Following the outbreak of conflict in Massachusetts in April 1775, the Second Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia in May 1775 to function as a de facto government for the fledgling and tenuous colonial union. When the delegates met, a British army was bottled up in Boston by armed militiamen who had come from surrounding counties and colonies. A countryside uprising fomented by British attempts at arms confiscation had, by late spring, developed into an organized military body, and the Congress recognized it as such on June 14, 1775, when it declared that the 22,000 men arrayed outside Boston were troops of the Continental Army. By unanimous vote, the assemblage appointed George Washington as commander-in-chief.
Just three days later, the Army would face its baptism by fire at the Battle of Bunker Hill, when the ragtag group of upstart colonials poured deadly volleys into the British troops advancing up the slopes of Breed’s Hill. Though the Army was eventually forced to retreat from its entrenchments, the British paid dearly for the ground gained, suffering more than 1,000 casualties across three assaults. The men who fought at Breed’s Hill initiated a martial tradition within the American spirit that continues into the present day. They were civilian-soldiers—armed with hunting fowlers, captured military arms and cobbled-together gunsmith creations—facing off against the supreme military power of the age. Soon after the Continental Army’s fight on the heights outside Boston, some semblance of standardization began to creep into its makeup, starting with its infantry arms.
Of course, a survey such as the one that follows cannot possibly be comprehensive, as countless volumes could be (and have been) filled with the stories and details of U.S. martial firearms, ammunition and equipment, along with the men who employed them, across the past 250 years. But, at this momentous anniversary, it’s worth appreciating, at least in a succinct way, how far U.S. small arms development has come, as well as how, in some ways, so little has changed.
Model 1763/66 Charleville
Shortly after the establishment of the Continental Army, the Second Continental Congress acknowledged the severe shortage of suitable military arms, ammunition and supplies by authorizing secret communications with France for the purpose of obtaining war materiel. These negotiations resulted in the arrival of several shiploads of arms by April 1777, bringing quantities of older French Model 1763/66 “Charleville” flintlock muskets to American shores. By war’s end, the Charleville would be widely issued within the Continental Army and would serve as one of the principal military longarms into the early American era. According to arms historian George Moller, French arms shipments during the Revolution totaled well over 100,000 guns, and the true number may be significantly higher. The smoothbore French musket stood out from common civilian-pattern arms used in and around the siege of Boston by its cut-back forestock that exposed several inches of the barrel behind the muzzle, providing space for a rectangular metal lug that enabled it to mount a 17" triangular bayonet. Its standardized, .69-cal. bore eased the logistics of supplying ammunition to the new Army. By order of the Continental Congress, Charleville muskets in U.S. service were marked with a “United States” surcharge mark commonly found on the lock, barrel and stock of surviving arms. By 1780, this marking would be changed to a simple “US” stamp.
Overall Length: 60"
Barrel Length: 44"
Weight: 8 lbs., 6 ozs., to 10 lbs., 4 ozs. (depending on model)
Caliber: .69
Infantry Load: 24 to 40 paper cartridges (depending on cartridge box pattern)
Photo courtesy of Rock Island Auction
Model 1795 Springfield
With Gen. Washington’s approval, the site that would eventually become Springfield Armory was first set up in 1777 at the confluence of the Connecticut and Westfield rivers as the nation’s first military arsenal. But in its early years, the site was employed for storage and cartridge fabrication rather than armsmaking. Congress officially established Springfield Armory in 1794 as a location in which to build military small arms, a process that began with the Model 1795, which was patterned after the French flintlock muskets used to win American independence. So closely did these arms resemble the French guns that, at the time of manufacture, they were referenced as “U.S. Muskets, Charleville Pattern.” Due to the hand-fitting required in building 1795s, as well as the logistical challenges of establishing a new arms factory, only a few thousand of these muskets were made before the turn of the 19th century. Eventually, the establishment of a new federal armory at Harper’s Ferry, Va.—now in West Virginia—along with the use of several independent contractors and the increasing self-sufficiency of the Springfield Armory, increased quantities of available arms. Springfield Armory alone manufactured more than 100,000 before production ceased in 1815. While supplemented by various civilian contract muskets, the 1795 served as the principal infantry arm for the U.S. military during the War of 1812.
Overall Length: 60"
Barrel Length: 44"
Weight: 9 lbs., 8 ozs.
Caliber: .69
Infantry Load: 38 paper cartridges
Photo courtesy of Rock Island Auction
Model 1816 Springfield
Early U.S. military muskets were largely built by hand, making manufacturing and repair slow and cumbersome. During his ambassadorship to France, Thomas Jefferson became familiar with the concept of interchangeable parts, as pioneered by Jean-Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval and Honoré Blanc, then being applied to the production of Model 1777 Charleville muskets used by French troops. Jefferson recommended that such manufacturing methods be implemented in American industry and supported early efforts by armsmakers, notably Eli Whitney, toward those ends. By 1812, several men, notably Commissary Gen. Callender Irvine and Ordnance Chief Decius Wadsworth, worked to incorporate interchangeable parts into American military arms. These efforts met varying degrees of success from the early 1800s until the 1840s.
