U.S. Model 1884 Springfield Rifle

As I mentioned in a previous post, when the era of the muzzle loading rifle came to an end, the US military began converting their existing stocks to breach loaders. When the Army finally decided to adopt a new breach loading rifle, they chose an in-house design very much like the muzzle loaders they converted. In many ways the .45-70 Springfield retains the look of a percussion rifle, but with a breach block that lifts up for loading. The “Trapdoor Springfield” would become the Army’s standard shoulder arm from 1873 till 1894, during which time 568,000 of them would be made.

It could be argued that this was really the gun that won the West – It was in every Army garrison in the Post-Civil War West. It was with George Crook’s troops as they pursued Geronimo. The carbine version was with Custer at the Little Bighorn. At the end it was at Wounded Knee.

My Trapdoor Springfield is a Model 1884, which is an updated version of the original Model 1873. The most obvious difference is the Buffington rear sight, named after its designer, Lieutenant Colonel R. A. Buffington of the U.S. Army Ordnance Department. The sight can be adjusted for both elevation and windage and the raised leaf is graduated out to 1400 yards.

The lock is marked with the American eagle, “U.S.” and “SPRINGFIELD” for the National Armory. Serial number indicates it was made in 1889, which agrees with the stock Cartouche, which has the initials of the Chief Armorer. The sling is the Model 1887, which is correct for this model. The bayonet and ammo pouch will be separate posts – The sack coat will get posted at some point in the future, but for now it’s just there to look pretty.

Ok, Ammo time: The original .45-70 cartridge was a .45 caliber (actually .458) bullet fired by 70 grains of FFg black powder, hence the name. The original .45-70 bullet weighed 405 grains, but by the time this rifle was manufactured the Army was using 500 grain bullets and achieving a velocity of 1315 feet per second. My Chrony says I was able to average that velocity using a 300 grain bullet backed by 38 ½ grains of Pyrodex RS Select. Shooting from a rest, I couldn’t find paper at 100 yards, but at 50 yards I fired two 3-shot groups of just under 4” into the 5 and 6 rings at 12 O’clock. By adjusting my aim point I managed to hit center, but by then the groups had grown to under 7”. Memo to self – bring cleaning supplies to the range.

WARNING: Load data is provided for information only. Many vintage firearms are unsafe to shoot and I do not advise use of this load data for other firearms since I do not know the specific firearm that may be involved or its condition.