The Springfield Model 1888 was a

trapdoor A trapdoor or hatch is a sliding or hinged door that is flush with the surface of a floor, ceiling, or roof. It is traditionally small in size. It was invented to facilitate the hoisting of grain up through mills, however, its list of uses has ...

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 ...

service rifle produced by the

Springfield Armory The Springfield Armory, more formally known as the United States Armory and Arsenal at Springfield located in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, was the primary center for the manufacture of United States military firearms from 1777 until ...

for the United States military. Introduced in 1888, it was the final design in a long line of such weapons using a design developed by Erskine S. Allin in the 1860s, and the last

single-shot In firearm designs, the term single-shot refers to guns that can hold only a single round of ammunition inside and thus must be reloaded manually after every shot. Compared to multi-shot repeating firearms ("repeaters"), single-shot designs have ...

rifle to see American military service. Despite the replacement of the trapdoor rifles by the adoption of newer

repeating rifle A repeating rifle is a single-barreled rifle capable of repeated discharges between each ammunition reload. This is typically achieved by having multiple cartridges stored in a magazine (within or attached to the rifle) and then fed individually ...

s, they were manufactured until 1893 and saw combat during the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

, a combat that was dominated by the newer Springfield Krag–Jørgensen

bolt action rifle Bolt action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the turn-bolt via a bolt handle, most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the firearm (as most users are right-handed). The majority of bo ...

. The Model 1888, despite its aged technology, was built in large numbers and was also the most advanced and efficient of all the Springfield trapdoor rifles, and for this reason remains popular among military enthusiasts.

History and design

The trapdoor Springfields had originally been produced with reworked

bayonet A bayonet (from Old French , now spelt ) is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , now spelt ) is a knife, dagger">knife">-4; we might wonder whethe ...

s left over from the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. When supplies of these bayonets ran low,

attempted to create a new design, as these bayonets were considered to be obsolete. For the Springfield Model 1880, Springfield Armory had attempted to combine the bayonet and

cleaning rod {{Short description, Tool used for clean firearm bores A cleaning rod is a firearm maintenance tool that can be used to clean the inside (bore) of a gun's barrel, and is made in different sizes for use on different barrel lengths, calibers and gau ...

into a single unit. This model had not been successful, due to problems with the bayonet/cleaning rod retaining mechanism and poor ballistic performance of the weapon due to the heavy forward mounting mechanism. The Model 1888 was Springfield's last attempt at producing a combined cleaning rod and bayonet design. The Model 1888 was based on the Springfield Model 1873 line of rifles, which had undergone several refinements which had been incorporated into the

Springfield Model 1884 The Springfield model 1884 was a trapdoor mechanism, trapdoor breechblock service rifle produced by the Springfield Armory for the United States military. An improved replacement for the Springfield model 1873 (and its variants), it was made in ...

. Unlike the earlier Model 1880, the Model 1888 used a round rod bayonet design. The Model 1888 proved to be much more successful than the Model 1880. Between 1890 and 1893, over 60,000 Model 1888 rifles were produced. During the

, regular army troops were generally issued the new Krag rifles, while guard units were often issued older trapdoor Springfields, typically Model 1884 or Model 1888 rifles. Ultimately, the Springfield Model 1888 would be completely replaced by the newer and more efficient Krag design until 1903, when the Krag itself was replaced with the more efficient

M1903 Springfield The M1903 Springfield, officially the U.S. Rifle, Caliber .30, M1903, is an American five-round magazine-fed, bolt-action service repeating rifle, used primarily during the first half of the 20th century. The M1903 was first used in combat ...

. Although the Model 1888 Springfield proved to be the most developed and efficient of the Springfield trapdoor rifles, it was simply no match for the advanced technology then available and in use around the world. The Springfield trapdoor rifles never saw military service again.

References

External links

{{Commons category, Springfield Model 1888 Springfield firearms Hinged breechblock rifles Rifles of the United States Guns of the American West

History and design

See also

References

External links