7th Cavalry, described fixing jams and passing loaded rifles to soldiers on the firing line.
Despite these issues, many soldiers loved the M1873’s power and accuracy. Brigadier General John Gibbon called the rifle “first-rate…and probably the best thing that had ever been placed in the hands of troops.” In 1877, the Ordnance Department launched an inquiry into foreign small arms and found that brass cases were far easier to load and retained their shape after firing. By 1888, the Army was using brass cartridges exclusively.
Magazine-fed bolt-action rifles made the Springfield Trapdoor and other single-shot rifles obsolete in the late nineteenth century. The Krag-Jørgensen rifle became regimental in 1894, although due to production problems, the M1873 still saw issuance to most Volunteer formations in the Spanish-American War and in the Philippines. Soldiers soon found it to be a liability on the modern battlefield because of its lesser firepower and smoke that revealed the shooter’s position.
Even though the Springfield M1873 was phased out of service, it remains to this day a symbol of the American West. With its retirement, an era had come to an end, although through the ages, this weapon remained as a classic which gun collectors in the United States and the world over revel in having.