Written By: Nick McGrath
Original publication date: Spring 2013

One of the weapons mentioned in that article was a Model 1873 Springfield.45-70 carbine found near the Little Big Horn battlefield in 1904 with serial number 41743.

EARLY SPRINGFIELD U.S. MODEL 1873 TRAPDOOR.45-70 CAL. Description: EARLY SPRINGFIELD U.S. MODEL 1873 TRAPDOOR.45-70 CAL. Circa 1874 with 12,xxx serial number. First year production for the Model 1873. Numbered close to documented rifles issued to the 5th and 7th U.S. Infantry Regiments on frontier duty at the time. The serial number of the gun is ' Serial No Exp 5 '. The left side of the barrel is marked ' U.S. The left side of the barrel is marked, ' Harrington & Richardson Inc., Worcester, Mass., Made in USA.' EARLY SPRINGFIELD U.S. MODEL 1873 TRAPDOOR.45-70 CAL. Description: EARLY SPRINGFIELD U.S. MODEL 1873 TRAPDOOR.45-70 CAL. Circa 1874 with 12,xxx serial number. First year production for the Model 1873. Numbered close to documented rifles issued to the 5th and 7th U.S. Infantry Regiments on frontier duty at the time. According to research by Waite and Ernst (The Trapdoor Springfield), your 1873 was manufactured in the last quarter (Oct/Dec) 1873. The number '25' on the stock is probably a rifle rack number so.

The Springfield Model 1873 was the Army’s standard issue rifle during the Indian Wars of the 1870s and 1880s. The rifle also saw service in the Spanish-American War and the Philippine Insurrection. Today, it is a favorite weapon of gun collectors.

The origins of the M1873 Springfield date back to the waning days of the Civil War. Erskine S. Allin, the master armorer at the Springfield Armory in Massachusetts, was tasked with converting the Army’s muzzle-loading rifles into breech loaders. This resulted in the development of the Model 1865 Springfield, known as “Allin’s Alteration” and later the “Needle Gun” for its long firing pin. The M1865 used a copper-cased cartridge which propelled a .58 caliber bullet with sixty grains of powder. Allin modified his design by lowering the caliber from .58 to .50 after a series of trials in 1866, resulting in the Model 1866. On the frontier, the M1866 performed admirably during several engagements with Indian warriors, and it gained a reputation as a dependable firearm. However, there were flaws in its design, most notably, the breech block tended to swing open when under pressure. Eager to correct this flaw, the Ordnance Department began a series of trials to find a suitable replacement to the M1866.

In 1873, the Ordnance Department adopted the Springfield No. 99 as the standard infantry weapon of the U.S. Army. Later designated the Springfield Model 1873 and nicknamed the “Springfield Trapdoor,” the rifle would serve the American military for the next twenty years. The rifle got its nickname from its breech-loading mechanism, which resembled a trapdoor. To load a round, a soldier had to open the latch and manually insert a single cartridge.

The M1873 had a 32 5/8-inch barrel and fired a new .45-70 cartridge. The new round could deliver a 405 grain bullet at a muzzle velocity of 1,350 feet per second. Not only was the cartridge an excellent anti-personnel round, it could also bring down a horse. In addition to its impressive firepower, the M1873 was one of the first rifles to have a blued steel finish rather than the more reflective “National Armory Bright.”

The 10th Cavalry, stationed in San Antonio at Fort Sam Houston, was among the first units to receive the new rifles in the spring of 1874. By 1875, the M1873 began to replace the Army’s stocks of older rifles. Cavalry units armed with the Sharps carbine were re-equipped with a carbine version of the M1873, which had a reduced barrel size of twenty-two inches. It fired a variant of the .45-70 cartridge, the .45-55, with a reduced powder charge of fifty-five grains as opposed to the normal seventy grains.

