The Springfield M1903 is a bolt-action sniper rifle used by American soldiers throughout most of the World War II-era Call of Duty games.
Call of Duty and United Offensive
The Springfield M1903, originally developed after the Spanish-American War, is a sniper rifle equipped with a 4x zoom scope. As a bolt-action scoped weapon, it has a slow rate of fire and chambers one round at a time.Call of Duty manual description.
Campaign
This is the American sniper rifle of choice and is first seen in the level "Camp Toccoa". In the campaign, it is never found without a scope, but is the only American bolt-action rifle found in-game. It is a one-shot kill weapon in the first Call of Duty, but only with a headshot in Call of Duty: United Offensive at maximum distance.
Multiplayer
This weapon is the American sniper rifle. It is powerful and accurate but is bolt-action and reloads slowly. It is best used as a long-range weapon, as it has a scope. Due to the British lacking their own sniper rifle in single player, they use the Springfield in multiplayer.
Gallery
Call of Duty: Finest Hour
The Springfield M1903, originally developed during the Spanish-American War, is a sniper rifle equppied with a 4x zoom scope. As a bolt-action scoped weapon, it has a slow rate of fire and reloads one round at a time.Manual description
Campaign
The Springfield appears only in "Mission: Matmata" and "Depot Saboteurs" in the hands of Yusef. Even if Yusef is killed, his Springfield may not be picked up.
Multiplayer
The Springfield appears in multiplayer as a sniper rifle. Available for the British and American armies.
Call of Duty 2
Campaign
This weapon is, again, the American sniper rifle of choice. It is accurate and powerful, but with a slow rate of fire and reload time. Its ammunition is fairly scarce, just as with all Allied weapons. It is given to the player as a starting weapon in the missions "The Battle of Pointe du Hoc", "The Silo", and "The Battle for Hill 400".
Multiplayer
The Springfield is an overall effective sniper rifle for its simplified scope crosshairs. It can kill a target with a single hit to any location except to the lower limbs, in which case two hits are needed for a kill. It is the only bolt-action rifle in multiplayer that is only available exclusively with a scope.
Gallery
Call of Duty 2: Big Red One
Uses a 2.2x telescopic scope for sniping capability. Could only be reloaded one round at a time due to the location of the scope.Description
In Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, the Springfield (referred to as Springfield M1903 bolt-action in the Bonus Materials) is somewhat of a rare weapon. Its first appearance is in The Desert Fox, when the player has to use it to take out enemy snipers. It appears again in Piano Lupo. The player has to use it to give covering fire so the medic can get to the wounded soldiers.
The Springfield is found only equipped with a scope and usually kills in one hit.
Call of Duty 3
Caliber .30-06 sniper rifle with telescope. This accurate and powerful bolt action rifle has an effective range of 600 yards. Due to its scope placement over the receiver, cartridges must be loaded individually.In-game description
The Springfield (listed as a Springfield M1903M4 in the Bonus Materials) returns in Call of Duty 3.
Campaign
The Springfield appears as a starting weapon in The Forest. It can also be found twice in the last mission, Chambois. Near the end of the mission, multiple Springfields can be found on the top floor of the house which your squad must secure. These Springfields are very useful for taking out the mortar teams in the same section. The Springfield is almost always a 1-hit kill in the campaign mode.
Multiplayer
The Springfield is only available for the Allied Scout class. It is very effective at long ranges, however the player must aim their shots carefully, as only shots aimed at the chest or head are 1-hit kills. The Springfield is almost identical to its Axis equivalent, the Kar 98k.
Gallery
Call of Duty: Roads to Victory
The M1903 a4 Springfield was the standard American World War II sniper rifle.In-game description
In Call of Duty: Roads to Victory, the Springfield is found only in a few levels. In "Altavilla", the player needs to use it to take down some German snipers. In "River Crossing", the player can obtain it by going in an optional path. It is in the hands of an American sniper, who will get killed by a German sniper after a few seconds.
Call of Duty: World at War
American bolt action rifle with moderate accuracy and power. Effective at long range.Description
Campaign
The Springfield returns in Call of Duty: World at War in campaign. Pvt. Denny uses the only Springfield in the game during the mission "Semper Fi". It seems to be a mix between all models, resembling the Call of Duty Scope. It is also found in the levels "Relentless" near one of the anti-tank positions, and "Breaking Point" near the first supply drop. It can only be found with a sniper scope.
Multiplayer
In multiplayer mode, the Springfield is the first bolt-action rifle available for use by the player, and the only one, besides the PTRS-41, that starts out with the Sniper Scope unlocked.
It is good to note that all bolt-action rifles have the same accuracy, base damage, reload time and range. Accuracy is all dependent upon the user's ability, and when aim is steadied, if the Sniper Scope attachment is in use. Bolt-action rifles are only different in terms of bolt cycling rate and scope sway, although those differences are negligible.
Because it starts with a scope, the Springfield is a preferred choice for players who want to use a Sniper Scope immediately, and not have to bother with unlocking it. Also, the Springfield's bolt cycles slightly faster than other bolt-actions, making it the choice rifle for snipers that prefer rate of fire.
Because the scope is available from the beginning, the Springfield has one less attachment to earn, and therefore has one less challenge. When used without a scope, the Springfield's iron sights are difficult to use properly as they are misaligned. If the player looks carefully at the sight, the player can see that at the very top the sight tapers off to a point, just below that point is a light colored line that is the true impact point. The impact point lines up almost perfectly with the two horizontal notches (rear sights) surrounding the front sight (needle notch).
It is an overall good sniper rifle, however, the iron sights are often found to be difficult to use properly, mostly because they are slightly misaligned. This won't be noticeable, at close range, but may cause misses at medium to long range.
