Your Survival Guy

Preparing your investments and family for when disaster strikes.

Disclosure

  • Home
  • Your Survival
    • Your Survival Guy’s Super States
    • EMP Threat
    • Tucker Explains
    • Newport Gas Outage
    • Water
      • Emergency Water Storage
      • Let There Be Water
    • Get Your Gun and Your Training Now
    • Satellite Phones
    • Navy SEAL Survival Kit
  • Your Money
    • Coronavirus Infects Stock Market
    • Looking for a Better America
    • You Invest, They Win
    • Where to Keep Your Cash
    • Paris
    • How to Buy a Boat
    • Dead or Alive? The Future of Long-Term Investing
    • Is Vanguard too Big?
    • Cryptocosm and Life After Google
    • The Last Intelligence Report
    • The Truth Behind the S&P 500
    • RAGE Gauge
    • How Many “Retirees” Will Keep Working?
    • Your Retirement Life
    • You’ll Love This if You’re Dreaming of an Active Retirement Life
  • Weapons
    • Self Defense
    • Every Family Should Own at Least One Shotgun: Here Are Three
  • About Me
    • Your Survival Guy: “Life on Main Street Hasn’t Been This Hard in a While”
    • Preparing for Times Like These
    • My Videos/Pics
    • Music
      • RIP Neil Peart: You Will Always Be Remembered as a “Modern-Day Warrior”
    • Your Survival Guy: Make Your Bed and The Hero Code
  • You
    • Our Cabin on Kodiak, Alaska
    • If You Are in Pain, this May Help. It Helped Me.
    • How to Save for a Grandchild
    • FIRE! Financial Independence, Retire Early
    • Compound Interest
    • Arithmetic of Portfolio Losses
    • Maximum Portfolio Withdrawal Rate
    • An Efficient Frontier
    • Retirement Compounders
    • Counterbalanced Total Returns
  • Survive & Thrive
    • July 2022
    • June 2022
    • May 2022
    • April 2022
    • March 2022
    • February 2022
    • January 2022
    • December 2021
    • November 2021
    • October 2021
    • September 2021
    • August 2021
    • July 2021
    • June 2021
    • May 2021
    • April 2021
    • March 2021
    • February 2021
    • January 2021
    • December 2020
    • November 2020
    • October 2020
    • September 2020
    • August 2020
    • July 2020
    • June 2020
    • May 2020
    • April 2020
    • March 2020
    • February 2020
    • January 2020
    • December 2019
    • November 2019
    • October 2019
    • September 2019
    • August 2019
    • July 2019
    • June 2019
    • May 2019
    • April 2019
    • March 2019
    • February 2019
    • January 2019
    • December 2018
    • November 2018
    • October 2018
    • September 2018
    • August 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • May 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • Welcome

One of America’s Most Famous Rifles

May 8, 2019 By E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

By Andrew Williams @ Shutterstock.com

After the failure of the standard issue Model 1896 Krag Rifle during the Spanish American war, the United States Army was looking for an improved firearm for its troops. The rifle they developed would go on to become one of the best ever built, and would be used for decades in the trenches and foxholes anywhere Americans were fighting. That rifle was the Model 1903 Springfield, and at The National Interest, the Warfare History Network tells its story:

The shortcomings of the Krag-Jorgensen became apparent during the Spanish-American War of 1898. Its cumbersome locking system, coupled with a low-powered cartridge, and its difficulty in adapting to clip-loading made it unfavorable compared to the Spaniards’ more effective charger-loaded German Model 1893 Mauser rifle, with its higher muzzle velocity, greater accuracy, and ability to be modified for clip-loading.

The result was that the United States Army Ordnance Board authorized the Springfield Armory, located in Springfield, Massachusetts, to manufacture an experimental magazine rifle based on the Mauser and Krag. They tested their prototype during October and November 1900; as a result of these trials, the Board recommended the new weapon be adopted by the Army. The design was stronger than the Krag-Jorgensen; with fewer parts it was cheaper to build and easier to operate; and it could be easily fitted with a Mauser-type magazine.

