US Caliber .30 M1903A1 Springfield Rifle
There were a total of 15 M1903s in a Parachute Battalion. 5 were in the Headquarters Company, 3 in the Light Machine Gun Platoon and 7 in the 81mm Mortar Platoon. All were equiped with the M1 rifle grenade launcher. The M9 High Explosive Anti-Tank Rifle Grenade was used as the main anti-tank defense prior to introduction of the bazooka. The maximum range of the M9 rifle grenade was 75 yards.
America’s entry into the Spanish American War found its forces equipped with a variety of small arms. Regular Army and Volunteers were armed with Model 1892 Krag–Jorgensen in .30 caliber, Model 1873 Springfield Trap Door in caliber .45-70, and the Models 1885 Remington-Lee and 1895 Lee Rifle in 6mm. The Navy and Marine Corps were also armed with Models 1885 Remington-Lee and 1895 Lee Rifle in 6mm. In addition to resupply problems created by the variety of small arms ammunition, they also found the Spanish Army Regulars, although small in numbers, were better armed with the M1893 Spanish Mauser Rifle in 7 x 57mm. TheM1893 Mauser was able to be reloaded faster from five round stripper clips than American arms which had to be loaded one round at a time. The M1893 Mauser also fired a higher velocity, smokeless powder round which provided a flatter trajectory for more accuracy and extended range as well as being harder to detect the shooter.
With the capture of thousands of M1893 Spanish Mausers in Cuba, Springfield Armory and an Army Board of Investigations all came to the conclusion that a Mauser rifle type design was superior and a similar design needed to be adopted for US military service. Some of the main features to be adopted were the five-round capacity internal mag-azine well, the ability to accept the five-round stripper clip for speed loading, and the two-lug bolt face to accept higher chamber pressures. After several prototypes, trials and revisions derived mainly from combining the best features of the Krag-Jorgensen, M1893 Spanish Mauser and the Gewehr M1898 Mauser, the United States Rifle, Caliber .30-03, Model 1903 was officially adopted 19 June 1903. Mauser Werke soon brought suit against the US Government which paid out $250,000 in royalties. By 1905, over 80,000 M1903 rifles had been manufactured.
Still more revisions to the M1903 were needed. The round nosed caliber .30-03 bullet was replaced with a new round designated the Cartridge, Ball, Caliber .30 Model of 1906 or commonly referred to as .30-06 Springfield. The new round had a pointed tip, lighter 150-grain bullet, a shorter casing and higher velocity of 2,800 ft. per sec. Adoption of the new bullet required a modification to the sights. It was also determined that the 30 inch barrel was un-necessary and could be reduced to 24 inches with no adverse effect on accuracy. This also allowed the rifle to be is-sued to both infantry and cavalry rather than producing a separate cavalry carbine for mounted use. A final revision was directed by President Theodore Roosevelt who stated upon seeing the rod bayonet on the weapon:
“I must say that I think that ramrod bayonet is about as poor an invention as I ever saw. As you observed, it broke short off as soon as hit with even moderate violence. It would have no moral effect and mighty little physical effect.”
As a result, the rod bayonet was removed and a lug was attached to accept a newly designed bayonet designated US Bayonet, Model of 1905. Its 16 inch blade was sure to give the morale and physical affect the President desired. The M1903 Springfield replaced all previous rifles and carbines in service and became the first rifle to serve in the Army, Navy and Marines.
Anticipating America’s entry into the Great War, 843,239 M1903 Springfield rifles had been manufactured by Spring-field Armory and Rock Island Arsenal by April 1917. During the war 265,620 additional Springfield rifles were made. Springfield Armory could only produce 1,000 rifles a day while Rock Island Arsenal could only produce about 500 rifles per day. The British Enfield rifle which was being manufactured in the US in British .303 caliber was seen by the Ord-nance Department as a possible solution to shortage of arms. The British Enfield design was retooled to .30-06 and designated the M1917 US Enfield Rifle. The M1917 US Enfield Rifle was issued to US troops during the Great War in greater numbers than the Springfield. After the war the Springfield was again the primary arm of the military.
In 1936, the M1 Garand became the standardized rifle for the US military, however, M1903 rifle production resumed in September 1941 with Remington Arms utilizing the old Rock Island Arsenal tool sets from 1919. Serial number blocks starting at 3,000,000 were assigned by contract. Remington Arms requested and got approved to make several changes to simplify production and improve the design. These involved making several parts from stamping rather than milling. This process made the parts faster and lighter weight. The wooden stock was simplified forgoing the finger grooves. The ladder sight was replaced with a simplified sight similar to that used on the M1 Garand for better target acquisition and to aid Soldiers in transitioning between the two. Enough design changes were instituted that the Army designated the rifle the M1903A3 on 21 May 1942. The M1903A1 had been a revision of the stock to include more of a semi pistol type grip. The M1903A2 was simply the designation for a sub caliber training device used with artillery pieces. Toward the end of 1942 the demand for M1903A3s increased so Smith Corona Typewriter Company was awarded contracts to produce the rifle. The largest users of M1903s in WWII were the Navy and Marines. In the Pacific, the battles of 1942 and 1943 were fought primarily with the M1903s. There was a fear that the M1 Garand would be more prone to jamming as a result of corrosion in the jungle environment. For the Army, the M1903 was replaced as quickly as possible in all theaters with the M1 Garand, relegating the M1903 for use by support troops. Even so, M1903s continued to see front line service in a few units reluctant to give them up and for use as rifle grenade launchers assigned one per squad and as the M1903A4 Sniper Rifle.
In the Korean and Vietnam Wars M1903A4 Sniper Rifles continued to be used. The military continued to keep stock ofM1903A1s and M1903A3s for marksmanship competition and ceremonial use. The last of the rifles were removed from the service in 1974.
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