The Springfield Trapdoor,After the Civil War the muzzleloading percussion musket was becoming quite

The Springfield Trapdoor,After the Civil War the muzzleloading percussion musket was becoming quite a dated design.  By then, rifles had been developed that used a metallic self contained cartridge loaded from the breech, or better yet were lever action repeaters.  However, not wanting anything to go to waste, the US Army wanted to take their old stocks of Springfield muskets and convert them into breechloading rifles, much as countries such as France, Russia, Britain, Switzerland and Germany had done.The conversion was invented by a designer working for Springfield Armory named Erskine S. Allin.  Allin took older Model 1863 Springfield muskets and machined away the chamber to expose the breech.  Then he added a hinged breechblock nicknamed a “trapdoor”.  The user only had to lift up the breechblock, insert a cartridge into the chamber, shut the block and lock it into place.  Because these rifles were converted from percussion muskets, a firing pin mechanism also had to be included in the trapdoor breechblock.  The rifles were also chambered for a powerful cartridge called the .58-70.Over the next 6 years Allin would experiment with different models, using different calibers and making various improvements.  Around 25,000 Springfield muskets were converted into trapdoor rifles of different models.  Then in 1873 the US Army created a commission to test various designs for a standard model rifle to be adopted by the Army.  Designers submitted various breechloading and repeating designs.  Allin created a new trapdoor rifle, manufactured on its own rather than converted from older muskets.  Called the M1873 Trapdoor, the rifle utilized the same breechloading design, but fired the .45-70 cartridge, which would become the standard military caliber from the 1870’s to 1890’s.  Because of their familiarity with the Trapdoor design, Army Ordnance chose to adopt the 1873 Trapdoor as its standard military rifle.The 1873 trapdoor would especially become famous with its use by cavalry on the western frontiers.  While a solid and functional rifle, it was probably a shame that they chose the Trapdoor.  While a sturdy and rugged, the trapdoor was a single shot rifle, and the Army had rejected several good lever action and bolt action repeating rifle designs.  One of the reasons why Custer lost at the Little Big Horn was because the Sioux were armed with plenty of lever action Winchesters, while Custer’s outnumbered men had to make do with single shot breechloading rifles.Regardless of its downsides the Trapdoor would officially serve the US Army until in 1892 it was replaced with the Krag bolt action rifle.  It did however see action with some units during the Spanish American War, as there were not enough Krag Rifles for everyone.  It would have sucked big time to be issued an old Trapdoor when the Spanish were armed with bolt action Mauser Rifles and Maxim machine guns.Approximately 700,000 Trapdoor Springfield’s were produced. -- source link

More pics about