Of the several infantry muskets produced during that period, the Model 1816 Springfield emerged as the most notable and widely produced variant, seeing use in various guises for nearly half a century. Largely based on the Model 1777 Charleville, save for a slightly shorter barrel and modified stock, the Model 1816 saw use in the Texas Revolution, the Mexican-American War and the early years of the Civil War. More than 700,000 were produced until the mid-1840s by various makers, more than any other U.S. martial flintlock, and the design saw its zenith in the short-lived Model 1840 flintlock musket, which was produced with interchangeable parts.
Overall Length: 58"
Barrel Length: 42"
Weight: 9 lbs., 11 ozs.
Caliber: .69
Infantry Load: 38 paper cartridges
Photo courtesy of Rock Island Auction
Model 1842 Springfield
Small-arms evolution and the advent of the American System of Manufacture in the first half of the 19th century gave rise to several innovations, notably the development of true parts interchangeability and the use of a percussion ignition system in place of a flintlock. Both advancements culminated in the Model 1842 Springfield, the first percussion-primed musket widely adopted by the U.S. Army, as well as the first U.S. infantry musket to be built entirely from machine-made interchangeable parts at both national armories.
Externally, and aside from its use of a percussion lock and bolster, the 1842 borrowed many features from the pre-existing Models 1816 and 1840 muskets and remained a smoothbore arm offering limited range and accuracy compared to contemporary service rifles. The advent of the rifle musket saw a number of 1842s later rifled for longer-range use. Production commenced in 1844, and while it saw little employment during the ensuing Mexican-American War, the Model 1842, in both rifled and smoothbore guises, served in large numbers during the Civil War. More than 270,000 were produced by the federal armories at Springfield and Harper’s Ferry.
Overall Length: 58"
Barrel Length: 42"
Weight: 9 lbs., 13 ozs.
Caliber: .69
Infantry Load: 40 paper cartridges
Photo courtesy of Rock Island Auction
Model 1855/1861 Springfield
French ordnance officials continued to spearhead innovations in firearm technology in the mid-19th century, and by the 1840s, Claude-Etienne Minié, building on the earlier work of Henri-Gustav Delvigne, had developed a hollow-base, cylindrical bullet with an iron plug that could be loaded easily into the bore of a muzzleloading rifle. When fired, the bullet would expand into shallow rifling grooves that provided spin and stability to the projectile in flight. Experiments at Harper’s Ferry Armory resulted in a variant of Minié’s projectile designed by Master Armorer James Burton. A version of this hollow-base bullet designed by Lt. James G. Benton would subsequently become the standard projectile used in the Model 1855 Springfield rifle musket, the first general-issue U.S. longarm to be rifled. Its unique Maynard priming system used a roll of waxed paper, dotted with pockets of percussion priming compound, that uncoiled and advanced with the cocking of the hammer, obviating the need for percussion caps.
By the eve of the Civil War, nearly 60,000 Model 1855s had been produced, but the wartime demand for huge quantities of shoulder arms necessitated a simplified variant that could be produced quickly and easily. The complicated and finicky Maynard primer system of the 1855 was eliminated in the Model 1861. By war’s end, more than 1.1 million Springfield-pattern muskets had been produced by Springfield Armory and many civilian makers contracted by the U.S. government to fulfill the huge demand for guns.
Overall Length: 56"
Barrel Length: 40"
Weight: 9 lbs., 3 ozs.
Caliber: .58
Infantry Load: 40 paper cartridges
Photo courtesy of Rock Island Auction
Model 1873 Springfield
Wartime experiences in the 1860s underscored the utility of the self-contained metallic cartridge, and leading military powers quickly sought suitable shoulder arms that could make use of such technology. With prodigious quantities of muzzleloading rifle muskets on hand at the end of the Civil War, U.S. ordnance officials found an expedient solution from Erskine S. Allin, master armorer at Springfield Armory. Allin’s conversion process transformed now-obsolete muzzleloading rifle muskets into single-shot breechloaders through a hinged “trapdoor” that swung up and forward, simultaneously opening the breech end of the gun while also extracting and ejecting a spent cartridge. Early Allin conversion mechanisms were standardized in newly built U.S.-issue arms with the short-lived .50-cal. models of the late 1860s, but the adoption of the .45-70 Gov’t cartridge in 1873 resulted in a new rifle and carbine. Variants of the “Trapdoor Springfield” served the U.S. Army from the Indian Wars into the twilight years of the 19th century, and many saw active use with U.S. troops during the Spanish-American War.
