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19 U.S. Military Service Rifles from the Revolution to the Present

Ever since the Revolutionary War, American infantrymen has been issued with certain rifles and carbines that the U.S. military fielded as standard issue at any given time.

These rifles were among the best made in the world in their respective eras to ensure that each U.S. soldier was given the best load out possible for fighting back against America’s enemies.

What are these rifles that individual U.S. troops have used to defend America throughout our nation’s history? Let’s find out:

1 – Pennsylvania Flintlock Rifle

Pennsylvania Rifle 2 1
Image Credit: David Pedersoli

When the Revolutionary War broke out, there was no formal standard-issue rifle that was given to the American colonists who signed up to join the Colonial forces. As a result, many of these colonists had to simply use the flintlock muskets that they happened to own already.

One of the most plentiful of the era was the colloquially-named Pennsylvania rifle, which was also known as the Kentucky Rifle or the American Long Rifle. These rifles were designed and produced by German gunsmiths who based the design on the Jager muskets. Pennsylvania rifles were known for being highly accurate for the time, but they lacked the ability to affix a bayonet like the military muskets of the era.

2 – Charleville Flintlock Musket

Charleville Musket 2
Image Credit: Military Heritage

Perhaps the closest thing that the American Colonial Army had to a standard issue military rifle in the Revolutionary War was the French-made .69 caliber flintlock Charleville musket. These were also the standard issue rifle used by the French military at the time as well.

Tens of thousands of Charleville muskets were imported into America during the Revolutionary War due to the influence of French General Marquis de Lafayette, who helped train and lead American forces during the war. Charleville muskets remained in service to varying degrees in the American armed forces until the development of percussion cap muskets in the 1840s.

3 – Springfield Model 1795 Flintlock Musket

Springfield Model 1795
Image Credit: USS Constitution Museum

After the American victory in the Revolutionary War, the new nation now had the task of formally arming its military. The Charleville musket had proven to be an effective rifle for the Colonial forces, so the government contracted inventor Eli Whitney for new rifles to be produced (based on the Charleville) at the armory at Springfield, Massachusetts, which was also the nation’s first armory.

Like the Charleville, the Springfield 1795 was chambered for the .69 caliber and had an effective range of up to 75 yards. Around 150,000 units were produced in total. The Springfield 1795 also had the distinction of being the rifle of choice for many members of the Lewis & Clark Expedition.

4 – Springfield Model 1812 Flintlock Musket

Springfield Model 1812 Flintlock Musket 1
Image Credit: Case Auctions

The Springfield Model 1812 was simply an improvement of the 1795, primarily designed to help make the manufacturing process more efficient. The gun was being designed just as the War of 1812 with the British broke out, so as a result, 1795s continued to be produced until 1818. The 1812 didn’t become the standard issue rifle for American infantry until after the war had concluded. Around 30,000 units were produced.

5 – Springfield Model 1816 Flintlock Musket

Springfield Model 1816 Flintlock Musket
Image Credit: Congress Intercultural

The Springfield Model 1816 was a further improvement over the Model 1812. The 1816 had a smaller trigger guard, a longer bayonet, and a straight stock. Several of these rifles were later converted to percussion cap, which was far simpler and more weather resistant than the flintlock design.

The 1816 was used extensively during the Mexican-American War, and it continued to see limited service into the American Civil War to help supplement rifle shortages. Significantly more 1816s were produced than 1812s with around 700,000 made in total, which makes it the most produced American-made flintlock rifle in history.

6 – Model 1841 Mississippi Percussion Rifle

Model 1841 Mississippi Percussion Rifle
Image Credit: Horse Soldier

The .54 caliber Model 1841 Mississippi musket was the first standard American infantry rifle that was designed from the beginning to utilize the percussion cap action, also known as the cap lock. This was a major design improvement over the flintlock mechanism because it was much simpler by using small percussion caps that were struck by the hammer to ignite gunpowder in the barrel to fire a round.

The Model 1841 was widely used in the Mexican-American War and continued to be used into the Civil War, mostly by the Confederates. Later 1841 rifles were chambered to fire .58 Minie ball rounds like the Springfield Model 1855. Speaking of which…

7 – Springfield Model 1855 Percussion Musket

Springfield Model 1855 Percussion Musket 1
Image Credit: Rock Island Auction

The Springfield Model 1855 was a rifled musket that replaced the Model 1841 Mississippi rifle. The Model 1855 used .58 caliber Minie ball rounds, which were cylindrical, hollow-based bullets in contrast to the round balls that had previously been used in muskets.

Minie ball rounds were very accurate at long distances and would expand upon impact to create far more devastating wounds than the round balls could. In addition to Springfield, 1855 muskets were also produced at the Harpers Ferry and Whitney armories as well. Around 75,000 units were produced.

