At the end of the Civil War the US Government had on hand over one million single-shot, muzzle-loading .58” caliber rifle muskets of the Springfield pattern, most of which were still serviceable. Wartime experience had shown that muzzle-loaders were becoming obsolete: it was difficult to load them in other than a standing position, and as they became fouled from repeated firing, it became increasingly difficult to ram a cartridge home. As a result, soldiers would frequently fail to ram the bullet fully down on the powder, so that the weapon burst on firing. Also, it was relatively easy to ram more than one load into a muzzle-loader by mistake.
Because of these glaring defects, most European armies had already adopted breechloading arms. In 1865 the US faced the possibility of war with one of these powers: France had installed a puppet government in Mexico while the US was distracted by the Civil War, and many Americans believed war would be necessary to dislodge the French-backed Emperor Maximilian.
At the same time, the usual postwar mood of retrenchment had set in and a penny-pinching administration was reluctant to scrap large numbers of usable weapons and initiate a costly replacement program. Instead, the Ordnance Department was directed to convert the existing muzzle-loaders to a standard breech-loading arm. The system that was selected was a relatively simple one developed by Erskine S. Allin, the Master Armorer of Springfield Armory. This "Allin conversion" consisted primarily of removing the top portion of the rear of the barrel and replacing it with a hinged breech block, which soon was nicknamed the "trap door." Five thousand Model 1865 conversions were produced at Springfield, utilizing the older rifle muskets and retaining their .58” caliber.
The basic "trapdoor" design lasted more than 25 years, but many gradual modifications resulted in steady improvement of the weapon. The .58” caliber was considered too large, so in 1866 the arm was redesigned and converted to .50” caliber. This was accomplished by reaming out the bore and brazing in a new .50” cal. liner of wrought iron or steel. The breech mechanism and extraction system were improved, and the new .50” cal. Cartridge was center fire instead of rim fire.
The model of 1866 received its baptism of fire on July 31, 1867 in the celebrated "Wagon Box Fight" near Fort Phil Kearney in the Wyoming Territory. Here 28 soldiers and four civilians under the command of Major Powell held off repeated attacks by Chief Red Cloud's vastly superior force of Oglala Sioux. Powell's detachment inflicted several hundred casualties, while sustaining only three themselves, demonstrating conclusively the value of their new breech-loaders.
In 1868 and again in 1870, under the influence of Major J.G. Benton, the new commanding officer of Springfield Armory, further improvements were made. The caliber remained at .50”, but new barrels were made rather than relining the old muzzle-loader barrels. Surplus Civil War parts continued to be used on the remainder of the weapon. The Model 1870 was similar to the 1868, except for a few minor modifications such as a shortened receiver and a changed rear sight.
Major changes took place in 1873, based on the recommendations of a board of Ordnance officers under Brig. Gen. A.H. Terry. The resulting Model 1873 had the caliber reduced to .45” and saw Springfield Armory producing the entire weapon from new parts. A new cartridge was adopted, the .45”-70-405, meaning that it was .45” caliber, contained 70 grains of black powder and a bullet weighing 405 grains. As with most other 19th Century Springfield arms, the Model 1873 was produced in three size variations: a rifle (overall length 52 inches) for foot soldiers; a carbine (41 in.) for mounted troops; and a "cadet rifle" (49 in.) for use by military school cadets.
Continuing gradual improvements in the basic trapdoor design led to new model designations in 1879 and 1884. Because of these constant changes, as well as later repairs and modifications, it is difficult to find two trapdoors exactly alike, although the operating mechanism remained essentially the same. The Model 1884 was designed to handle the newer .45”-70-500 cartridge--the same used in the Gatling Gun--whose heavier bullet provided for more complete combustion of powder in the barrel.
The final model of the famous ".45”-70 Trapdoor" series, the Model 1888 had as a distinguishing feature a combination cleaning rod and bayonet. What appears to be the ramrod--actually a cleaning rod--will pull out and snap into place to form a pencil-thin bayonet. All of the earlier models were designed for a more conventional detachable triangular socket bayonet.
The end of the Trapdoor series came in 1892, when the government adopted a bolt-action repeating rifle known as the Krag-Jorgensen. Many National Guard units, however, carried the .45”-70 into the Spanish-American War of 1898 and the weapon is still highly prized by collectors for its workmanship and accuracy. More than 500,000 were produced in .45” caliber alone, serving the army well during a colorful period of American history.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Frasca, Albert J. and Hill, Robert H., The .45-70 Springfield, Springfield Publishing Co., 1980. Waite, M.D. and Ernst, B.D., Trapdoor Springfield, Beinfeld Publishing Co. 1980.