Overall Length: 52"
Barrel Length: 32"
Weight: 8 lbs., 13 ozs.
Chambering: .45-70 Gov’t
Infantry Load: 70 cartridges
Photo courtesy of Rock Island Auction
Model 1892 Krag-Jorgensen
Once again, French ordnance innovation spurred a new small-arms race at the end of the 19th century. Paul Vieille’s discovery of Poudre B, the first practical smokeless propellant, transformed rifle design by enabling the use of smaller-bore, higher-velocity ammunition. U.S. ordnance officials trialed several competing rifles in the early 1890s, and the design from Norwegians Ole Krag and Erik Jorgensen emerged as the winner and served as the U.S. Army’s first general-issue bolt-action service rifle in several model variations from 1894 to 1903.
Notable for its unique box magazine protruding from the right side of the action, the Krag-Jorgensen was the first repeating rifle to be generally issued to the U.S. Army. A magazine cut-off enabled it to be loaded and fired singly, a common feature in early bolt-action military rifles. The anemic performance of the .30-40 Krag cartridge for which it was chambered, along with inherent weaknesses in the receiver design, caused the Krag to be among the most short-lived U.S. military arms. Nearly 475,000 Krag rifles and carbines were produced under license by Springfield Armory from 1894 to 1904.
Overall Length: 49"
Barrel Length: 30"
Weight: 8 lbs., 7 ozs.
Chambering: .30-40 Krag
Infantry Load: 100 cartridges
Photo courtesy of Rock Island Auction
Model 1903 Springfield
During the Spanish-American War, U.S. Army troops faced Spanish soldiers armed with the Model 1893 Mauser, and captured examples were examined and tested by U.S. ordnance officials. After failed attempts to enhance the capabilities of then-issued Krag rifles, development began on what eventually became the Model 1903 Springfield. In terms of receiver design, much was borrowed from extant Mauser designs, notably the Models 1893 and 1898, along with some features from the pre-existing Krag—such as the magazine cut-off.
More than 3 million Model 1903 Springfields were produced, in all variants, from 1903 until 1944. While heavily supplemented by the Model 1917 during World War I, the Model 1903 remained the official U.S. service rifle until 1936 and saw heavy use during the early years of World War II. In its Model 1903A4 sniper configuration, the bolt-action Springfield saw service through the Korean War. Its .30-’06 Sprg. chambering would be an Army standard for more than 50 years and remained an outsized influence on ammunition design beyond the mid-20th century.
Overall Length: 43.5"
Barrel Length: 24"
Weight: 8 lbs., 11 ozs.
Chambering: .30-’06 Sprg.
Infantry Load: 100 cartridges (20 five-round stripper clips)
Photo courtesy of Rock Island Auction
M1 Garand
Several semi-automatic rifles emerged in the early 20th century but saw limited military use. In the waning years of World War I, American inventor John Pedersen designed and built a device that allowed existing Model 1903 Springfield rifles to function as semi-automatic carbines, but the November Armistice of 1918 ended the conflict before the so-called Pedersen Device could be deployed. Further American development of semi-automatic designs continued into the 1920s before Springfield Armory engineer John C. Garand’s experimental T1E2 emerged as a clear winner for America’s first semi-automatic service rifle.
Using a unique, C-shaped en bloc clip holding eight staggered rounds of .30-’06 Sprg., the M1 was loaded through the top of the action and made ready to fire by allowing the reciprocating operating rod handle to move forward under spring pressure, thereby closing the rotating bolt. Propellant gas siphoned from a fired round entered a hole at the bottom of the barrel near the muzzle, which filled the gas cylinder below the barrel, propelling the operating rod and bolt rearward to extract a fired case and pick up the next round at the top of the en bloc clip. Once empty, the clip would spring from the locked-back action, prompting soldiers to insert a fresh clip.
Nearly 5.5 million M1 Garand rifles were produced from 1934 to 1957, and it served as the primary U.S. military longarm through World War II and the Korean War.
Overall Length: 43.5"
Barrel Length: 24"
Weight: 9 lbs., 8 ozs.
Chambering: .30-’06 Sprg.
Infantry Load: 80 cartridges (10 eight-round en bloc clips)
Photo courtesy of Rock Island Auction
M14
Throughout World War II, Springfield Armory trialed several experimental versions of the M1, including the T20, a Garand-designed prototype that allowed for full-automatic fire and used detachable box magazines in place of the en bloc clip. A new short-stroke gas system developed by Earl Harvey was incorporated into the design, and, by the early 1950s, the experimental T44 was selected over the Belgian FAL and ArmaLite AR-10 to become America’s next service rifle: the M14. Simultaneously, NATO member countries standardized on a single service cartridge to ease potential logistical issues in another European war, with most nations settling on the 7.62 NATO, a shortened derivative of the .30-’06 Sprg. cartridge with a similar ballistic profile.