The M1873 performed well in combat, and a cavalryman described it as a weapon that “would shoot and kick hard, carrying up to 500 yards very well.” While it was an effective weapon, the M1873 had a powerful recoil, and many soldiers who used it would claim that the rifle could knock down two men with each shot—the man it hit and the man who fired it.

The disaster at Little Big Horn on 25 June 1876 led many within the Army to criticize the M1873’s performance. During the Little Big Horn campaign, Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer ordered an attack that would go down in American military history as the greatest blunder of the Plains Wars. With Major Marcus A. Reno’s column repulsed by the Sioux, the Indians were able to reform and surround Custer’s force. The troopers of the 7th Cavalry fought bravely, but were eventually overwhelmed by the attacking Sioux and Cheyenne’s superior numbers and firepower. No member of Custer’s detachment survived the day. In addition to sparking public outrage against the Indians, Custer’s ill-fated excursion into the Black Hills brought the various flaws of the Springfield Trapdoor to light.

The problem, however, lay not with the rifle itself but with the ammunition. The Army had yet to switch over to brass cartridges and still relied on copper. Firing the rifle created heat that caused the copper cartridges to expand, making the spent cartridge difficult to extract from the breech. One method to remove it was to pry it out with a knife. The M1873 field manual instructed soldiers to push the cartridge out with a cleaning rod, but this presented a problem since the M1873 carbine was not equipped with a cleaning rod. Trooper William C. Slaper of Company M, 7th Cavalry (part of Reno’s column at Little Big Horn), noted that during combat he would fix a jam, pass the loaded rifle to a soldier on the firing line, and then fix another.

Condemnation of the rifle was not universal, as many troopers praised the M1873’s power and accuracy. Brigadier General John Gibbon described the rifle as “first rate…and probably the best thing that had ever been placed in the hands of troops.”

In 1877, the Ordnance Department began researching European small arms and found that brass cartridges were much easier to load and retained their form after discharge. Additionally, solid point cartridges could be reloaded with an external primer (this task became a form of extra duty punishment on the frontier). In 1882, the Ordnance Department switched over to centerfire cartridges. However, it was not until 1888 that the Army finally made the transition to brass shells.

Though the rifle was accurate up to 1,000 yards in the right hands, most soldiers in the decades following the Civil War did not receive any significant marksmanship training. Most soldiers were only given ten cartridges a month with which to practice, and some units did not even receive that much. In 1877, Lieutenant Stephen Mills stated that “target practice was practically unknown. I think the allowance of ammunition was twenty rounds a year.” By 1878, the state of marksmanship training had become so bad that the Department of the Pacific ordered .58 caliber muzzle-loading rifle-muskets to be taken out of storage so that troops could practice shooting. As soldiers’ accuracy improved, the Army began to hold shooting matches with Springfield Trapdoors. The idea behind the shooting competitions was to prepare soldiers for fighting on the open plains, and ensure that the best shots would come away victorious.

The Springfield Trapdoor and other single-shot rifles would be rendered obsolete by magazine-fed bolt-action rifles in the late nineteenth century. In addition, the invention of “smokeless powder” had rendered rifles using black powder obsolete. The Krag-Jørgensen rifle became the Army’s standard issue weapon in 1894 and was used in the Spanish-American War and the Philippine Insurrection by Regular Army units and a few Volunteer regiments before being replaced by the Model 1903 Springfield rifle. However, due to production problems with Krag, the M1873 was still issued to most Volunteer formations that served in the Spanish-American War and in the Philippines. Soldiers soon found that the M1873 was a liability on the modern battlefield with its limited firepower. Unlike the Krag, which had a five-round magazine, the Springfield Trapdoor had to be manually reloaded after firing a round. It also produced prodigious amounts of smoke when fired because it still employed cartridges using black powder, giving away the shooter’s position. Eventually, Volunteer and National Guard units were re-equipped with Krags after the M1903 was introduced .

Though it was phased out of service, the Springfield M1873 remains an icon of the American West. With its retirement came the end of an era. Today, it remains a popular weapon for gun collectors in the United States and around the world.

