Springfield Model 1881 Forager

About the Springfield Model 1881 Forager

The Springfield Model 1881 Forager is a single-shot break-open trapdoor shotgun chambered in 20 gauge, built at the U.S. Springfield Armory from Model 1873 trapdoor actions. Issued to infantry companies stationed west of the Mississippi so soldiers could hunt small game to supplement rations, it used a smoothbore barrel reamed out from a condemned .58 caliber Civil War percussion barrel and a refurbished musket stock. Only about 1,376 were produced, making it one of the rarest of all U.S. martial trapdoor arms.

Nicknamed the 'Forager', this trapdoor shotgun let frontier soldiers put fresh game on the mess table. Cobbled together from Civil War musket stocks and worn-out .58 caliber barrels, it soldiered on with Army scouts and government hunters into the early 1900s, ending its service life in the Alaskan Territory.

Springfield Model 1881 Forager specifications

Built almost entirely from existing Model 1873 parts and condemned components; the design added only three new parts (a shotgun extractor, a front sight bead, and a barrel screw lug). Two were issued per infantry company; the type remained in issue to government hunters and scouts as late as 1906, including in the Alaska Territory.