Background During the 1898
war with Spain, the
Mauser M1893 used by the Spanish Army gained a deadly reputation, particularly from the
Battle of San Juan Hill, where 750 Spanish regulars significantly delayed the advance of 15,000 US troops armed with outclassed
Springfield Krag–Jørgensen bolt-action rifles and older single-shot
Springfield model 1873 trapdoor rifles. The Spanish soldiers inflicted 1,400 casualties on the US in a matter of minutes. Likewise, earlier in the day, a Spanish force of 540 regulars armed with the same Mauser rifles, under Spanish general Vara Del Rey, held off General
Henry Ware Lawton's Second Division of 6,653 American soldiers and an independent brigade of 1,800 men for ten hours in the nearby town of
El Caney, keeping that division from assisting in the attack on the San Juan Heights. A US Army board of investigation was commissioned as a direct result of both battles. They recommended replacement of the Krag. The 1903 adoption of the M1903 was preceded by nearly 30 years of struggle and politics, using lessons learned from the recently adopted Krag–Jørgensen and contemporary German Mauser
Gewehr 98 bolt-action rifles. The design itself is largely based on the Mauser M1893 and its successive models up to the Gewehr 98 rifle. The M1903's forward receiver ring diameter is , slightly over the ring diameter of the older "small ring" Mauser models and less than the "large ring" Gewehr 98s. The US military licensed many of the Mauser Company's and other German patents, including the spitzer bullet, later modified into the .30-06 Springfield. The M1903 not only replaced the various versions of the U.S. Army's Krag, but also the
Lee M1895 and
M1885 Remington–Lee used by the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps, as well as all remaining single-shot trapdoor rifles. While the
Krag had been issued with barrel lengths of both 30-inch rifle and 22-inch
carbine models, the Springfield was issued only as a short 24-inch-barrel rifle in keeping with current trends in Switzerland and Great Britain to eliminate the need for both long rifles and carbines. The two main problems usually cited with the Krag were its slow-to-load magazine and its inability to handle higher chamber pressures for high-velocity rounds. The United States Army attempted to introduce a higher-velocity cartridge in 1899 for the existing Krags, but its single locking lug on the bolt could not withstand the extra chamber pressure. Though a
stripper-clip or charger loading modification to the Krag was designed, it was clear to Army authorities that a new rifle was required. After the U.S. military's experience with the Mauser rifle in the
1898 Spanish–American War, authorities decided to adopt a stronger Mauser-derived bolt-action design equipped with a charger- or stripper clip-loaded box magazine.
Advances in small arms technology with an M1903 In 1882, the bolt action
Remington Lee rifle design of 1879, with its newly invented detachable box magazine, was purchased in limited numbers by the U.S. Navy. Several hundred M1882 Lee Navy models (M1882 Remington-Lee) were also subjected to trials by the U.S. Army during the 1880s, though the rifle was not formally adopted. The Navy adopted the M1885, and later different style Lee M1895 (a 6 mm straight pull bolt), which saw service in the
Boxer Rebellion. In Army service, both the M1885 and M1895 6 mm Lee were used in the Spanish–American War, along with the .30-40 Krag and the .45-70. The Lee rifle's detachable box magazine was invented by
James Paris Lee, and was very influential on later rifle designs. Other advancements had made it clear that the Army needed a replacement. In 1892, the U.S. military held a series of rifle trials, resulting in the adoption of the .30-40 Krag–Jørgensen rifle. The Krag officially entered U.S. service in 1894, only to be replaced nine years later by the M1903. By January 1905, over 80,000 of these rifles had been produced at the federally-owned Springfield Armory. However, President
Theodore Roosevelt objected to the design of the sliding rod-type bayonet used as being too flimsy for combat. In a letter to the
secretary of war, he said: 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. All the rifles to that point consequently had to be re-tooled for a blade-type bayonet, called the "
M1905". The sights were also an area of concern, so the new improved Model 1904 sight was also added. The retooling was almost complete when it was decided another change would be made. It was to incorporate improvements discovered during experimentation in the interim, most notably the use of pointed ammunition, first adopted by the French in the 1890s and later other countries. The round itself was based on the .30-03, but rather than a 220-grain (14 g) round-tip bullet fired at , it had a 150-grain (9.7 g) pointed bullet fired at ; the case neck was a fraction of an inch shorter as well. The new American cartridge was designated
Cartridge, Ball, Caliber .30, Model of 1906. The M1906 cartridge is better known as the
.30-06 Springfield round, used in many rifles and machine guns, and is still a popular civilian cartridge. The rifle's sights were again re-tooled to compensate for the speed and trajectory of the new cartridge. By the time of the 1916
Pancho Villa Expedition, the M1903 was the standard issue service rifle of US forces. Some rifles were fitted with both the
Warner & Swasey Model 1913 and 1908 "musket sights" during the campaign, "musket sights" being the vernacular at the time for telescopic sights. The Warner & Swasey Model 1913 musket sight continued in use after the Pancho Villa Expedition and during World War I, but was eventually deemed inadequate and had been removed from the US Army's inventory by the 1920s. The military tested several M1903 rifles with
Maxim suppressors starting in 1909, and requisitioned 500 in 1910 to be used for recruit training. Anecdotal evidence indicates that some of the M1903 rifles during the Pancho Villa Expedition were fitted with Maxim suppressors, possibly making them the first suppressed rifles used in the field by the US military; however, during World War I American M1903s were not fitted with suppressors due to opposition from officers and the suppressor precluding the use of a bayonet.
