The Krag Rifle
As used by US Forces circa Spanish American War

This page is provided for those aficionados of Theodore Roosevelt who are interested in the arms issued to and used by US forces and the Rough Riders during the Spanish American War. While it is not a complete history, this page will provide a good basic reference on the Krag rifles and their ammunition.

The Rifle

The Krag Jorgensen rifle was originally designed by Captain Ole Hermann Johannes Krag, who was the director of the Royal Norwegian Arms Factory at Komgsberg  (Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk), and Erik Jørgensen, also of Kongsberg, Norway.

This rifle was chosen by a US military board which convened to find a new service rifle to replace the .45-70 Springfield single-shot rifles then in service. The board first met in New York in December of 1890 and concluded their proceedings in July of 1892. They compared rifle designs from Lee, Krag, Mannlicher, Mauser, Schmidt-Ruben, and about 40 other military and civilian designs. The trials were held at Governors Island, NY.

While it was adopted in 1892 as the military rifle of US forces, it was not produced until 1894. Because the adoption of a foreign design upset some of the American inventors of competing rifles, the government was pressured to conducted a second round of tests during April and May of 1893. None of the other rifles passed the testing and the Krag was then put into production. According to government records  442,883 Krag rifles and 63,116 carbines (these figures vary slightly depending on the source) were eventually manufactured by Springfield Armory with a $1.00 royalty for each rifle going to the two inventors. The Krag, was also adopted as the service rifle of Norway as the M1894 in 6.5 x 55 mm, and in 8 x 58 mm R (rimmed) by Denmark as the M1898.

The Krag was the first US rifle to have the top of its barrel covered with wood for a handguard. While it is known for having the smoothest action of any rifle, its one locking lug action was not as strong as some of the other designs which utilized 2 or 3 lugs and made it susceptible to group stringing with wet ammunition because of unequal bolt face force. Its side mounted magazine was slow to load but the slowness of reloading was not viewed as a shortfall. At the time, the US military philosophy still placed great emphasis on precise aimed fire and looked upon the magazine as a reserve. (While high volumes of fire are now all the rage, and while they serve to allow mobility of force, it is interesting to note that, even in this day and age, when the military needs results it is the precision rifleman armed with a bolt action rifle that is called upon to do the job.)

The ballistics of the .30-40 cartridge were not equal to those of other available military rounds including the 7 x 57 mm Mauser used by Spanish forces. It should, however, be noted here that the 7 mm Mauser was used only by the elite Spanish regular forces. The local troops and militia units were armed mainly with Remington Rolling Block single shot rifles in 11 mm (.43 Spanish) which fired a 387 gr lead bullet at about 1340 fps and which was inferior to even the US .45-70 round.

The Krag, "U.S Magazine Rifle, Model 1892," or as it was often referred to, "The .30 Caliber Springfield Rifle of the Krag-Jorgensen Pattern" was made in several different models and variation during its 11 year service life. All models were fitted with 4-groove .308" diameter barrels which had a 1:10 " twist. I have been unable to find any accuracy standards but the rifle was deemed to be "effective" at 600 yards against infantry and 650 yards against cavalry.

As an interesting aside, in spite of its "slow to reload" magazine, War Department records indicate that it was possible for a skilled shooter to fire 43 aimed shots in 2 minutes using the rifle as a magazine fed repeater and 42 shot in the same time as a single loader. These times were recently confirmed by a correspondent from Norway who informed me that in a national match the 3rd place winner got 27 hits at 100 and 200 meters in 50 seconds using a Krag rifle.

Despite all of its shortcomings the Krag rifle served faithfully in the Spanish-American War (1898), the Philippine Insurrection (1898 - 1904), the battle of Tagalii, Samoa (1899), and the China Relief Expedition--also known as the Boxer Rebellion (1900). It also was issued for guard duty service during both WW I and WW II.

The Krag rifles utilized by US Forces during the Spanish American War were the M1892 and M1896 models. While many of the Rough Riders carried their own arms, their government issued rifle was the Krag M1896 carbine since they were considered to be cavalry (dismounted).