By VINCENT GIORDANO PHOTO @ Shutterstock.com

The United States Government followed the Board’s recommendation and entered into arrangements with the Mauser Company to build a modified Mauser at a cost of $200,000. To employ a better cartridge than was currently in service, the 1900 prototype was replaced by another experimental rifle, developed in 1901. This was described by the Chief of Ordnance as “embodying all the merits of the present service arm and has been made, with simpler machining cuts, fewer parts and doubled lugged bolt for use of a cartridge giving 2,200 or more feet per second velocity…” The new 1901 Model replaced the knife-like bayonet of the Krag-Jorgensen with a sliding rod bayonet mechanism of the kind used in the Model 1884 Caliber.45 trap door Springfield rifle. Tests of the 1901 experimental rifle led to the design of a slightly improved weapon: the prototype 1902, which used a 220-grain blunt- nose shape bullet rimless .30 caliber round which, although more powerful than its predecessor, caused severe bore erosion.

On June 20, 1903, after all tests of the 1901 and 1902 experimental rifles were completed, and the Board of Ordnance’s recommended changes were issued, orders went out to the Springfield Armory, to start manufacturing 225 and 125 Model 1903 rifles per day, respectively. Since it was first manufactured at the National Armory at Springfield, the rifle came to be known as the “1903 Springfield Rifle”. Its official title was the “US Magazine Rifle, Caliber .30 Model of 1903”. Eventually, the Springfield Armory would be directed to produce 700 per day.

Developers first featured the 1903 Springfield along a two-piece, single-banded wooden body with a straight stock. Internal mechanisms were held at the rear of the body with the 24” barrel protruding a short distance ahead of the fore end. The bolt handle, situated over the right side of the receiver, had a ball at its end to ensure an easier handgrip. The magazine was internal and fixed in place, requiring the use of cartridge “chargers” (prefabricated strips containing five cartridges). Front and end iron sights were fitted to the weapon, rounding out the weapon’s weight to about nine pounds. The 1903, a short rifle successfully filled the dual role of an accurate infantry weapon and a carbine for use by mounted troops.

Read more here.

The following two tabs change content below.
  • Bio
  • Latest Posts
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Instagram profile

E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zilldjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Instagram profile

Latest posts by E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy (see all)

  • “Shooter! Run!” - July 6, 2022
  • Red States Churning Out Jobs While Blue States Lag Behind - July 6, 2022
  • “Talk to Me, Goose!” Time Flies in Top Gun: Maverick - July 5, 2022
  • Common Sense Conservative Values for Main Street America - July 5, 2022
  • Rich Grandchild, Poor Grandchild - July 5, 2022

If you enjoyed this post, email it to a friend:

  • Email
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp

Related Posts

Money 101

Trending

  • This State Leads America in Gun Ownership
  • Time to Save, Troubles Dining Out, and Intelligence on Yellowstone
  • WATCH: New York Governor Melts Down When Asked for Facts
  • Proper School Security Stops Potential Attacker
  • Here’s Why You Need a 15-Year Retirement Investment Plan
  • Your Survival Guy: Clearing the Decks, Buying a Boat, Seeing the World and More
  • More Guns Means Less Crime in Brazil Too
  • SECRETLY INSOLVENT: Crypto Exchanges Hiding Their Troubles
  • How to Buy a Boat: Part I
  • Republicans Can't Stop Biden's Border Chaos, Yet

Must Reads

  • Americans Fleeing High Tax States for Growth Corridors
  • Why You Can’t Afford to Miss the Boat
  • HELLO: “How’s It Going? I Don’t Know Anything”
  • Your Survival Guy’s Champagne Taste on a Beer Budget
  • When Markets Fall, All Is Not Lost
  • BIDEN-FLATION: Here’s Why Prices Are Up At Your Favorite Restaurant
  • INTRUSIVE GOVERNMENT SURVEILLANCE: Does This Make You Feel Safer?
  • Survival: Lost in the Woods Bending the Map
  • Investment Advice: Sticking with the Four-Year-Olds
  • GET PAID: How To Invest in Biden’s Inflationary Market
Only if You’re Serious
Your Survival Guy in Paris
Your Survival Guy's Fishing Stories
Financial Independence, Retire Early
Money 101
Pandemic Creates Virtual Panopticon
Emergency Water Storage
Key West Summer Camp in March
Find Freedom in America
Second Amendment
How Can You Save Money for Your Grandchild
Great Reset
See Who's Missing the Boat
Richard  Young Reports
How You Can Save Money for Your Grandchild
Why Fidelity is Number One
The Best States for Survival
You Invest, They Win
Escape the City
Why Vanguard is Too Big for YOU
Island Life

Copyright © 2022 | Terms & Conditions

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.