World War I and interwar use fitted to an M1903 (1918). Designed for
trench warfare, this enabled the shooter to fire over the parapet of a trench while remaining under cover and protected; the rifle is also fitted with a 25-round magazine. By the time of US entry into
World War I, 843,239 M1903 rifles had been produced at Springfield Armory and the
Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois. Pre-war production utilized questionable metallurgy. Some receivers constructed of single-heat-treated case-hardened steel were improperly subjected to excessive temperatures during the forging process, "burning" carbon out of the steel and producing a brittle receiver. Documented evidence indicates that some early rifles were improperly forged, but actual cases of failure in use were very rare. Several cases of serious injury from receiver failure were documented, but the U.S. Army never reported any fatalities. Many failures were attributed to use of incorrect cartridges, such as the
7.92×57mm Mauser. Evidence also seems to suggest that improperly forged brass cartridge cases could have further exacerbated receiver failure.
Pyrometers were installed in December 1917 to accurately measure temperatures during the forging process. The change was made at approximately serial number 800,000 for rifles made at Springfield Armory and at serial number 285,507 at Rock Island Arsenal. Lower serial numbers are known as "low-number" M1903 rifles. Higher serial numbers are said to be "double-heat-treated". M1 ammunition, intended primarily for long-range machine gun use, soon became known by Army rifle competition teams and marksmen for its considerably greater accuracy than the M1906 round; the new M1 ammunition was issued to infantrymen with the Springfield rifle as well as to machine gun teams. However, during the late 1930s, it became apparent that, with the development of mortars, high-angle artillery, and the .50 caliber
M2 Browning machine gun, the need for extreme long-range, rifle-caliber machine-gun fire was decreasing. In 1938, the US Army reverted to a .30-06 cartridge with a 152-grain flat-base bullet, designated "
M2 ball", for all rifles and machine guns. The
Federal Bureau of Investigation acquired some M1903 rifles configured like
National Rifle Association sporter models in response to the 1933
Kansas City Massacre. In service, the Springfield was generally prized for its reliability and accuracy, though some problems remained. The precision rear aperture sight was located too far from the eye for efficient use, and the narrow, unprotected front sight was both difficult to see in poor light and easily damaged. The Marine Corps issued the Springfield with a sight hood to protect the front sight, along with a thicker front blade. The two-piece firing pin-striker also proved to be no improvement over the original one-piece Mauser design, and was a cause of numerous ordnance repairs, along with occasional reports of jammed magazine followers. Production of the M1903 was discontinued in favor of the M1903A3. The most noticeable visual difference in the M1903A3 was the replacement of the barrel-mounted rear sight with a smaller, simpler aperture rear sight mounted on the rear of the receiver which was designed by Remington; it was primarily adopted in order to speed familiarization by soldiers already trained on the M1 Garand, which had a similar sighting system. However, the leaf spring providing tension to the elevation adjustment on the new aperture sight tended to weaken with continued use over time, causing the rifle to lose its preset range elevation setting. Other modifications included a new stamped cartridge follower; the rounded edges of the new design largely alleviated the "fourth-round jam" complaints of the earlier machined part. Smith-Corona parts are mostly identified by the absence of markings, except for occasions when time permitting during manufacture, on early to mid-production rifles, and also only on certain parts. To speed up production, two-groove rifled barrels were adopted, and steel alloy specifications were relaxed under "war emergency steel" criteria for both rifle actions and barrels. All M1903A3 rifles with two-groove "war emergency" barrels were shipped with a printed notation stating that the reduction in rifling grooves did not affect accuracy. As the war progressed, various machining and finishing operations were eliminated on the M1903A3 in order to increase production levels. The M1903 and the M1903A3 rifles were used in combat alongside the M1 Garand by the US military during World War II and saw extensive use and action in the hands of US troops in Europe, North Africa, and the Pacific. The
