Customer Reviews

Trapdoor Springfield: The United States Springfield Single-Shot Rifle, 1865-1893

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

M.D. "Bud" Waite and B.D. Ernst bring owners and fans of the .45 caliber Springfield rifle a well-researched and beautifully illustrated book on the arm that served our military from the late 1860s through the Spanish American War and Philippine Insurrection. Indeed, I have a .45 Springfield rifle that was in reserve until the late 1940s! My son laughingly calls it the .45-70 NATO.

Dubbed the "Trapdoor Springfield," because of its distinct, hinged action, the .45 caliber Springfield was developed by an employee of the Springfield Arsenal named Erskine Allin (with an "i"). Thus, the US Army could be provided with a breech-loading rifle by utilizing the endless stocks of .58 caliber muzzle-loaders left over from the Civil War.

This story is well told and well photographed in this book. That's why I gave it five stars. If you are interested in these arms, the ones Custer's troopers carried at the Little Bighorn in 1876, this can be a very useful reference, especially if you supplement it with Joe Poyer's and Craig Riesch's THE 45-70 SPRINGFIELD, one of the FOR COLLECTORS ONLY series which shows the major variations of the .45 Springfield part by part.