Springfield Model 1868

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The Springfield Model 1868, using the trapdoor breechblock design developed by Erskine S. Allin, was the first new-manufacture United States breech-loading military rifle (previous versions having been conversions of muzzle-loading civil war rifled muskets). Over 50,000 were manufactured, chambered for the .50-70 450 cartridge. This model served as the basis for the definitive Model 1873 "Trapdoor Springfield" 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.