M1896 Krag Rifle

M1896 Krag Carbine

Ammunition

The ammunition for the Krag is most commonly referenced as .30 Army, .30 US, and .30 US Army. The prefixes M1892, M1896, and M1898 have also been seen used with these designations for the ball round. A rimless version of the .30-40 cartridge was tested, but for some obscure reason, the rimmed version was adopted. If the rimless version had been chosen instead, the Krag rifle would have been faster to load since there would have been no worry about rim overlap in the magazine.

Ballistics

The firing table below shows the approximate ballistics for the .30-40 Krag ball round fired from the Krag rifle with a 30" barrel and the 7 x 57 mm ball round fired from the 30" barreled M93/M95 Mauser. This data is based upon modern bullets of the same design and weight. A 300 yard zero is used and the sight height of 1" is assumed. (The actual sight height of the Krags ran from .85" to the .975" depending on the particular model.) "Standard" atmospheric conditions are assumed. The data presented for the .30-40 compares well with the original firing tables so the 7 x 57 data should be close too.

As can be seen, the 7mm with its substantially flatter trajectory has a ballistic advantage over the .30-40 Krag. The 7 mm's other advantage was that the rifle was capable of a much higher sustained rate of fire than the Krag due to its stripper clip loading ability, and its truly smokeless ammunition made the shooter more difficult to spot compared to the Krag and especially to the .45-70 black powder Springfield single shot rifles.

Surprisingly no experimentation seems to have been done with lighter or pointed .30 caliber bullets. Using the powders of the day it would have been possible to reach about 2550 f/s in the rifle with a 150 gr spitzer bullet or about 2350 f/s with a 173 gr spitzer or boat tail, at safe working pressures. With a 173 gr bullet the .30-40 would have matched the ballistics of the 7mm and with a 150 gr or so would have substantially bettered them. Interestingly, in 1893 there were some experiments done using .22 caliber bullets of between 112 gr and 120 gr on modified .30-40 cases and velocities of about 2600 f/s were achieved. However, the powders of the day were not really suitable and based upon the results the project was dropped.

In October of 1899 a large batch of ammunition for the Krags was loaded to a velocity of 2200 f/s at 45,000 psi in an attempt to boost the round's ballistics. However, reports started coming in from the field of cracked locking lugs and bullets stripping in the rifling and this ammunition was recalled, broken down, and reloaded to standard specifications.

Those reloading for the Krag (including the 6.5 x 55 mm Norwegian and 8 x 56 mm Danish) should keep pressures to 40,000 psi and under.

The wound profile below is typical of the wound produced by long, round nosed, non-expanding bullets with the bullet ending up base first. Due to the bullet shape and moderate velocity the permanent cavity is not very spectacular, although it does penetrate very well. The permanent cavity is slit shaped where the bullet tumbles, but note that this effect does not start until about 60 cm of penetration has occurred--well outside of a typical human torso even on a 90 degree hit.) The 7 x 57 mm with its 175 gr round nose bullet would give a very similar wound profile contrary to period rumors of its effectiveness.

Reference Material

The Rifle in America, by Philip B. Sharpe, William Morrow & Company, New York, 1938. (Out of print. Was reissued in a special collectors addition by the National Rifle Association in 1995.)

The Krag Rifle, by William S. Brophy, Gun Room Press, 1985, ISBN: 0882270257 (Available from: Rutgers Book Center, Highland Park, NJ (Phone: 732-545-4344)

The Reliable Krag, by Ludwig Olson, Rifle Magazine, March-April, 1992, p. 20

The Krag Rifle Story, by Franklin B. Mallory with Ludwig E. Olson, Springfield Research Service, 1979, ISBN: 0960330607

History of Modern U.S. Military Small Arms Ammunition, Vol. I: 1880-1939, by F.W. Hackley, W.H. Woodin, & E.L. Scranton, Macmillan Co., New York, 1967

Rifle Caliber Blank Cartridges, by Charles H. Yust, Jr., The American Rifleman, February, 1966, p. 42

Cartridge Corner--Krags And The Spanish American War, by Stu Miller, Shooting Times, November, 1962, p. 38

Ammunition-Its History, Development and Use, by Melvin Johnson & Charles Haven, William Morrow & Company, New York, 1943, p. 88

Colt M1889/M1895 Revolver

This page is provided for those aficionados of Theodore Roosevelt who are interested in the arms issued and used by US forces and the Rough Riders during the Spanish American War. While it is not a complete history, this page will provide a good basic reference on the Colt .38 caliber revolver and its ammunition.