8 – Springfield Model 1861/1863 Percussion Muskets

Springfield Model 18611863 Percussion Muskets
Image Credit: Rock Island Auction

The Springfield Model 1861 was an improvement over the Model 1855 by doing away with the 1855’s Maynard tape primer system, which was expensive to produce and unreliable in wet conditions. The Model 1861 was widely praised for its reliability and accuracy. In 1863, improvements were made to the rifle by changing the hammer and the sights, but most consider the 1863 to merely be an improved variation of the 1861.

The 1861/1863 was the most widely used rifle by the Union during the American Civil War. Well over a million of these muskets were produced in total, and they were the last muzzleloading rifles produced by Springfield. Demand was so high that Springfield also had to contract the rifle to many other gun manufacturers as well, including Colt.

9 – Springfield Trapdoor Rifles

Untitled design 17 2
Image Credit: Wikipedia

By the end of the Civil War, it was apparent that muzzleloading rifles were obsolete. Breech loading rifles, where a bullet was inserted into the breech at the end of the barrel rather than the front, could increase a soldier’s rate of fire from around three rounds a minute to ten rounds. Several Springfield muzzleloading rifles were converted to breech loading in the late 1860s, but the design was not finalized and adopted as standard issue by the U.S. Army until 1873.

These rifles were known as the Trapdoor because of the design of the breechblock to insert or remove a round was like a trapdoor. Several more Trapdoor models with varying improvements were released in 1875, 1877, 1880, 1882, 1884, 1886, and 1888. Trapdoors were produced in both full-length rifle and shorter-length carbine variations; the latter were primarily favored by American cavalry. They remained the standard issue American infantry rifle until 1892, when they were replaced by the…

10 – Krag-Jorgensen Rifle

Krag Jorgensen Rifle
Image Credit: Rock Island Auction

The Krag-Jorgensen was a Norwegian-designed bolt action rifle that replaced the Trapdoor Springfields as the standard issue service rifle of the United States military. Chambered in .30-40 Krag, the Krag-Jorgensen was very unique amongst bolt-action rifles as, instead of the rounds loaded individually or via stripper clip through the top of the receiver, the rounds are instead loaded into the side of the receiver.

This rifle represented the culmination of the U.S. Army’s search for a repeating rifle that would replace the single shot rifles that the military had already used up until that point. Around 500,000 of these rifles were made at Springfield Armory. They were used by the American army extensively in the Spanish-American War, Boxer Rebellion, and the Philippine-American War. It saw very limited service in World War I with rear echelon American units.

11 – Springfield M1903 Rifle

Springfield M1903 2 1
Image Credit: American Rifleman

During the Spanish-American War, American troops armed with Krag-Jorgensen rifles encountered Spanish troops who were armed with Mauser rifles. Despite being outnumbered, the Spanish inflicted heavy casualties on the American forces, partly because the Mauser rifles could be reloaded much faster. Captured Spanish Mauser rifles were taken back to the Springfield armory where they were carefully inspected. The design was quickly recognized for its smooth action, durability, and ability to handle higher-velocity rounds, and Springfield set to work with designing a new rifle that would replicate the Mauser. The resulting M1903 rifle in .30-06 Springfield became the new standard issue American rifle to replace the Krag-Jorgensen.

The 1903 was the standard issue rifle for America in World War I and continued to see considerable action in World War II. Ironically, the American government was forced to pay Mauser royalties for almost completely copying the Mauser design, even though Germany and America fought on separate sides in World War I. In the early 1940s, the M1903 was updated to the M1903A3, which moved the rear sight from the front of the receiver to the rear. In addition to Springfield, M1903 rifles were also produced by Remington, Rock Island, and Smith-Corona.

12 – Enfield M1917 Rifle

Enfield M1917
Image Credit: Athlon Outdoors

When America entered World War I in 1917, there were not enough M1903 rifles being produced fast enough to equip every soldier who was sent overseas to fight on the Western Front. As a result, the military was forced to turn to an additional rifle to help supplement the M1903, and that rifle was the Enfield M1917. American companies like Eddystone, Winchester, and Remington had been contracted by the British earlier in the war to produce Lee-Enfield rifles for the British war effort.

When America entered the war, the military turned to these same factories for arms. Rather than have these factories retool their equipment to make the M1903, it was decided it would cheaper if they would instead produce a new rifle modeled after the Enfield but that would also be chambered for the same .30-06 round as the M1903. All in all, more M1917 rifles ended up seeing service with American forces in World War I than M1903s. The M1917 also saw limited action with American troops in World War II, and it was widely issued to American allies during the war as well. In the 1920s and 30s, Remington manufactured hunting rifles based off the M1917 design called the Model 30.

13 – M1 Garand Rifle

M1 Garand
Image Credit: Weapon Systems

The M1 rifle was designed by John Garand as a modernized replacement for the M1903 Springfield and M1917 Enfield rifles that were then in service. The M1 Garand was revolutionary because it was the world’s first semi-automatic service rifle that was formally adopted by any military. After several years of trials and testing, it was officially adopted in 1936, but it did not completely phase out the M1903 until the early 1940s.

