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February 7th, 2005 Rifle Mondays has a special episode today. Recently the History Carnival was created, to showcase history oriented blogs and blog entries. Carnivals 1 and 2 have already been aired, and this is my entry for the 3rd. The American Military has fielded throughout the centuries a number of infantry weapons. The backbone of the infantry, though, is the rifleman. His rifle is his best friend and both he and the rifle are useless without each other. This post reviews the main infantry rifles of the US Military throughout the ages, starting with: The 1766 Charleville - Perhaps the only good thing the French did for us besides the Battle of the Virginia Capes & selling us Louisiana. It was a French Flintlock musket shooting a .69 caliber round ball that was obtained from obsolete French stockpiles and sold to us in mass quantities for equipping the newborn US Army. It had no rifling grooves in its barrel, which meant that the ball exited the barrel without any stabilizing motion to it whatsoever. As a matter of fact, if the ball was of smaller diameter than the barrel (a not unheard of condition) the ball would bounce as it rolled down the barrel, leaving at whatever angle it last touched the barrel. The gun was not very effective beyond about 75 yards, and accurate hits at 200 yards were extremely rare. Used in massed rows of trained infantry, though, it provided a murderous fire on the battlefield. Armies of the time relied on well-disciplined troops to deliver as many shots in as little time as possible, a skill the US Army developed only with lots of time and foreign help. The 1795 Springfield - Once independence had been won the US Military began making its own weapons at a little factory in Springfield, Massachusetts. The first model rifle to come out of the plant was a copy of the Charleville produced in 1795, part of an order for 7000 pieces placed in 1794. It improved on the Charleville by utilizing interchangeable parts. Production continued until 1814 on various versions of the musket. It survives today in the US Army - the symbol for the Infantry is a crossed pair of 1795s. It was supplanted by the ... The 1816 Springfield - This was the transition piece between the flintlock and caplock ignition systems. A .69 caliber smoothbore weapon, it lacked any sights more complicated than the straight length of the barrel itself. Many of these were converted to caplocks incorporating a drum and nipple system originally invented by the French. The 1842 Springfield - This was the transition piece between the smooth and rifled barrels. Incorporating from the start the caplock system of the 1816 conversions it started life as a smoothbore .69 caliber muzzleloader. Several (about 14,000) were made with rifled barrels. Most of these were fitted with long-range sights but about 4,000 were not. The 1861 Springfield - The most populous rifled musket of the Civil War, used on both sides but predominantly by the North. It shot a .58 caliber Minie ball (named for its French inventor, Charles Minie). It too had a rifled barrel, which meant that the projectile was stabilized as it left the barrel. This meant it had a greater range of accuracy, though most in the US Military did not know how to utilize the new feature. Troops still lined up shoulder to shoulder and were mowed down by the now much more accurate enemy. When the ball hit bone it didn't clip or chip, it demolished. The wound required amputation, which lead to disease, which was the main cause of casualties on both sides. The 1873 .45-70 Trapdoor Springfield - The first cartridge-shooting breechloader for the US Military. It's main feature was a trap-door that hinged upwards at the breech. This allowed the shooter to remain prone while shooting the rifle, a tremendous tactical boost. The cartridge was a .45 caliber bullet launched by 70 grains of black powder (hence the name). Although a single-shot weapon, it did allow rapid fire because of the innovative loading system. It was utilized heavily in the Indian campaigns and to a lesser extent in the Spanish American War. All the rifles mentioned so far followed a similar pattern, each clearly derived from the previous. However, in 1892 the profile took an abrupt shift. All the rifles after this point had a noticeable difference from their predecessor, except for the M14. The .30-40 Krag-Jørgensen - The first smokeless powder rifle for the US Military and the first with a bolt that held the cartridge in place. Designed in Norway by Ole Krag it utilized a magazine integrated into the receiver. This proved troublesome to load in the field under fire, especially since the rimmed cartridge had to be loaded so as to not catch the next cartridge in the magazine when stripped off by the bolt. It launched a .30 caliber round-nosed bullet with 40 grains of smokeless powder. It was outclassed by the Mauser in the field, which could be loaded faster and had a more accurate bullet. This led to the adoption of the ... The 1903 Springfield - The second bolt-action rifle used by the US Military was functionally a copy of the German Mauser, chambered for a new cartridge - the .30-03 (for .30 caliber, created in 1903). After a few improvements (round nose changed to a pointed nose and different propellant) the cartridge was re-designated the .30-06 and went on to become the longest serving cartridge in US history, a full 51 years. The M1 Garand - The first semi-automatic rifle for the US Military. Designed by a Canadian, John C. Garand, it also shot the .30-06. The weapon was loaded from an 8-shot clip that was inserted from the top of the weapon. When properly inserted it kicked free the bolt, which would, if you weren't fast enough, catch your thumb. This was known as "M1 Thumb", and was the consternation of many a soldier. This was noted by the Springfield Armory, which used the Garand as the basis for ... The M14 - The first fully-automatic rifle for the US Military. Actually, it was a select-mode rifle - throw a switch and it went from a single shot to full rock-n-roll mode. Based on the Garand, it shot a shorter cartridge, the 7.62 NATO round. This is a .30-06 round shortened by 12 mm and loaded with a different propellant. Other changes were incorporated, including a shorter bolt operating rod and a magazine that was loaded from below the weapon. Overall it is considered the apex of American rifle design, despite notable flaws the Military sought to correct in the next weapon. It was mostly uncontrollable in full-auto, and the procurement bureaucracy that had developed in Springfield, Mass. left quite a bad taste in many people's mouths. Hence, ... The M16 & M4 - Originally designed by Eugene Stoner around the 7.62 NATO cartridge, it was entered too late in the competition to replace the M1. With more work it was resubmitted in the mid-1960s as a replacement for the M14. By that time it shot a smaller cartridge, what eventually became known as the 5.56 mm NATO or .223 Remington. The smaller bullet size allowed for a larger muzzle velocity, but reports from the field were highly disapproving of its inability to knock down an enemy with one shot. Further, the weapon cycled with a directed gas system that blew directly into the bolt. Unlike the M1 & M14, there was no rod that was moved by the gases. This meant fewer moving parts (good) but it was easier to get the gun jammed (bad). After numerous finger-pointing sessions the problems were mostly resolved with the first generation weapons, and subsequent generations had fewer (though not completely resolved) troubles. A carbine version was issued, with a 16 inch barrel and collapsible stock, which has become the preferred weapon for close-quarters combat. It's called the M4. The XM8 - Potentially the replacement for the M16. It is based on the Heckler & Koch G3 receiver and comes with interchangeable barrels. This allows the same basic weapon to be used as a personal defense weapon for rear-echelon troops, a standard rifle for the infantryman, a large caliber squad-based automatic weapon, and a sharpshooter, pseudo-sniper gun. Like the M16 it shoots the 5.56 mm cartridge. Unlike the M16 it uses a rod-operated bolt to cycle, which means the weapon will malfunction less because of jamming. A final decision has not yet been made, but the weapon shows much promise as the next American battle rifle. |
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This site is copyright 2001-2005 by Matthew Maynard. All rights reserved. All your trademarks, copyrights, insignia, and other distinguishing characteristics are belong to you. Sharks in suits make for good joke material. Don't leave a mess on your way out. Links to external websites are valid at the time of article authoring and may decay as time goes by. But we'll always have Paris. The opinions on this site are those of their author and do not represent anyone else's views. That is, unless and until you agree with them, at which point they become yours as well. Opinions expressed in the comments belong to the comment poster and may be edited for content. Play nice with others, since you want them to play nice with you. |
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