The U.S. Armory in Springfield, Massachusetts, rarely appears in Civil War histories except perhaps as an unexplained statistical wonder. By late 1863, the Armory was the largest single supplier of rifles to Union forces. Springfield Armory workers out-produced over thirty American contractors, making more Army rifles at less cost while providing contractors with gauges, inspectors, and models, even though there were significant wartime private-sector mechanical innovations. This article identifies and explains the factors in the Armory’s success, provides context on contemporary American arms production and rifle models, and argues that the Armory’s methods and performance were among the first if not the first example of mass production in American small arms manufacture. The relative brevity of the Civil War episode, and the fact that it was not repeated in any comparable way at the Armory until World War II, has obscured its significance in American manufacturing history.

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“估计这些作品的价值是不可能的……” 美国内战期间斯普林菲尔德军械库的大规模生产

马萨诸塞州斯普林菲尔德的美国军械库很少出现在内战历史中，除非是一个无法解释的统计奇迹。到 1863 年底，军械库是联邦军队最大的步枪单一供应商。斯普林菲尔德军械库工人的产量超过了 30 多个美国承包商，他们以更低的成本制造了更多的陆军步枪，同时为承包商提供了仪表、检查员和模型，尽管战时私营部门的机械创新很重要。本文确定并解释了军械库成功的因素，提供了当代美国武器生产和步枪模型的背景，并认为军械库的方法和性能是美国小武器制造大规模生产的第一个例子，如果不是第一个例子。内战情节的相对简短，