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• Springfield Model 1873 Trapdoor Serial Numbers
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Use the gun caliber gauge to measure the inside diameter of the weapon's barrel and look to see if it is indicating caliber.45. If so, this is the correct caliber of the 1873 Springfield Trapdoor rifle and carbine and later models of the Springfield Trapdoor. Earlier models were caliber.50 and caliber.58.

• All model 1873's manufactured after serial number 525923 are considered modern and are subject to all the BATF Federal guide lines including back ground checks. There were over 720,000 Model 1873 Winchester 's manufactured. The longest barrel length known on a Model 1873 is 37 inches.
• The Model 1873 'Trapdoor' Springfield was the first standard-issue breech-loading rifle adopted by the United States Army (although the Springfield Model 1866 had seen limited issue to troops along the Bozeman Trail in 1867). The gun, in both full-length and carbine versions, was widely used in subsequent battles against the American Indians. The model 1873 was the fifth variation of the.

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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

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

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.

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.

The Model 1873 'Trapdoor' Springfield was the first standard-issue breech-loadingrifle adopted by the United States Army (although the Springfield Model 1866 had seen limited issue to troops along the Bozeman Trail in 1867). The gun, in both full-length and carbine versions, was widely used in subsequent battles against the American Indians.

The model 1873 was the fifth variation of the Allin trapdoor design, and was named for its hinged breechblock, which opened like a trapdoor. The infantry rifle model featured a 32​⁵⁄₈-inch (829 mm) barrel, while the cavalry carbine used a 22-inch (560 mm) barrel. It was superseded by an improved model, the Springfield model 1884, also in .45-70caliber.

Selection process[edit]

Springfield 1873 Trapdoor Serial Numbers

In 1872–1873 a military board, headed by Brigadier-General Alfred H. Terry, conducted an examination and trial of 99 rifles from several domestic and foreign manufacturers including those from Springfield, Sharps, Peabody, Whitney, Spencer, Remington, and Winchester pursuant to the selection of a breech-loading system for rifles and carbines for the U.S. Military. The trials included tests for accuracy, dependability, rate-of-fire, and ability to withstand adverse conditions. Both single shot and magazine equipped systems were considered but, at the time, the single shot was deemed to be more reliable. Firing tests were held at the Springfield Armory and Governor's Island where the average rate of fire for the Springfield was 8 rounds per minute for new recruits and 15 rounds per minute for experienced soldiers. The board recommended 'No. 99 Springfield' which became the model 1873.^[1]

Ballistics[edit]

The rifle cartridge was designated as '.45-70-405', indicating a .45 caliber (11.63 mm), 405-grain (26.2 g) bullet propelled by 70 grains (4.5 g) of black powder. It had a muzzle velocity of 1,350 feet per second (410 m/s), making it a powerful and effective load for the skirmish tactics of the era.^{[citation needed]} A reduced-power load of 55 grains (3.6 g) of powder (Carbine Load) was manufactured for use in the carbine to lighten recoil for mounted cavalry soldiers. This cartridge had a correspondingly reduced muzzle velocity of 1,100 feet per second (340 m/s) and a somewhat reduced effective range.

Use in combat[edit]

The rifle was originally issued with a copper cartridge case and used in the American West during the second half of the 19th century, but the soldiers soon discovered that the copper expanded excessively in the breech upon firing. Another issue was the copper held in leather carriers created a green film that would effectively weld the case into the breech of the carbine when fired. This sometimes jammed the rifle by preventing extraction of the fired cartridge case. A jam required manual extraction with a knife blade or similar tool, and could render the carbine version of the weapon, which had no ramrod to remove stuck cases, useless in combat except as a club.

After the annihilation of Lieutenant-Colonel George Armstrong Custer's battalion (armed with the carbine and carbine load ammunition) at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in June 1876, investigations first suggested that jamming of their carbines may have played a factor, although archaeological excavations in 1983 discovered evidence that only 3.4 percent of the cases recovered showed any indication of being pried from jammed weapons.^[2] This did not account for cases removed by a ramrod or other 'stick' nor for jammed rifles cleared away from the immediate battle area and outside the very limited archaeological survey area. Every Custer battalion weapon became Indian property. Captain Thomas French, M Company Commander was kept busy on the Reno defensive position line using the cleaning rod from his infantry rifle to clear the jammed carbines passed to him from the cavalryman on the line. The cartridge was subsequently redesigned with a brass case, since that material did not expand as much as copper. This was shown to be a major improvement, and brass became the primary material used in United States military cartridges from then to the present. After the Little Big Horn disaster, troops were required to perform target practice twice a week.

The black powder Model 1873 continued to be the main service rifle of the U.S. military until it was gradually replaced by the Springfield model 1892 bolt-action rifle, essentially a copy of the Norwegian Krag-Jørgensen action. Replacement began in 1892, and despite its obsolescence, the Model 1873 was still used by secondary units during the Spanish–American War in Cuba and the Philippines, where it was at a major disadvantage against Spanish forces armed with the 7 mm Spanish M93 Mauser bolt action rifle.

There are reports of the surplus trapdoor Springfields being issued to civilians living in coastal areas during World War I to provide for an armed militia in the event of a German invasion.^{[citation needed]}

Gallery[edit]

1873 Trapdoor Serial Number Search

• Reenactor firing a Springfield model 1873 breech-loading rifle at Fort Mackinac in 2008

• Geronimo (right) holding a Springfield model 1873 alongside his fellow Apache warriors in 1886

1873 Springfield Trapdoor Rifle Value

References[edit]

1. ^BOARD of OFFICERS (1873). Ordnance memoranda, Issue 15. United States. Army. Ordnance Dept. pp. 99–106.
2. ^Fox, Richard A., Archaeology, History and Custer's Last Battle, 1993, University of Oklahoma Press, ISBN0-8061-2998-0, pp. 241–242

Springfield Model 1873 Trapdoor Serial Numbers

External links[edit]

1873 Trapdoor Serial Numbers

• Shoot! Magazine article on the .50-70 cartridge, predecessor to the .45-70
• Uberti web site with images of currently cataloged reproduction

1873 Springfield Trapdoor Carbine Serial Numbers