The most capable rifle of WWI and well into the 1940s was the M1903 Springfield rifle. The M1903 was based in many ways on the German M93 Mauser rifle that caused US troops so much difficulty during the Spanish American war. This German rifle was superior in terms of its accuracy, ability to quickly load and reload clips and its durability. In fact, when developing the M1903, seven different patents held by Mauser were infringed upon and so the US government had to pay restitution and licensing fees, some of these being brought post war. In effect, the US had to pay the Germans for the bullets fired at them in WWI!

The M1903 was a major improvement over the 1893 Krag-Jorgensen bolt action rifle that was then in use. However, the M1903 was not initially produced in very large numbers. It was enough to cover the small, peace-time US Army, but when the US entered the war, the build-up was such that production could not keep pace. Oddly, the US did start producing the M1917, which was a licensed build of the less potent Lee-Enfield and that is the weapon with which most US troops went to war. Why other factories could not have started building more M1903s is a bit of a mystery.

What made the M1903 Springfield such a superb weapon was its accuracy. It was the choice of snipers in WWI, WWII and even into Korea. The 30-06 cartridge packed quite a punch and the trajectory of the bullet was quite flat even over relatively long distances. It was not until mid-1943 that enough M1 Garrand weapons were available to US troops so even in the early days of WWII, US troops went to war with the M1903. What made the M1 Garrand a better weapon was not its accuracy, but its ability to fire more bullets quickly, since it was not a bolt action rifle.

The author provides a full history of the design, development and use of the M1903. He compares it to other similar weapons and there is the usual bit on firing the rifle. Modifications and accessories used on the rifle are also covered in considerable detail.

Overall, it is an excellent book on this important US rifle and one that no enthusiast should be without.

March 2013

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