Springfield

The Springfield 1903 was a sniper rifle used by the American soldiers during World War II. It first saw action in the First World War.

History
After the Spanish American war, the USA desperately needed a new rifle to combat the new German Mauser Model 1893 rifle, which was used by the Spanish forces, which was considered superior to the Americans' standard 1892 Krag rifle.

The basic time line is that work began on creating a rifle that could handle higher loads and adopted some of Mauser's features, began around the turn of the century by Springfield, with a prototype produced in 1900, and going into production in 1903, thus gaining its nomenclature. There was actually an interim rifle that almost entered production, the Model 1901. Springfield was sure enough that the Model 1901 would be accepted that they began making some parts, but it was not accepted and further changes were asked for. The design was further modified and accepted, type classified and entering production in 1903.

The War Department had exhaustively studied and dissected several examples of the Mauser Model 93 rifle captured during the Spanish-American War, and combined features of both the U.S. Krag Rifle Models 1894-1898, and the Mauser Model 93, to produce the new U.S. Springfield Rifle, Model 1903. Still, the 1903's used so many design features from the German Mauser that the U.S. government paid royalties to Mauserwerke.

By January 1905 over 80,000 of these rifles had been produced at the federally-owned Springfield Armory. However, President Theodore Roosevelt objected to the design of the bayonet used (a rod-type) as being too flimsy for combat. All the rifles to that point consequently had to be re-tooled for a knife-type bayonet, called the M1905. A new improved Model 1904 sight was also added.

The retooling was almost complete when it was decided another change would be made. It was to incorporate improvements discovered during experimentation in the interim, most notably the use of pointed ammunition, first adopted by the French in the 1890s and later other countries. The American rounds with this feature to be used in the Springfield were designated "Cartridge, Ball, Caliber .30, Model of 1906"; this is the famous .30-06 ammunition used in countless small arms to the present day. The rifle's sights were again redone to compensate for the speed and trajectory of the new cartridges. The round itself was based on the .30-03, but rather than a 220-grain (14 g) bullet fired a 2,300 ft/s (700 m/s), it had a 150-grain (9.7 g) pointed bullet fired at 2,800 ft/s (810 m/s); the case neck was a fraction of inch shorter as well.

Additionally, tests revealed that the design was effective with a short, "cavalry-style" barrel of 24 inches (610 mm) in length, so the decision was made to issue shorter rifles to the infantry as well, an innovation during a time when long rifles for infantry were the norm.

As a whole, these changes led to a vastly efficient and deadly shoulder arm. Some dubbed it the "weapon of the silent death," since a person could be struck by its bullet before ever hearing the weapon's report.

Even close to 30 years after its initial debut, the Springfield was used in World War II as a somewhat standard rifle for the United States'Marines, and a standard for close to all American snipers.

Call of Duty 1 and United Offense
The Springfield is a bolt-action sniper rifle with a five-round magazine with rounds loaded in one round at a time. If you hit the head or chest, it's a one-shot kill. To effectively use the scope, have the point where all the lines meet focused on the enemy you want to hit. It's accuracy is great, and the recoil is easy to adjust. Overall, it's a standard sniper rifle. Just don't use it in close quarters. Use your pistol for that.

Call of Duty 2
It's the exact same as the one in Call of Duty 1.

Call of Duty: World at War
In multiplayer mode, it is the first bolt action rifle given to you. When equipped with a sniper scope, it can perform one shot kills easily with the stopping power perk. Unlike in Call of Duty 2, the Springfield can be used with or without a scope as opposed to only with one in Call of Duty 2.