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Officially designated as the 'United States Rifle, Caliber .30-06, Model of 1903 ' and referred by the troops as the “03” '03' or simply as the “Springfield”'Springfield', the M1903 Springfield is an American magazine fed, bolt-action repeating rifle. It served as the main infantry rifle of US forces during World War 1, and it remains popular today as a civilian firearm, historical collector's piece, competitive shooting rifle, and military drill rifle. The M1903 has seen frontline service in nearly twenty wars in a period of 70 years.
During the Spanish-American War, the US Army, armed with Model 1892-99 Krag–Jørgensen rifles, suffered massive casualties by Spanish forces armed with Spanish Mauser Model 1893 rifles. Despite the war being a victory for the US, military officials were disappointed with the performance of the Krag–Jørgensen. After a number of evaluations were completed by Springfield Armory, the Mauser system was deemed a superior design, and development of a new rifle began.<ref name = "1903 background article">[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1903_Springfield Wikipedia article on the M1903 Springfield]</ref>
The US Chief of Ordinance Adelbert Buffington Department authorized the then-federally owned Springfield Armory to begin working up a prototype rifle. The first prototype Springfield produced would be the Model of 1900 .30 Prototype, which had design elements incorporated from both the Krag–Jørgensen and Spanish Mauser Model 1893. This prototype also featured an exposed magazine and follower, and a magazine cut-off styled after the Lee-Enfield. The Model 1900 prototype would be rejected, and a second prototype would be introduced a year later. The US Rifle Model 1901 .30 Prototype ditched the exposed magazine and follower in favor of a Mauser-style internal magazine, and incorporated additional features from the Mauser 1893 and Gewehr 98 rifles. A unique style of magazine cutoff would also be added to the rifle. The 1901 prototype was almost accepted, but additional changes were requested by Chief of the Ordinance Buffington's successor William CrozierDepartment. The final design had the rifle shortened down from a length of 30 inches to 24 inches, creating an infantry long gun with the ability to act as and a carbine for cavalry troops. A spikerod-type rod bayonet was added to would be affixed under the design, with storage in the fore end of the stockbarrel. This new design was accepted, officially adopted as the 'United States Rifle, Caliber .30, Model 1903', and entered production that same year.<ref name = "informational video othias">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jhh4wIS6zMI C&Rsenal's video on the M1903 Springfield]</ref>
By January 1905 over 80,000 of the 1903 pattern rifles with rod bayonets had been produced at Springfield Armory. However, President Theodore Roosevelt objected to the design of expressed displeasure at the sliding rod-type bayonet, stating that he believed it to be too flimsy for combat use. All 1903 pattern rifles had to be re-tooled with bayonet lugs to allow mounting of the M1905 pattern blade bayonet. In addition, a new pattern of ladder sight was added. The retooling was almost complete when it was decided another change would be made, this time to the ammunition. During the development and experimentation process for the M1903, pointed ammunition had begun to see use over in Europe. These new cartridges were a marked improvement over the old roundnosed ammo. A new 'Spitzer' pattern pointed cartridge was developed for the Springfield rifle to replace the current .30 caliber bottlenosed rounds. This new cartridge would come to be the 'Caliber .30, Model of 1906', more commonly known as the .30-06, one of the most legendary cartridges in American firearms history. The .30-06 would go on to see use in a wide array of rifles and machine guns, and would remain in standard US military service up until the adoption of the 7.62 NATO cartridge. The .30-06 it remains a popular caliber with civilian and recreational shooters.<ref name = "informational video shooting usa">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9rJe1iK7vI Shooting USA's video on the M1903 Springfield]</ref>
Despite the numerous alterations made by Springfield Armory's use of a two-piece firing pin, a unique magazine cut-off, and other design alterations, the M1903 was still clearly a Mauser-derived design. In addition, the Springfield had been designed for use with stripper clips, and invention that Mauser also held the patents on. Chief of Ordinance William Crozier would contact Mauser in spring of 1904, and after some negotiations the two parties would come to an agreement: Mauser would receive 75 cents per rifle made, and 50 cents for every 1,000 stripper clips made. All totaled, the US government would end up paying Mauser $200,000 in royalties.
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