Chaffee-Reece M1882
Springfield Armory (US Government) · Rifle · Discontinued · 1884
Also known as: Chaffee-Reece Rifle, Springfield Model 1882 Chaffee-Reece, U.S. Magazine Rifle Model 1882
Overview
The Chaffee-Reece M1882 is an American bolt-action repeating rifle chambered in .45-70 Government, designed by Reuben S. Chaffee and General James N. Reece and built in small numbers by the Springfield Armory between 1883 and 1884. It fed from a tubular magazine housed in the buttstock, loaded through a rear trapdoor, which used a twin-rack double-ratchet mechanism to advance a cartridge each time the bolt was cycled and a magazine cutoff to permit single loading while holding the magazine in reserve. Submitted to the U.S. Army's 1882 magazine gun trials against rival Remington-Lee and Hotchkiss designs, the complex feed proved prone to jamming and difficult to clean, and the rifle was never adopted for general service.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 4080 g (143.9 oz) |
| Overall Length | 1245 mm (49.02") |
| Barrel Length | 711 mm (27.99") |
| Action Type | Bolt Action |
| Firing Mechanism | Hammer Fired |
| Trigger Type | Single Action |
| Magazine Capacity | 5 rounds |
| Magazine Type | Tubular |
| Muzzle Velocity | 411 m/s (1348 fps) |
| Muzzle Energy | 2215 J (1634 ft·lbf) |
| Effective Range | 500 m (547 yd) |
| Maximum Range | 1000 m (1094 yd) |
| Barrel Rifling | Right Hand |
| Number of Grooves | 3 |
| Frame Material | Steel |
| Barrel Material | Steel |
| Stock Material | Walnut |
| Finish | Blued |
Calibers
- .45-70 Government · primary — also known as .45-70, .45-70 Govt, 11.6x53mmR
Features
- Firing modes: Repeating
- Feed systems: Tubular Magazine
- Safety mechanisms: Magazine Cutoff
- Features: Buttstock Tube Magazine, Magazine Cutoff, Double Ratchet Feed, Rear Loading Trapdoor
Service history
Operators
- United States Army
Production
Estimated total produced: 753 · Production years: 1883-1884
Manufactured by the Springfield Armory for the U.S. Army's magazine rifle trials; never adopted for service.
Origin
Country of origin: United States
Designer: Reuben S. Chaffee and James N. Reece
Discontinued: 1885
Notes
Only 753 examples were manufactured by the Springfield Armory for trials and evaluation. The magazine held cartridges nose-to-base in a rigid rack rather than spring-fed, isolating primers from bullet tips to allow safe use of pointed-nose ammunition in a tube. Most surviving rifles passed into the surplus market after the design was rejected.
Background
Designed by Reuben Chaffee with patent input from Civil War veteran General James N. Reece, the rifle's signature feature was a buttstock tube magazine that held cartridges in a rigid rack moved by a double ratchet, an ingenious but fragile answer to the era's race to give the single-shot Trapdoor Springfield a repeating successor.