Springfield Model 1875 Officer's Rifle

About the Springfield Model 1875 Officer's Rifle

The Springfield Model 1875 Officer's Rifle is a single-shot breech-loading rifle chambered in .45-70 Government, built at the Springfield Armory as a deluxe presentation-grade arm for U.S. Army officers. Based on the Model 1873 'Trapdoor' service rifle with its hinged breechblock, it features a 26-inch barrel, a checkered walnut stock tipped in white metal fore and aft of the breech, a single-set trigger that functions as a hair trigger, and a globe front sight paired with a buckhorn barrel sight and a graduated tang peep sight for long-range target work. Fewer than 500 were produced during its ten-year manufacturing run.

Unlike the plain issue Trapdoor service rifles carried by enlisted men, the Officer's Model was a private-purchase luxury arm offered to commissioned officers who wanted a refined sporting rifle, complete with fine checkering, engraved furniture, and set trigger. Its rarity and craftsmanship make surviving examples highly prized among collectors of American martial arms.

Springfield Model 1875 Officer's Rifle specifications

Sold to officers who wished to purchase a fine sporting arm; the tang peep sight was graduated for long-range shooting to roughly 1,100 yards. Made in a small number of variant configurations over three periods of manufacture.