The Pistol

The .38 caliber M1889/M1895 Colt revolver was the forerunner of the modern large frame swingout cylinder revolver.

It was the issue sidearm for US Navy personel during the Spanish American War although it did see some service with Army troops. It was originally developed to replace the 1851 cap-and-ball revolvers that had been converted to centerfire in 1887 and approximately 5000 were produced.

Chambered for the under powered.38 Colt Long and the even less powerful .38 Colt Short cartridges (which were interchangeable), the original M1889 revolver suffered from several design flaws including weak springs and latches, and a very poor cylinder indexing system which led to frequent misfires. Between 1895 and 1900 most of these pistols were returned to Colt for modifications to correct the deficiencies resulting in the "M1895" designation pistols. These pistols had a 1:18 twist with a bore diameter of .363 to .369. The model was replaced in 1908 with the vastly improved (but still under powered) .38 Special caliber M1908 revolver.

The M1889/1895 revolvers saw action in the Spanish American War, the Boxer Rebellion, and the Philippine Insurection where its very poor incapacitation ability (stopping power) against the Moro guerillas led to its being replaced in general issue by the 1873 Colt Single Action Army pistols in .45 Long Colt.

Sharp eyed readers may note that the picture above is actually an M1908 revolver.
I was unable to locate a clear picture of the M1889/1895 model but it was very close in
appearance to the M1908.

Ammunition

The .38 Long Colt was was a black powder centerfire cartridge and the forerunner of the .38 Special cartridge. It was originally designed as an "outside lubricated bullet round for the Navy but this was changed to the "inside lubricated" bullet in 1892 and by 1897 all production of the outside lubed design was terminated. Because of the large bore diameter--based upon the outside lubricated bullet--when the inside lubricated bullet was adopted it featured a deep cavity in its base so it would expand to fit the bore upon firing. The powder charge was originally black powder but from 1900 on it was loaded with black, semi-smokeless, or smokeless powder.

Ballistics

The ballistics of the .38 Colt round were not very impressive, being quite similar to the current .38 Special target wadcutter loading but with a round nosed bullet. It was notorious for its lack of "stopping power." The ballistics below are typical of the cartridges performance. A line of sight of .75" is assumed as is a 25 yard zero distance. A G₁ ballistic coeffient of .13 is assumed based upon contemporary bullets..

As a comparison, the table below shows the Hatcher "Relative Stopping Power" index for several different rounds. While this is not an exact comparison it does help to put things in perspective.

The wound profile below, of the .38 Special 158 gr lead round nose at 755 f/s, is typical of the wounds made by round nose, non deforming pistol pistol bullets. Bullets of this type usually exhibit tumbling during their travel. Depending upon conditions, the bullet may end up nose or base forward. Whether or not the bullet tumbles depends upon its center of gravity and its specific nose shape. "Round nose" bullets that have a flat on their nose tend to stay point forward and not tumble. The .38 Colt round probably would give slightly less overall penetration than shown..

References

History of Modern U.S. Military Small Arms Ammunition, Vol. I: 1880-1939, by F.W. Hackley, W.H. Woodin, & E.L. Scranton, Macmilin Co., New York, 1967

Colt M1873 Revolver

This page is provided for those aficionados of Theodore Roosevelt who are interested in the arms issued and used by US forces and the Rough Riders during the Spanish American War. While it is not a complete history, this page will provide a good basic reference on the Colt 1873 .45 caliber revolver and its ammunition.

