A Springfield Centennial

By DAVID F. WINKLER

This year marks the 100th anniversary of US Magazine Rifle, Caliber .30, Model 1903. Commonly known as the Springfield '03, it was a firearm that would achieve great fame in the hands of the United States Marines.

Analysis after the Spanish-American War concluded that both the Spanish Mauser and the American Krag-Jorgenson rifles displayed qualities that, if combined, could lead to the production of a superior weapon. In 1900, the Springfield Armory in Illinois completed an experimental rifle model that contained cartridges within the stock, instead of using an external snap-in magazine. Because of the promise this model held, the armory produced several thousand hand-built rifles for testing and evaluation over the next two years. During this period, the armory made modifications, the most significant being reduction of the barrel length to 24 inches. On June 20, 1903, the rifle was officially adopted by the Army.

By the time the Marines first were issued the weapon in 1906, additional changes had been made. President Theodore Roosevelt, a rifle enthusiast, expressed dissatisfaction with the Springfield '03's pencil-thin ramrod bayonet. Consequently, production temporarily ceased in 1905, and rifles in the field were recalled for modification to carry a knife-style bayonet. Aside from his disappointment with the original bayonet, Roosevelt loved the Springfield '03, bagging more than 300 animals with the rifle that the Springfield Armory had custom-built for him.

The Marines were delighted with the accuracy of the new weapon and officially adopted it in 1910. Armed with this rifle, the Marine Corps Rifle Team claimed its first title at the 1911 national meet and would earn 15 additional championships over the next three decades. However, it was in the jungles of Central America and in the Caribbean that the Marines began to appreciate the rifle's dependability and durability, as they combated bandits and rebels in places such as Nicaragua, Mexico, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.

During World War I, the arming of American ground forces required the production of millions of rifles. More than 2 million Enfields--a British-designed rifle that was easier to build than the Springfield '03, which required more sophisticated tooling--went into production as the United States Rifle, Caliber .30, Model 1917. The Enfields were distributed to the doughboys heading to France with the Army. Marines trained with this weapon but deployed with the Springfield '03. The Springfield and Rock Island armories produced more than 300,000 of them during the war, reaching a production rate of more 2,500 per day toward war's end.

Marines in the American Expeditionary Force faced the German Army at Belleau Wood and elsewhere in France. Many a German fell from long range as the accuracy of the Springfield '03 earned the Marines a new nickname--Devil Dogs. But the rifle best proved its worth with its rate of fire. Marine sharpshooters, testing captured German Mausers, discovered that the enemy rifle could discharge rounds at only half the rate of the American gun. Thus, in combat, a Marine was evenly matched going against two enemy soldiers.

The Springfield '03 continued to be the Corps' primary infantry weapon over the next two decades as Marines redeployed to Central America and elsewhere. In 1936, J.C. Garand at the Springfield Armory perfected the M-1, a semi-automatic rifle, which featured an eight-round cartridge clip. However, only limited quantities of the new weapon were available when Japanese bombs fell at Pearl Harbor.

Marines at Wake Island and Corregidor fought using the venerable yet deadly Springfield '03. Taking the offensive, Marines landed ashore at Guadalcanal and fought off numerous Japanese counterattacks using the famed rifle.

Toward the end of that historic campaign, Marines in the front lines were issued the newer M-1. Still, the Springfield '03 continued in production during World War II with nearly a million acquired from the Remington Arms Company and the L.C. Smith-Corona Typewriter Company.

A century after its introduction, the Springfield '03 still can be seen in constant use by numerous military ceremonial honor guards, whose members value the rifle for its appearance and balance.

The Springfield '03 rifle still holds the record for longest active front-line service. However, that record will be broken in the next few years by another well-known weapon: the United States Rifle, Caliber 5.56mm, M-16 series.*

Sources: Research archives, Marine Corps Historical Center, Washington Navy Yard. Edward S. Farrow, American Guns in the War With Germany (New York, N.Y.: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1920).

Dr. Winkler is a historian with the Naval Historical Foundation.