Springfield Model 1855 Rifle-Musket

About the Springfield Model 1855 Rifle-Musket

The Springfield Model 1855 Rifle-Musket was the first standard-issue rifled musket of the United States Army to be chambered for the .58 caliber Minié ball. A percussion-cap, muzzle-loading long arm produced at the Springfield and Harpers Ferry armories, it introduced the troublesome Maynard tape primer system, which automatically advanced a roll of percussion caps as the hammer was cocked. Its rifled three-groove barrel and expanding Minié projectile gave it far greater range and accuracy than the smoothbore muskets it replaced, and it served as the direct predecessor to the simplified Model 1861 used throughout the American Civil War.

Adopted as the U.S. Army's first .58 caliber rifled musket, the Model 1855 marked the service-wide transition from smoothbore to rifled long arms and the Minié-ball system, setting the technical pattern that would define Civil War infantry combat even after its flawed Maynard primer was abandoned.

Springfield Model 1855 Rifle-Musket specifications

The Maynard tape primer proved unreliable in field service and was frequently bypassed in favor of standard individual percussion caps; the system was dropped on the succeeding Model 1861. Rifling twist is approximately one turn in 72 inches (1:72). Production estimates range from roughly 47,000 at Springfield to about 60,000-75,000 across both national armories.