The Pistol

The famous Colt Peacemaker was the issue sidearm of the US Army until 1875. Chambered for the .45 Long Colt cartridge it was noted for its reliability and legendary "stopping power." Its major drawback was that it was slow to reload. It was replaced as the "issued" revolver in 1875 by the break-top S&W Shofield revolver but the Colts remained in issued use for many years. While .45 caliber pistols were "officially" replaced by .38 caliber arms in 1892, in fact the .45s continued in wide spread use. Historical records seem to indicate that the revolver with which the Rough Riders were armed was the Colt Peacemaker with the 5 ½ inch barrel but doubtless there were plenty of the 7½ inch barreled models in use during the Spanish American War as well as the S&W Shofield.

M1873 Colt Single Action Army

Photo © copyright Cimmaron Arms Co., 1998

Ammunition

Two ".45" loadings were available for use during the Spanish-American War. While the Colt M1873 was chambered for the .45 Long Colt cartridge and that ammunition was available, the issue ammunition for military .45 caliber revolvers was actually the .45 S&W Shofield which had a case about .15" shorter than the .45 LC. The .45 LC ammunition fired a 250 gr round nose lead bullet at about 850 f/s while the .45 S&W fired a 230 gr round nose bullet at about 770 f/s. While the S&W round would properly chamber and fire in the Colt revolvers the longer Colt round would not fit the .45 Shofield revolver. Both cartridges had an enviable reputation as a "stopper."

Ballistics

The .45 Long Colt cartridge has always had an enviable and proven reputation as a "stopper" as did the .45 S&W. The ballistics below are based upon a sight height of .75" and a G₁ ballistic coefficient of .138 for the Colt bullet and .126 for the S&W bullet.

The table below shows the Hatcher "Relative Stopping Power" index for several comparative rounds as well as the .45 caliber Colt and S&W loads. While this is not an exact statistic it does help to put things in perspective.

The wound profile below, of the .38 Special 158 gr lead round nose at 755 f/s, is typical of the wounds made by round nose, non deforming pistol bullets. Bullets of this type usually exhibit tumbling during their travel. Depending upon conditions, the bullet may end up nose or base forward. Whether or not the bullet tumbles depends upon its center of gravity and its specific nose shape. "Round nose" bullets that have a flat on their nose tend to stay point forward and not to tumble and the .45 Long Colt and S&W rounds would probably not tumble normally due to their flattened nose but no rounds were available for testing. Penetration in that case would probably have been in the 55 cm to 65 cm range, similar to the .45 ACP round and the permanent cavity a straight .45 caliber hole.

References

History of Modern U.S. Military Small Arms Ammunition, Vol. I: 1880-1939, by F.W. Hackley, W.H. Woodin, & E.L. Scranton, Macmilin Co., New York, 1967

Springfield Rifle
As used by US Forces circa Spanish American War

This page is provided for those aficionados of Theodore Roosevelt who are interested in the arms issued and used by US forces and the Rough Riders during the Spanish-American War. While it is not a complete history, this page will provide a good basic reference on the Springfield Trapdoor rifles and their ammunition. Because of the numerous models of the Springfield that were in use prior to the Spanish-American war I have limited the specifications to the M1888 rifle and the M1873 carbine which are representative of the line and are what were most commonly used in that conflict.

The Rifle

While it is doubtful if any of the Rough Riders used the Springfield rifles and carbines they were of common enough issue in the military to be included in this overview of arms of the Rough Riders.

Based upon a post-Civil War cartridge conversion of muzzle loading muskets, the "trapdoor" models (more properly called Allin Conversions) originally utilized the .58 rimfire and then the.50-70 cartridge. By 1868, instead of converting old weapons into "trapdoor" models, a new rifle, the U.S. Rifle, Model 1868, was developed using the Allin "trapdoor" mechanism. This weapon went through a a reduction in caliber to .45-70 and series of minor modifications (models 1870, 1873, 1879,1880, 1884 and 1888, and 1889) throughout its service life. Manufacture of the "trapdoor" Springfields was terminated in June of 1893 but production of certain critical parts was resumed during the Spanish-American War. However, the shortage of parts for field repair became so acute that parts had to be obtained by disassembling over 8,000 older rifles in storage.

