The Springfield Model 1868 was one of the rifles which used the
trapdoor breechblock
A breechblock (or breech block) is the part of the firearm action that closes the breech of a breech loading weapon (whether small arms or artillery) before or at the moment of firing. It seals the breech and contains the pressure generated by th ...
design developed by Erskine S. Allin.
History and Design
Originally, the trapdoor Springfields were created to convert
Springfield Model 1863
The Springfield Model 1863 was a .58 caliber rifled musket manufactured by the Springfield Armory and independent contractors between 1863 and 1865.
The Model 1863 was only a minor improvement over the Springfield Model 1861. As such, it is so ...
rifled musket
A rifled musket, rifle musket, or rifle-musket is a type of firearm made in the mid-19th century. Originally the term referred only to muskets that had been produced as a smoothbore weapon and later had their barrels replaced with rifled barrel ...
s to breech-loading rifles at a relatively low cost. This conversion consisted of replacing the percussion lock with the breech-loading trapdoor mechanism, and relining the barrels to convert them from .58 to .50 caliber. This proved problematic, because in the field, the lining tended to separate from the barrel.
To correct this problem, the Model 1868 used a new barrel instead of relining the original older barrel. The new barrel was slightly shorter, 32.5 inches, compared to the 36.5-inch barrel used on the
Springfield Model 1866
The Springfield Model 1866 was the second iteration of the Allin-designed trapdoor breech-loading mechanism. Originally developed as a means of converting rifle muskets to breechloaders, the Allin modification ultimately became the basis for ...
. The shorter barrel was affixed using only two barrel bands, instead of the three used on the Model 1866. Since it lacked the middle barrel band, the sling was affixed to the upper barrel band instead. The Model 1868 also differed from previous models in that it used a separate Allin type receiver with the barrel attached to it. The Model 1868 was also the first trapdoor conversion to use the cartridge extractor covered by U.S. Patent No. 68,009, issued August 27, 1867 to W.H. & G.W. Miller. The Model 1868 had an overall length of 51 inches.
Over 50,000 Model 1868 rifles were manufactured, chambered for the
.50-70 450 cartridge. This model served as the basis for the definitive
Springfield Model 1873 series of rifles in
.45-70-405 caliber, which was adopted in 1873 as the standard military longarm of the United States armed forces for the next 20 years.
This model is unique in the trapdoor series by being marked with the actual year of manufacture (1868, 1869, or 1870) on the breech-block. The 1868 marking is extremely rare with probably no more than 150 so marked; about 16,000 were marked 1869, with the remaining 36,000 being stamped 1870. As of December 2022, only 23 specimens are known with the 1868 date on the breech block. Latest to surface is #25, joining earlier finds of #62, #36, #127, #6 and #93.
In the late 1860s and early 1870s, many army units continued to use outdated rifled muskets and other weapons like the
Spencer .56 caliber
repeating rifle A repeating rifle is a single- barreled rifle capable of repeated discharges between each ammunition reloads. This is typically achieved by having multiple cartridges stored in a magazine (within or attached to the gun) and then fed individually i ...
and
Sharps .52 caliber
percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
rifle. The army wanted to standardize weapons and ammunition, and forced these units to switch to trapdoor Springfields once the Model 1868 went into full production.
["US Army in the Plains Indian Wars, 1865-91" By Clayton K. S. Chun, Duncan Anderson]
A Model 1868 Carbine version was experimented with, but never went beyond the prototyping stage. The Carbine version had a 22-inch barrel.
See also
*
Springfield rifle
The term Springfield rifle may refer to any one of several types of small arms produced by the Springfield Armory in Springfield, Massachusetts, for the United States armed forces.
In modern usage, the term "Springfield rifle" most commonly ref ...
References
*"The .58 and .50 Caliber Rifles and Carbines of The Springfield Armory, 1865-1872", Richard A. Hosmer, North Cape Publications 2006
External links
{{Commons category, Springfield Model 1868
Springfield firearms
Hinged breechblock rifles
Rifles of the United States
Guns of the American West