Springfield Model 1873 Serial Number Lookup Reverse

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Similar to the carbines carried by General Custer's troopers,this carbine is a single shot arm. Although there is no officialdesignation for the Model 1879, certain features, such as aslightly different breech from those used on earlier models, anotably thicker and wider receiver, as well as its serial number,identify this carbine as one produced between 1879 and 1885. SN131991

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U.S./Springfield Armory Model 1873 Trapdoor' Carbine(single-shot/ breech-loading/ black powder/ cartridgeammunition)
During the Civil War, General George A. Custer led U.S. Cavalry,armed with Spencer repeating carbines, in many charges againstConfederate forces. After the war, however, the Army selected newguns. Strangely, single-shot Springfield 'trapdoors' prevailed.Custer, who by then was fighting Natives, was continuing to enjoysuccess with his Spencers. He objected to the single-shot guns, buthis argument did not prevail. Later, armed with 'trapdoors,'Custer, though out-numbered, led his troops in an attack at theLittle Big Horn against Natives armed with repeaters. He lost bothhis command and his life. This specimen attests to Army logic ofthat period, which thought repeaters to be wasteful of ammunition.Losses such as Custer's eventually convinced U.S. military thinkersthat repeating arms should be adopted.'
- Dr. William L. Roberts, THE AMERICAN LIBERTY COLLECTION; #88

1873 Springfield Carbine Serial Numbers

The town of Springfield, Massachusetts, located on the banks ofthe Connecticut River, was settled in 1636 by emigrants fromRoxbury. The town was nearly destroyed during King Philip's War in1675, but it was quickly rebuilt. As early as 1776, ContinentalArmy colonel and future Secretary of War Henry Knox recommended theestablishment of public laboratories, magazines, arsenals andfoundries in secure locations for the production and repair ofarms, ammunition, and other ordnance stores.
Both George Washington and the Continental Congress concurred withthis recommendation, under which an ordnance depot was establishedat Springfield in 1777. The town's access to raw materials, sourcesof water power, and transportation, as well as its inland locationwhich provided security against seaborne attack, made Springfieldan ideal location. Over the following year, buildings were rentedor erected for use as barracks and storehouses. In addition toordnance stores, the depot at Springfield also handled otheraspects of army supply, including equipment, uniforms, tents, food,and fuel.
The end of the War for Independence also brought a decline inmilitary activities at Springfield. In 1794, an Act of Congressdirected that national armories be established for the fabricationof small arms. President Washington selected Springfield andHarpers Ferry, which was then located in Virginia, as the sites forthese facilities. In addition to the advantages that contributed tothe presence of a Revolutionary War depot in the town, many skilledarmory workers were still living nearby. The government acquirednearly 300 acres and constructed a dam to furnish power to thearmory complex, as well as shops, offices, and storehouses. Thefirst permanent structure to be constructed on the site was a brickpowder magazine, which was torn down in 1842. Additional buildingshave been constructed as necessary over the yearssince.
Production of arms at Springfield began in 1795, with 245 musketsmanufactured during that year, and approximately 80,000 were turnedout before production was discontinued in 1814. The Model 1795muskets were the first standardized U.S. martial arms to beproduced and were patterned after the French Model 1763 Charlevillemusket. Harpers Ferry Armory also produced a Model 1795 musket, butthese were distinctly different from those manufactured atSpringfield. The first known Springfield Armory-marked specimenswere manufactured in 1799, and feature dated lockplates which bearan eagle stamp and the word 'Springfield.' The Model 1816 was firststandardized U.S. martial arm to be manufactured at bothSpringfield and Harpers Ferry.
These arms enjoyed the longest production run in U.S. history,lasting until 1844, with nearly 700,000 muskets turned out duringthis period. Both armories also produced the Model 1842 percussionmusket and Model 1855 percussion rifle-musket. These arms aresignificant in that the Model 1842 was the last U.S. regulation .69caliber smoothbore, as well as the first to be made at botharmories with completely interchangeable parts, while the Model1855 rifle-musket was the first rifle-musket to be produced by theUnited States, the first to be produced in the new regulation .58caliber, and the last arm to be produced at both governmentarmories.
In addition to commonly produced arms, each armory was the soleproducer of certain other designs, such as the Model 1855percussion pistol-carbine and various musketoons and cadet musketsthat were produced solely at Springfield, or the Model 1803flintlock rifle, and the Model 1841 percussion, or 'Mississippi'rifles, both of which were produced only at Harpers Ferry. Model1861 and 1863 rifle-muskets, which were based on a modification ofthe earlier Model 1855, were produced in great quantitiesthroughout the Civil War. These were the last muzzle loading, papercartridge percussion arms to be produced by the U.S. Erskine S.Allin, Springfield's Master Armorer, designed a method forconverting many of these into metallic cartridge breech loaders.This conversion consisted of a modification to the breech to permitthe installation of a 'trap door' breechblock with a self-containedfiring pin. The famous .45-70 government caliber 'trap door'Springfield rifles and carbines of the Plains Indian Wars werebased on Allin's work, and these accounted for much of the Armory'sproduction during the 1870s and 1880s.
Springfield Armory was also involved in improving the state of theart in military rifle design, and toward this end,limited-production long arms including the Ward-Burton, LeeVertical Action, Hotchkiss, and Chaffee-Reese rifles weremanufactured there. These efforts culminated in the 1890s with theArmy's adoption of the smokeless powder Krag-Jorgensen bolt-actionrepeating rifle as its standard longarm. These rifles, as well ascarbine versions, were manufactured at the Armory through the turnof the century. The Spanish-American War proved the superiority ofthe German-designed Mauser, and the .30-'06 caliber U.S. Model 1903bolt-action rifle, which was built at Springfield Armory and RockIsland Arsenal under a license from Mauser, replaced theKrag-Jorgensen as the Army's new standard rifle.

