Springfield Model 1892-99

Springfield Model 1892-99
Close-up of the receiver, bolt assembly, and magazine door on a US M1898 Krag-Jørgensen Rifle
Type	Bolt action repeating rifle
Place of origin	United States
Service history
In service	1892-1907 (Regular Army)
Production history
Designer	O H J Krag and E Jørgensen
Designed	1886
Number built	Approx. 500,000
Variants	M1892 Rifle M1892 Carbine M1896 Rifle M1896 Cadet Rifle M1896 Carbine M1898 Rifle M1898 Carbine M1899 Carbine M1899 Constable Carbine
Specifications
Weight	8 pounds 7 ounces (M1896 Rifle)
Length	48.875 in / 1241.425 mm (M1896 Rifle)
Barrel length	30 in / 762 mm (M1896 Rifle)
Cartridge	.30-40 Krag
Action	Bolt action
Rate of fire	N/A
Muzzle velocity	2400 ft/s (180 grain bullet)
Effective range	900 m (3,000 ft)
Feed system	5 round magazine
Sights	V-notch and front post

The Springfield Model 1892-99 Krag-Jørgensen rifle is a Norwegian-design bolt action rifle that was adopted in 1892 as the standard United States Army military longarm, chambered in U.S. caliber .30-40 Krag. All versions and variants were manufactured under license by the Springfield Armory between 1892 and 1903. The U.S. Krag was replaced beginning in 1903 with the introduction of the M1903 Springfield rifle.

History

Like many other armed forces, the U.S. Army searched for a new rifle in the early 1890s to replace their old Springfield Model 1873 "trapdoor" single-shot rifles. A competition was held in 1892, comparing rifle designs from Lee, Krag-Jørgensen, Mannlicher, Mauser, Schmidt-Rubin, and about 40 other military and civilian designs. The trials were held at Governors Island, New York. Despite protests from domestic inventors and arms manufacturers — two designers, Russell and Livermore, even sued the U.S. government over the choice — the Krag-Jørgensen design was chosen by the board of officers.

Approximately 500,000 'Krags' were produced at the Springfield Armory in Massachusetts from 1894 to 1904. It was the U.S. Army's primary rifle from 1894 to 1903 (when it was replaced by the M1903 Springfield rifle with its ballistically similar .30-03 cartridge), and found use in the Spanish-American War and the Philippine-American War. In this later war the rifle was referred to in a song popular with U.S. troops with a verse running:

"Damn, damn, damn the Filipinos!
Cut throat khaki ladrones!
Underneath the starry flag,
Civilize them with a Krag,
And return us to our beloved home."

The Krag's complex design proved to be outclassed^[1] by the Spanish Mauser during the Spanish American War, and proved ill-suited for use in tropical locales such as Cuba and the Philippines. Consequently, it had the distinction of the shortest service life of any standard-issue firearm in US military history (1892-1903).

The Krag was completely phased out of service in the Regular Army by 1907, as M1903 Springfields became available, however, the Krag was issued for many more years with the National Guard and the Army Reserve, including service in World War I with rear-echelon U.S. troops in France and as training arms at various Stateside bases. Later, many were issued to veterans' organizations such as the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars for use in military ceremonies. Still others were sold to civilians through the Civilian Marksmanship Program.

Variants

There were at least nine different models of the U.S. Krag-Jørgensen:

• M1892 Rifle - a rifle with a 30 in (762 mm) barrel and a magazine cut off that operates in the up position. It can be identified by the cleaning rod under the barrel.
• M1892 Carbine - presumably a prototype, as just one is known today. Looks like the M1892 Rifle, but with a 22" barrel.
• M1896 Rifle - rifle model where the magazine cut-off operates in down position and the cleaning rod is moved to butt trap. An improved rear sight and tighter production tolerances gave better accuracy. Stock altered slightly (made thicker).
• M1896 Cadet Rifle - model which was fitted with cleaning rod like M1892 rifle. Only about 400 were made before it was discontinued.
• M1896 Carbine - model with the same modifications as the M1896 Rifle.
• M1898 Rifle - a model that generally much like M1896, but with a wide range of minor changes.
• M1898 Carbine - rifle with same minor modifications as the M1898 Rifle.
• M1899 Carbine - rifle with generally the same as the M1898 Carbine, but with a slightly longer forearm and hand guard, and without the swivel ring.
• M1899 Constabulary carbine - model built for use in the Philippines. Basically a M1899 Carbine fitted with a full length stock and a bayonet lug, and the muzzle stepped down to accept bayonet

Ammunition

The U.S. Krags were chambered for the rimmed .30-40 Krag round, also known as ".30 Army." The .30-40 Krag was the first smokeless powder round adopted by the U.S. military, but it retained the "caliber-charge" designation of earlier black powder cartridges, thus the .30-40 Krag employs a .30 caliber (7.62 mm) bullet propelled by 40 grains (3 g) of smokeless powder. As with the .30-30 Winchester, the use of black powder nomenclature led to the incorrect assumption that the .30-40 Krag was once a black powder cartridge.

See also

• Springfield rifle
• M1895 Lee Navy rifle

References

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