Consequently, the 7.62 NATO-chambered M14 served as the primary American service rifle from the late 1950s until the early 1960s and continued to be used in specialist roles until the early 21st century. Conceptually, the M14 was envisioned by U.S. ordnance officials to be a “universal” option that could replace several different arms in the U.S. military arsenal. However, by 1963, production delays and concerns over the M14’s controllability in full-automatic fire and effectiveness as a general replacement arm caused then-Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara to halt production. More than 1.3 million M14s were made between 1959 and 1964.
Overall Length: 44.3"
Barrel Length: 22"
Weight: 9 lbs., 3 ozs.
Chambering: 7.62 NATO
Infantry Load: 100 cartridges (five 20-round magazines)
Photo courtesy of Rock Island Auction
M16A1
Mounting concerns over the M14 in the early 1960s spurred several defense officials to explore alternative platforms. A .223-cal. variant of the earlier ArmaLite AR-10 had been developed by Eugene Stoner and gained popularity following several successful tests. By 1963, experimental XM16E1 rifles were being produced for the U.S. Army. Standardized as the M16A1 in 1967, the new service arm officially replaced the M14 in U.S. service by 1969. Its 5.56x45 mm cartridge (standardized as 5.56 NATO in 1980), weighed about half as much as the 7.62 NATO cartridge, enabling troops to carry twice as much ammunition in a standard combat load. Recoil was more manageable, making the M16A1 more controllable in full-automatic fire. The use of aluminum forgings for the receiver set, along with polymer in the handguard, buttstock and grip, significantly lightened the rifle as compared to earlier M14s and M1 Garands. The M16A1 saw substantial use in Vietnam, and subsequent variants continued to be employed by U.S. forces into the 21st century. By the early 2000s, it had been estimated that more than 8 million M16s in all variants had been manufactured, making it the most widely produced U.S. military rifle of all time.
Overall Length: 38.8"
Barrel Length: 20"
Weight: 6 lbs., 6 ozs.
Chambering: 5.56 NATO
Infantry Load: 200 cartridges (10 20-round magazines)
Photo courtesy of Rock Island Auction
M4A1
Despite the lightweight and easily controllable nature of the M16A1, some U.S. troops found the platform to be unwieldy in select scenarios, due to its fixed buttstock and 20" barrel. Early experimental carbine variants, notably the CAR-15s, saw use by special forces units in Vietnam. By 1967, an experimental XM177E2 model was in service with MACV-SOG and was employed until the early 1980s. In 1982, development began on a new carbine variant of the M16, and by 1987, the XM4 had been tested by both the Army and Marine Corps. In 1993, after the First Gulf War, Colt began producing M4 carbines for the Army. By 2005, most soldiers carried M4s, and the design saw heavy use during conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. By 2010, M4 carbines were being updated to the M4A1 standard, adding a heavier-profile barrel that would dissipate heat during rapid fire, a full-automatic trigger group to replace the three-round-burst fire mechanism in the original M4 and a bilateral selector switch. The M4A1 is currently the principal service rifle for both the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps, with more than 500,000 produced as of the early 2000s.
Overall Length: 33.8"
Barrel Length: 14.5"
Weight: 7 lbs., 12 ozs.
Chambering: 5.56 NATO
Infantry Load: 210 cartridges (seven 30-round magazines)
Photo courtesy of FN America
Recent Decades & The Future
Despite the dominance of the M16/M4 platform in U.S. service, several testing programs in recent decades explored alternatives designed to increase the hit probability and lethality of U.S. military small arms. The Advanced Combat Rifle (ACR) program, begun in 1986, explored several experimental models, but by 1990, none had met the Army’s criteria for a new firearm, and the project was shelved. Soon after, the Objective Individual Combat Weapon (OICW) program of the late 1990s picked up where the ACR program had left off, and it eventually explored designs intended to replace several existing U.S. small arms, notably the M16/M4 platform. A spin-off of the OICW program resulted in the Heckler & Koch XM8 rifle, but despite extensive testing, the project was canceled in October 2005. In August 2010, the Army invited manufacturers to submit models to the Individual Carbine open competition as potential replacements for the M4/M4A1 carbine. Testing concluded in June 2013, with the Army stating that, of the eight entrants, “ ... none of the competitors met the minimum requirements.” In 2017, the U.S. Army began its Next Generation Squad Weapon (NGSW) program, designed to explore potential upgrades to the M4A1 platform, with particular emphasis placed on the 5.56 NATO-chambered carbine’s ability to penetrate bulletproof vests fielded by near-peer adversaries. In April 2022, the U.S. Army awarded a 10-year contract to SIG Sauer to replace its existing M4A1 carbines with the company’s 6.8x51 mm NGSW-R design, officially designated as the XM7.
