Springfield musket

Springfield musket may refer to any one of several types of small arms produced by the Springfield Armory in Springfield, Massachusetts, for the United States armed forces. In modern times, these muskets are commonly referred to by their date of design followed by the name Springfield ("1855 Springfield", for example). However, U.S. Ordnance Department documentation at the time did not use "Springfield" in the name ("Rifle Musket, Model 1855", for example).

Springfield Model 1816 musket

They are sometimes incorrectly referred to as "Springfield rifles". Rifles have grooves on the inside of their barrels. Smoothbore muskets do not. The term "Rifled musket" originally referred to smoothbore muskets that later had their barrels rifled for use of the Minié ball. This term was extended to include weapons that were produced with rifled barrels, as long as the overall design was very similar to the original smoothbore musket.

Smoothbore muskets:

Rifled musket:

See also

References

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