This Springfield rifle was the main shoulder arm used by the state troops at the outbreak of the war, in spite of its being outdated in comparison with the smokeless powder weapons that were becoming available. Many of the existing National Guard regiments already carried this weapon, so it made sense to continue arming their enlarged regiments with the same weapon. The United States government had many of these weapons in storage so they could be readily supplied to the sudden influx of troops. The overwhelming major objection to this rifle was that it used black powder instead of the more modern smokeless powder. The black powder cartridge left a tell-tale cloud of smoke by which the shooter could be spotted and fired upon. Also, the smoke cloud required the shooter to wait until the smoke cleared before he could aim and fire again. Another perceived problem was that the original ammunition with the folded copper "ballon" head cases had a nasty reputation for sheering off in the chamber during rapid firing but this problem was eliminated with the newer case designs at the time of the war. Unfortunately it's reputation for this problem did not wane as quickly.

In addition, the weapon was a single shot whereas the newer Krag-Jorgensen and the Spanish Mauser rifles were magazine weapons. The United States, however, insisted in its military doctrine that its magazine-equipped Krag-Jorgensen rifles be used as single shot weapons with the rounds in the magazine reserved only for "emergencies." Still, in actual combat, the rate of fire of the single-shot "trapdoor" rifles was much slower than that of the Krags.

At the outbreak of the Spanish American War, the current model was the Model 1888/89 although there were many of the earlier model rifles and carbines in use. The modification that was the major difference between the Model 1873 and the Model 1888 was the replacement of the triangular bayonet with a rod bayonet. Since there were only minor differences between the various models of the Springfield Rifles and carbines I have limited the table below to the basic specifications of the M1888 rifle and M1873 carbine. The Springfields were fitted with 3 groove barrels with a 1:22" twist

US Rifle M1873

Photo courtesy David A. Deemer

US Carbine M1873

Photo courtesy Joseph P. Blecha

Ammunition

Originally the ball ammunition for the Springfields was issued in two variations. A .45-70-405 loading which utilized a charge of 70 gr of FG black powder with a 405 gr round nose lead bullet for use with the rifle, and a lighter carbine load known as the .45-55-405. This utilized the 405 gr bullet and a 55 gr charge of FG powder along with pasteboard wadding to make up for the empty space, and was designed to make recoil more manageable in the lighter carbines. In August of 1882 the 500 gr bullet load with improved long range accuracy and ballistics (due to the more efficient burning of the powder charge with the heavier bullet) was adopted as the M1881 ball, and replaced the 405 gr rifle load.

Government ordnance records indicate that after July, 1882 no 405 gr bullets were produced. It appears that the "carbine" load was officially phased out during that period although there were probably large stocks on hand. All three of these loadings were useable in any .45-70 caliber weapon.

As originally produced the cartridge case was non-reloadable and made of folded copper and used the Benet cup inside primer (no external primer). In August of 1882 concurrent with the adoption of the 500 gr bullet the case was changed to a solid head design with a standard primer of the Berdan type. However, by the time of the Spanish American War the case was made of tinned brass which was much stronger than the copper previously used and more resistant to corrosion, and utilized a Boxer type primer.

Originally, both the rifle and carbine rounds were seated to the same overall length and headstamped with a "C" or "R" for identification. However, in 1886 because of the earlier discontinuing of the 405 gr rifle load the 405 gr bullet it was decided to eliminate the over powder wad in the 55 gr loads and to seat the bullet directly on top of the reduced powder charge resulting in an instantly identifiable difference in overall length and the headstamping practice was dropped.

The 500 gr load was the defacto "issue" .45-70 cartridge for the US military during the Spanish American War. However, because there were no doubt large stocks of all three variations of the cartridge in the arsenals of the National Guard it is certain that all were used in the Spanish-American War.