A good class combination is with the Overkill perk, due to the reload time being relatively quick, and paired with a shotgun or rifle. This sniper rifle is occasionally weak however, and should be used with Stopping Power, and preferably Deep Impact to minimize damage loss if shooting through cover.
Nazi Zombies
The Springfield appears in the Nazi Zombie maps, Nacht der Untoten inside of the mystery box for 950 points, and Verrückt on the wall for 200 points. It is considered one of the worst guns available because of its iron sights which are misaligned in-game, it has a slow rate of fire, and weak damage per bullet (two-shot kill on round one and headshots cease being one-shot kill at round two), rendering this gun useless outside the first four rounds. However, it has its useful sides, still being very accurate due to its low bullet spread and it is also a useful weapon for penetration.
Like the Mosin-Nagant and the Arisaka, a Pack-a-Punched variant of the Springfield can be found within the game's files. From evidence, it would behave like the Pack-a-Punched Kar98k (Armageddon) and Arisaka (Eviscerator), but with a scope, like the Mosin-Nagant (no Pack-a-Punched name).
Weapon Attachments
Gallery
Videos
Call of Duty: World at War (DS)
Multiplayer
In multiplayer it is only usable by the US faction, and it is its only bolt action rifle. The Springfield is an accurate, reliable weapon that is quite popular among many players. The gun takes one shot to kill to anywhere in the body (except oddly, the head, which takes two shots to kill). To certain groups in the community, the Springfield is a balance issue, due to the little amount of skill that is needed to effectively use the weapon, the effectiveness it has at every range, and the moderately fast reload. Since the name of a player appears when aiming at them, the Springfield can easily get kills at close range without aiming (otherwise known as no-scoping). All in all, the Springfield is a powerful weapon in the hands of any user.
Gallery
Call of Duty: Zombies
Gallery
Call of Duty: WWII
Heavy bolt-action sniper rifle that has the largest one shot kill zone.In-game description
The M1903 returns in Call of Duty: WWII.
Campaign
The M1903 can be used throughout the campaign. It is always attached with a 6x Optic. It is one of the starting weapons of the level "Ambush". The weapon can be picked up during the starting phase of the level "Battle of the Bulge". If the player picks up another weapon, the M1903 will be replaced by the Lee Enfield.
Multiplayer
As compared to its main competitor, the Lee Enfield, the M1903 boasts higher damage and more reliable multipliers in exchange for a lower magazine capacity and slightly worse handling. The M1903 will net consistent one-shot-kills from the waist and up, giving it a leg up over the Lee Enfield, which requires a hit to the mid-to-upper torso to kill. However, its ADS time is slower than the Lee Enfield's, hindering its close-range performance. As well, it has slightly worse hipfire accuracy, although the hipfire accuracy of the Lee Enfield is so large to begin with that the difference is mostly negligible. The M1903 also has worse idle sway than the Lee Enfield, and as such Ballistic Calibration is recommended.
Nazi Zombies
The M1903 can be obtained from the Mystery Box in all of the current maps. It can also be acquired with the M1903 guarantee consumable. The M1903 boasts the highest damage and penetration of all sniper rifles, being a one shot kill into the early 20s, with easy collateral kills. Wustlings are easily dispatched when their spine is targeted. Handling, like its iteration in Multiplayer, is sluggish, with slow aim down sight speeds, poor hipfire and high idle sway (shapshooter does not exist in zombies). In spite of its high damage, the M1903 is usually passed up for other weapons which have better handling or better characteristics, such as LMGs, or shotguns. When upgraded via the Ubersprengen, it becomes the Massachusetts, gaining more ammo and damage. Normally, transitioning into the scope increases hipfire accuracy, but the Massachusetts actually gets more inaccurate while transitioning into the scope, meaning that if the player wants to aim down sight, they will have to fully aim, otherwise the chance of missing is high.
Attachments
| Attachment | Unlock level | |
|---|---|---|
 4x Optic |
Weapon Level 2 | Zombies level 22 |
 Ballistic Calibration |
Weapon Level 3 | Zombies level 36 |
 Full Metal Jacket |
Weapon Level 4 | Zombies level 18 |
 Extended Mags |
Weapon Level 5 | Zombies level 29 |
 Rapid Fire |
Weapon Level 6 | Zombies level 25 |
 Iron Sights |
Weapon Level 7 | Zombies level 22 |
| 6x Optic | Campaign Exclusive | |
Variants
| Name | Icon | Perk | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| M1903 |  |
Level 19 | |
| Warbird |  |
 10% Bonus Soldier XP
|
Unique inspect animation |
| Warbird II | 15% Bonus Soldier XP
| ||
| Ranger |  |
10% Bonus Soldier XP
|
M1903 Collection Reward |
| Ranger II | 15% Bonus Soldier XP
|
||
| Faithful |  |
10% Bonus Soldier XP
|
|
| Faithful II | 15% Bonus Soldier XP One Shot, One Kill
|
||
| Gum Shoe |  |
10% Bonus Soldier XP
|
|
| Gum Shoe II | 15% Bonus Soldier XP
|
Gallery
Trivia
Call of Duty: World at War
- In the Wii version of Call of Duty: World at War, without a scope when reloading, no bullets are seen being put in the rifle.
- The Scoped Springfield makes a different sound than the unscoped one.
- The multiplayer kill icon shows the Springfield with a scope regardless of attachments.
- An empty stripper clip can be seen in bottom right corner if player sways with Springfield with a bayonet.
Call of Duty: Black Ops
- In the revised version of Verrückt, the Springfield is no longer available from the wall on the "American" side of the starting area. It is instead replaced with the Kar98k.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||