Springfield Model 1863

The Springfield Model 1863 was a .58 caliber <a href="/facts/Rifled_musket/yrzmsVce">rifled musket</a> manufactured by the <a href="/facts/Springfield_Armory/wk5kUfCX">Springfield Armory</a> and independent <a href="/facts/Defense_contractor/A8mywI9w">contractors</a> between 1863 and 1865.
The Model 1863 was only a minor improvement over the <a href="/facts/Springfield_Model_1861/WTWk6Cys">Springfield Model 1861</a>. As such, it is sometimes classified as just a variant of the Model 1861. The Model 1861, with all of its variants, was the most commonly used <a href="/facts/Long_gun/MQwcenpv">longarm</a> in the <a href="/facts/American_Civil_War/A9FT3ksD">American Civil War</a>, with over 700,000 <a href="/facts/Manufacturing/3qW7bcdy">manufactured</a>. The Model 1863 also has the distinction of being the last <a href="/facts/Muzzleloader/RpJPVv78">muzzle-loading</a> longarm produced by the Springfield Armory.
The Model 1863 was produced in two variants. The Type I eliminated the band springs and replaced the flat barrel bands with oval clamping bands. It also featured a new <a href="/facts/Ramrod/HLS868TC">ramrod</a>, a case-hardened lock, a new hammer, and a redesigned bolster (percussion chamber). Several of these modifications were based upon <a href="/facts/Colt%2527s_Manufacturing_Company/zXuVKYTP">Colt</a>'s contract Model 1861, known as the "Colt special". 273,265 Type I variants were manufactured in 1863.
The Type II is sometimes referred to as the Model 1864, but is more commonly referred to as just a variant of the Model 1863. This version re-introduced band springs, replaced the clamping bands with solid oval bands, and replaced the three leaf rear sight with <a href="/facts/Iron_sights/v0NvpvhH">single leaf sight</a>. A total of 255,040 of these were manufactured from 1864 to 1865.
By the end of the Civil War, <a href="/facts/Muzzle-loading_rifles/kk1fHAHk">muzzle-loading rifles</a> and muskets were considered obsolete. In the years following the Civil War, many Model 1863 muskets were converted into <a href="/facts/Breech-loading/bCzCKg7n">breech-loading</a> "<a href="/facts/Trapdoor_mechanism/XbIVrbL8">Trapdoor</a> <a href="/facts/Springfield_rifle/PPFaEyAS">Springfields</a>". The breech-loading weapons increased the rate of fire from three to four rounds per minute to eight to ten rounds per minute. The Model 1863 could be converted to breech-loading for about five dollars, at a time when a new <a href="/facts/Rifle/H3mJx7U4">rifle</a> would cost about twenty dollars. The conversion of Model 1863 rifles therefore represented a significant cost savings to the <a href="/facts/United_States_Armed_Forces/NHVsU9Id">U.S. military</a>. The US Military adopted various models like the <a href="/facts/Springfield_Model_1866/SlF0rr6k">Springfield Model 1866</a>.

Springfield Model 1863 open-in-new

Springfield Model 1863