Over 1 Million Of These Rifles Fired Bullets from World War I to Vietnam

The last Model 1903 Springfield Rifle left American military service in 1974, after 1,300,000 plus were built, and 71 years after first entering the U.S. Army’s arsenal.

A sniping version of the 1903A1, the Model 1903A4—the only sniper rifle to see significant service with the U.S. Army in World War II—was built by Remington. Weighing nine pounds six ounces, it was fitted with a M73B1 Telescopic Sight. During the war, the U.S. Marine Corps fought with the best American sniper rifle of the war—its Model 1903A1 using an 8X Unertl Telescope.

In 1896, the .30-40 “Model 1896 Krag Rifle” became the standard United States Army’s first bolt-action, magazine, smokeless-powder service rifle. The Danish design was popularly known as the Krag-Jorgensen, named for its creator, Colonel Ole Krag, director of Norway’s Kongsberg Arsenal, and Eric Jorgensen, one of the work’s engineers. Despite its design improvements, the Krag-Jorgensen experienced a short life as America’s primary infantry small arm.

The shortcomings of the Krag-Jorgensen became apparent during the Spanish-American War of 1898. Its cumbersome locking system, coupled with a low-powered cartridge, and its difficulty in adapting to clip-loading made it unfavorable compared to the Spaniards’ more effective charger-loaded German Model 1893 Mauser rifle, with its higher muzzle velocity, greater accuracy, and ability to be modified for clip-loading.