Springfield Model 1861

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Modern reproduction of the Springfield Model 1861

The Springfield Model 1861 was a rifled musket shoulder arm used by the United States Army and Marines during the American Civil War. Commonly referred to as the "Springfield" (after its principal place of production, Springfield, Massachusetts), it was the most widely used U.S. Army weapon during the Civil War, favored for its range, accuracy, and reliability.

The barrel was 40 inches long, the caliber .58, and the total weight was approximately 9 pounds. The Springfield had an effective range of almost 600 paces, and used percussion caps to fire rather than the flintlocks of the 1700s (the last U.S. flintlock musket was the Model 1840). The most notable difference between the Model 1861 and the earlier Model 1855 was the elimination of the Maynard tape primer for the Model 1861. (The Maynard primer, a self-feeding primer system, was unreliable in damp weather, and the priming mechanism was expensive and time-consuming to produce.) Further, unlike the Model 1855, the Model 1861 was never produced in a two-banded "rifle" configuration.

The Springfield was aimed using flip-up leaf sights, which were set to 300 and 500 yards. By contrast, the British 1853 Enfield, favored by the Confederates, utilized a ladder-sight system. The Springfield Rifle cost $20 each at the Springfield Armory where they were officially made. Overwhelmed by the demand, the armory opened its weapons patterns up to twenty private contractors. The most notable producer of contract Model 1861 Springfields was Colt, who made several minor design changes in their version, the "Colt Special" rifled musket. These changes included redesigned barrel bands, a new hammer, and a redesigned bolster. Several of these changes were eventually adopted by the Ordnance Department and incorporated into the model 1863 rifled musket.

The Springfield Model 1861 was equipped with a triangular socket bayonet.

The Model 1861 was relatively scarce in the early years of the Civil War (many troops were still using Model 1842 smoothbored muskets and Model 1816/1822 muskets converted to percussion, both in .69 caliber). It is unlikely that any of these were available for use in the First Battle of Bull Run. However, over time, more and more regiments began receiving Model 1861 rifled muskets, though this upgrade appeared somewhat quicker in the eastern theater of operations. Over 700,000 Model 1861 rifles were produced.

The Model 1861 was certainly a step forward in U.S. small arms design, being the first rifled shoulder weapon to be produced on such a large scale (relatively few Model 1855 rifled muskets were produced before the Civil War began, 1841 "Mississippi" rifles were produced in some numbers, and the 1803 Harper's Ferry rifle was, and is, genuinely rare). However, some argue that its impact on the Civil war has been overstated. While more accurate in the hands of an experienced marksman, the rifled musket's accuracy was often lost in the hands of recruits who received only limited marksmanship training (the emphasis was on rate of fire). Further, most Civil War firefights were waged at a relatively close range using massed-fire tactics, minimizing the effect of the new rifle's long-range accuracy. Lastly, the .58 caliber bullet, when fired, followed a rainbow-like trajectory. As a result, many inexperienced soldiers who did not adjust their sights would shoot over their enemies' heads in combat. There are numerous accounts of this happening in the war's earlier battles. With this in mind, soldiers were often instructed to aim low.