However, another factor for Custer’s defeat was that the Lakota warriors were also armed with superior Henry, Spencer, and Winchester repeating rifles. The cartridges were redesigned with brass cases, which didn’t expand as much as copper and that greatly improved the effectiveness of the weapon.
Following an investigation into the defeat and annihilation of Lieutenant-Colonel George Armstrong Custer’s battalion at the Battle of Little Bighorn in June 1876, it was suggested that many of the troopers’ Model 1873 carbines may have jammed. Cavalry, which was issued without the cleaning rod. Otherwise, they were left with a second-rate club.Įven worse was that the carbine version carried by the U.S. Soldiers needed to manually extract the spent cartridge with a knife blade or other tool such as a cleaning rod. Soldiers quickly found that the copper could expand excessively in the breech, while the copper could also leave a residue that would further result in it being jammed in the breech. The rifle was originally issued with a copper cartridge case. It proved to be an accurate rifle, but its recoil was so high that soldiers jokingly said it could take down two men with each shot – the man it hit and the man who actually fired it!Īs with the M16 a century later, ammunition was the weapon’s Achilles Heel. To load a round, the operator had to open the latch and manually insert a single cartridge. 3 Experimental 24" Carbines produced in 1888.The design was improved and finally adopted as the Model 1873, and soon nicknamed the “Springfield Trapdoor” due to its breech-loading mechanism. 1000 Experimental 24" Carbines produced in 1886. 11 Marksman Rifles: 2 produced in 1881, 9 inġ882.
The Above Production Figures Include: 7 Sporting Rifles in 1875 1 Metcalfe Rifle produced inġ876. Model 1870 Rifle: In 1873, 100 had Metcalfe
Model 1866 Short Rifle: It is not clear if production extended Trapdoor production data Trapdoor Production Data
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