This was thought to be an advantage to keep the soldiers from emptying their rifles by firing too fast. If flipped upwards, this will allow all rounds in the magazine to feed. It enables the soldier to single load the rifle by applying the cut-off. The lever above the trigger enables a “magazine cut-off” that was very popular with the military brass back in those days. The left side of the action is kind of rounded. The carbine has a steel butt plate, with an oiler compartment.
Us springfield 1898 ammo price plus#
This was considered a big plus when it was adopted, but the later Mauser method of using stripper clips to load the magazine made it less of an issue. It consists of a magazine that holds 5 cartridges, but a gate can be opened to allow “topping-off” of a partially emptied magazine with loose rounds. The rifle Ted got is actually a Krag Carbine, with a barrel slightly shorter than the Krag Rifle. But it was out-classed by the Spanish Mauser in the Spanish-American War, and the War Department decided to replace it with the 1903 Springfield. Many writers have spoken of the “buttery smooth” Krag bolt action. It has a reputation of being one of the smoothest bolt actions ever built, and deservedly so. It was used in the Philippine War and a song of that time even spoke of the rifle. The military only used this rifle for about 11 years, from 1892 to 1903, giving it the dubious distinction of having the shortest life span of any US military rifle. It has a rim, but an unusual “rebated rim”, as compared to other rimmed cartridges, such as this. It made just less than 2,000 fps, which was kind of hot in that day. 30-40 Krag round, which was originally a smokeless cartridge that shot a 220 grain round nose bullet over 40 grains of a smokeless powder. But in the US, it was usually shortened to just “the Krag”. It was designated the Krag-Jorgensen rifle. The rifle that was selected was based on the Norwegian design by two men named Krag and Jorgensen. 30-40 Krag was adopted by the US military in 1894 as the military’s first smokeless powder cartridge. It was dirty, but I cleaned it up for him and under that grime was one of the cleanest Krags I’ve ever seen, with a “Perfect” bore. Ted found an example at a pawn shop and got it for a very reasonable price. It would be a shame if someone mistook one for a bubba'ed long rifle and decided to "restore" it.But the next best thing happened… My buddy Ted bought one that I can shoot. These were a couple of inches longer than the later Springfield 1903. The shortened rifle was to make it easier to navigate the tight quarters of tunnels in the forifications. The barrels were shortened by about four inches, with upper band and sights set back. The short rifles were known as "school rifles" or as "Phillipine Constabulary Rifles".Īnother odd ball Krag to be aware of was a shortened rifle intended for use by guards at the Coast Artillery and other fortifications. These were assembled at the Benicia Arsenel in California. Occasionally people mistake this unusual muzzle treatment for a ring monted front base. The muzzle of the altered Carbine barrel is turned down in front of the front sight to accept a bayonet. The short rifles may be found with carbine style stocks or with rifle styled stocks with extended fore end and upper band with bayonet lug.
There are short rifle versions that should not be confused with the carbines or rifles cut down by commercial dealers. most Krag rounds off the shelf are 180 grain. I fire 150 grain rounds due to the single bolt lug configureation. But many rifles were sportized with sling for hunting, My Krag has sling eyes It really fires nice, The krag bolts were fired at 30-40 but some were modified, get a 30-40 round and chamber it to see how she fits, my barrel was a little lite blue, I cleaned it well and took her to the range. a true carbine will have a saddle eye, and no sling eyes. Should have a metal but plate with a accessory port, the wood stock should be plain, with a finger grip on the forward and should have a wood piece around the rear sight, can be a flip up like the 1903 but smaller. measure the barrel should be about 23 inches, rear sight should have a (c) stamped on it, thats for carbine. and decited to buy her, for about 300 more than your Florida rifle is for. I really couldn't afford that one either. I couldn't afford the krag rifle, and they showed me a real carbine. I loved it! I found this one in Dallas at a gun store. we talked guns and I let him fire my 1903 and I fired his Krag. I was at the range firing my 1903 Springfield, and another shooter was firing a krag and a Eddistone p-17. I am hooked, even tho my rifle came out of a collection in California. I bought a 1898 built in 1903, there is a krag forum that is great.