In early 1897 experiments were done using smokeless powder and production of the M1898 smokeless round was started. It utilized a charge of 30.5 gr of DuPont No. 4 which gave a velocity of 1,428 f/s at a chamber pressure of about 18,000 psi. These rounds can be identified by a cannalure about .68" back from the case mouth which was needed to hold the bullet in place, previously accomplished by seating the bullet on top of the 70 gr black powder charge. The improved ballistics would give about 17" less drop at 500 yards and 110" less drop at 1000 yards using the same 300 yard zero, a significant improvement. However, it is extremely doubtful if any of this smokeless ammunition saw action in the Spanish-American War because of the large stock piles of the black powder loads. A 500 gr jacketed bullet load was tested and approved in 1898 as the "M1898 Jacketed" and ordered but this ammunition may never have been delivered. No production smokeless carbine loads or jacketed bullet loads are known.

About 7 million rounds of this load were eventually produce, but with the adoption of the .30 caliber Krag rifles the service life of the .45-70 was coming to an end and the Philippine campaign was probably the last combat use of the .45-70. However, Springfield .45-70 rifles were still being issued for guard duty as late as the WW I.

.45-70 Cartridge Dimensions (Period Ordnance Data)

Ballistics

Because of its low velocity the .45-70 rounds had a very curved trajectory which made it more difficult to hit targets at long range, especially for semi-trained reserve troops, although in the hands of a skilled marksman hits at extreme range were frequently made. In addition, difference in size and weight between the .45-70 and .30-40 (one hundred .30-40 cartridges weighed the same as sixty .45-70 cartridges) meant that the average soldier could carry fewer rounds with him for the Springfield than he could carry for newer Krag-Jorgensen Rifle.

The ballistics below are based upon period ordnance manuals for the muzzle velocities and contemporary lead round nose bullets of matching shape whose ballistic coefficients are known.

Period ordnance publication state that at 300 yards the mean radius (double it for approximate group size--not exact but close enough) for 10 shot groups was about 4.2" for the rifle and 6.5" for the carbine.

The .45-70 did have one advantage over the more modern rifles of the time. Because its .45 caliber bullet made a large permanent wound cavity in comparison to the 7 mm Mauser and .30-40 Krag rounds it was a noticeably better "stopper" than the more modern cartridges which made very small permanent wound cavities unless bone was hit. (See the page on the Krag for the wound profile for the "modern" rounds.

The wound profile below, while actually from the 10.4 mm Vetterli cartridge (300 gr lead round nose at 1357 f/s), is typical of the wounds produced by big bore lead round nose rifle bullets. The 405 gr rifle load would probably perform almost identically to this round and the 500 gr rifle round would simply exhibit somewhat greater penetration due to its higher sectional density.

The .45-70 cartridge has been enjoying a resurgence in the last few years by folks who appreciate the power of its big fat bullet. Loads for the .45-70 were originally limited to about 20,000 psi for the Springfield.  In modern lever and bolt action rifles suitable for higher pressures and using modern powders some spectacular ballistics can be achieved and it is possible to drive a 500 - 540 gr - cast lead bullet at close to 1600 f/s from an 18" - 22" barrel.  However, to achieve these improved ballistics pressures are raised to the 35-37,000 psi level--a level that will destroy a Springfield.

Reference Material

The .47-70 Springfield, Books I and II, by Albert Frasca and Robert Hill

History of Modern U.S. Military Small Arms Ammunition, Vol. I: 1880-1939, by F.W. Hackley, W.H. Woodin, & E.L. Scranton, Macmilin Co., New York, 1967

International Ammunition Association Journal, Issue 391-September-October, 1996, "A Look inside the trapdoor of the Caliber 45 Rifle Model of 1873," by Larry Duddy

Description and Rules for the Management of the Springfield Rifle, Carbine, and Army revolvers, 1874 (reproduction), Frasca Publishing

This information was originally posted on Fr. Frog's web site at
www.FrFrogsPad.com and is used with permission of John Schaefer.