Springfield Model 1873 Serial Number Lookup Company Name

Over one million were manufactured before production wasdiscontinued in 1941, and many of these, as well as rebuilt orcontract model Ô03s, saw action in both World Wars. Prior to theFirst World War, Springfield also manufactured the M1911 .45caliber semi-automatic pistol under license from Colt, andthroughout this period, Armory workers continued to experimentwith, produce, test, and maintain various other ordnance materielincluding rifles, pistols, machine guns, and relatedequipment.
During the interwar years, John Garand, a Canadian-born designengineer and Springfield Armory employee, worked on a design for anew gas-operated semi-automatic rifle. After overcoming severalproblems, both with his designs and with Army brass, the U.S. Rifle.30 caliber M1 was adopted by the Army in 1936. The Marine Corpsfollowed suit, and during the Second World War, over three andone-half million M1s were produced at Springfield. An additional500,000 were manufactured by Winchester Repeating Arms Co. Thisrifle, which General George S. Patton called, 'the greatest battleimplement ever devised,' gave American troops a significant edgeover their German and Japanese enemies, most of whom were stillequipped with bolt-action arms.
After the war, Springfield ceased manufacture of the M1 and turnedits efforts to the overhaul and long-term storage of these rifles.The outbreak of war in Korea in 1950 caused a resumption inproduction at the Armory, as well as by International Harvester andHarrington & Richardson. The return of peace brought a secondand final discontinuation of M1 production. Springfield Armory'scontinuing efforts at advancing military rifle designs yielded aseries of improvements to the M1, culminating in production of the7.62mm NATO caliber selective-fire M14 rifle, which replaced theGarand in the Army's inventory.
In 1968, the Ordnance Department ceased operations at SpringfieldArmory. The Armory grounds, buildings, and museum, with itsextensive arms and accouterments collection, have becomeSpringfield Armory National Historic Site and are now maintained bythe National Park Service.