Holding eight round of .30-06 ammunition, the M1 Garand offered the American soldier a significant advantage in firepower over their German, Italian, and Japanese counterparts who were all armed with bolt action rifles. Most M1 Garands were produced by Springfield Armory, Winchester, and Harrington & Richardson. It remained the standard issue service rifle of the U.S. military until 1957, and still sees use as a ceremonial rifle to this day. All in all, over 5.4 million M1 Garands were produced.

14 – M14 Rifle

M14 Rifle
Image Credit: Weapon Systems

The M14 rifle was basically a highly modified M1 Garand. Long story short, the M14 was an M1 that was re-chambered for the shorter 7.62x51mm NATO round and given a 20-round detachable box magazine, the ability to switch between semi and fully-automatic, a shorter gas tube at the end of the barrel, and a flash hider at the end of the barrel. The M14 was designed to replace four American weapons that there then in service: the M1 Garand rifle, the M1 Carbine, the M3A1 submachine gun, and the BAR light machine gun.

The M14 first saw action in Vietnam, but it quickly proved inadequate. It was too long and heavy to wield effectively in the thick jungle to or to replace the submachine gun role, and too light to replace the light machine gun role. This all soon led to the U.S. Army replacing it with the lighter M16 in 1967. Nonetheless, M14s continue to see service in the military today as designated marksman rifles (DMRs). Several companies such as Springfield Armory and Fulton Army produce semi-automatic versions of the M14 called the M1A for the civilian market, where they have proven popular.

15 – Colt M16A1

M16A1 Rifle
Image Credit: Weapon Systems

The M16A1 was the rifle that replaced the M14 as the standard U.S. infantry rifle. The M16 fired the .223 Remington round, which later was developed into the 5.56x45mm NATO in the 1980s. The M16 allowed the American soldier to carry much more ammunition and in a lighter package than the M14, and was much easier to control and fire for the average infantryman as well. It was more comparable to the AK-47 and SKS rifles that were being carried by Vietcong and NVA forces in Vietnam.

The M16A1 can be easily distinguished from other M16 rifles due to its triangular-shaped hand guards that are attached side-by-side. Early M16A1s were known for having reliability problems, but these were improved overtime with modifications to the rifle. The M16A1 was made from 1967 to 1982. Most were produced by Colt, but the GM Hydramatic Division and Harrington & Richardson made a large number as well.

16 – Colt M16A2 Rifle

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Image Credit: Rock Island Armory

The M16A2 was adopted in 1983 by the United States military as the successor to the M16A1. The obvious visual difference was the round-shaped hand guard, which was easier to grab onto and attached top to bottom rather than side-by-side as with the M16A1. The top and the bottom hand guards are also identical, which helped with logistics.

Further improvements with the M16A2 included the addition of a spent case deflector behind the ejection port, a thicker barrel in front of the front sight, an improved rear fight, modified flash suppressor, and switching the M16A1’s fully-automatic mode to a three-round ‘burst’ mode. The M16A2 was phased out in favor of the M16A4 in the late 1990s, but still remains in limited service with Army Reserve and National Guard units.

17 – Colt/FN M16A4

M16A4 Rifle
Image Credit: AmmoTerra

The M16A4 was formally adopted by the U.S. military in 1997. The biggest changes from the M16A2 were the removable carry handle and a Picatinny rail over the receiver that made it easy to mount with scopes or red dot sights.

The Army started to switch to the M4 Carbine as their primary rifle in the 2000s, but the Marine Corps maintained the M16A4 as its primary rifle until 2015, when it finally transitioned the rifle largely to a support role in favor of the M4 Carbine as well. M16A4s issued to the military were made by either Colt or FN.

18 – Colt M4 Carbine

M4 Carbine
Image Credit: Gun Digest

The M4 carbine was developed by Colt in the 1980s as a carbine version of the M16A2 rifle. The M4 quickly found favor with many military units since it was more compact and maneuverable than the M16, and was therefore a better choice for close quarters combat that infantrymen were increasingly finding themselves involved in during the modern age.

In the 1990s and 2000s, the military gradually began to shift away from the M16 to the M4. The Army completed this transition before the Marine Corps did. Most M4 carbines made for the military are produced by Colt and FN Herstal, and the carbine continues to be extensively fielded by the military today.

19 – SIG Sauer XM7

SIG Sauer XM7 1
Image Credit: Wikipedia

The SIG Sauer XM7 is a military variation of SIG’s MCX Spear rifle. As of the time of this writing, it was just recently selected as the U.S. Army’s new service rifle to formally replace the M16 rifles and M4 carbines. The XM7 holds 20 rounds of the new 6.8x51mm cartridge (also known as the .277 Fury); the purpose of this round is to perform better against modern day body armor technology that the 5.56x45mm NATO round may struggle against.

The XM7 has not yet been adopted by other branches of the military, who continue to issue the M4 and to a lesser extent the M16. It remains to be determined as to whether the XM7 will be adopted by the other branches and to how it will perform in combat. The first XM7s were delivered to the American 101st Airborne in early 2024, with further deliveries to other units expected shortly.

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