US Marines were initially armed with M1903 rifles in early battles in the Pacific, such as the
Battle of Guadalcanal, but the jungle battle environment generally favored self-loading rifles; later Army units arriving to the island were armed with M1 Garands. The
U.S. Army Rangers were also a major user of the M1903 and the M1903A3 during World War II with the Springfield being preferred over the M1 Garand for certain commando missions. According to Bruce Canfield's
U.S. Infantry Weapons of WW II, final variants of the M1903 (the A3 and A4) were delivered in February 1944.
Sniper rifle The M1903A4, a variation of the M1903A3 was the U.S. Army's sniper rifle of choice during the Second World War. The only difference between receivers was that the model and serial number on the receiver were split on M1903A4 to make room for the Redfield
scope mount. The Redfield scope mount removed the rear peep sight that was standard on the M1903A3. The scope used on the M1903A4 was a Weaver Model 330 or 330C, which was a 2.75x telescopic sight. The receivers were tested by Remington Arms and those that were deemed best, meaning those closest to design specifications were selected to become M1903A4s. The barrels were also selected specifically to be added to the M1903A4 rifle only if they were within almost exact specifications for the design. The front sight on the barrel was never installed on the A4 barrels, however, the notch for it was still in place. From its adoption in 1943 until the end of the war the M1903A4 was used extensively in every theater of operation by both the US Army and the USMC. While the M1903A4 was a relatively accurate rifle with an effective range of about , by some accounts it was inadequate as a sniper rifle. Its limitations on long-range targeting were due to limitations of both the Weaver scopes. The Weaver scopes (later standardized as the M73 and M73B1) had limited
field of view, were of low magnification, and were not waterproof and frequently fogged over or became waterlogged during humidity changes. The optional M81/82 scopes also had significant flaws; they most notably had less power (2.2x vs. 2.75x) and, like the other scopes on the M1903A4, had serious issues with the field of view. The USMC and the US Army eventually switched to a large 8x scope that spanned the length of the rifle, designed by John
Unertl.
Foreign users Various US allies and friendly irregular forces were equipped with the weapon. The
Brazilian Expeditionary Force (FEB), operating in the 5th Army in Italy, was equipped with M1903 rifles. In August 1943, the
Free French Forces of General
Charles de Gaulle were re-equipped by the United States, primarily with M1903 Springfield and
M1917 Enfield rifles. The M1903 became one of the primary rifles used by French forces until the end of the war, and was afterwards used in
Indochina and by local militia and security forces in French Algeria. Large numbers of M1903 rifles were sent to China. The M1903 rifles captured by the Germans were designated
Gewehr 249(a). During the Korean War, South Korean Marines used the M1903A3.
Post–Korean War service After the Korean War, active service (as opposed to drill) use of the M1903 was rare. Still, some M1903A4s remained in sniper use as late as the Vietnam War; and technical manuals for them were printed as late as 1970. In 1977, the U.S. Army located a rather large cache of unissued M1903A3 rifles which were demilitarized and then issued to JROTC units as a replacement for their previously issued
M1 Garand and
M14 rifles, which were then returned to Army custody due to concerns about potential break-ins at high school JROTC armories. For safety reasons, the JROTC M1903s are demilitarized to make them permanently unable to fire by plugging the barrel by inserting a very cold steel rod which became too tight to remove after
expanding when warmed to room temperature, or having it filled with lead, soldering the bolt and welding the magazine cutoff switch in the "off" position. ==Specifications==