The Krag Jorgensen – The Rifle that Won Wars

Hi, I’m Chris and welcome back to season 3 of our educational video series. This season, we’re taking a closer look at the firearms that shaped historical events. As the 1800s progressed, warfare became more intense, and firearms evolved at a lightening pace to keep up with needs. Today, we’ll look at the period that ushered in a new standard of modern rifle to suit modern combat needs and became widely adopted for sporting use and competition shooting. 

The mid to late 1800s saw the Civil War and numerous other conflicts take place around the world. Although bloody and resulting in significant loss of life, the evolving tactics necessitated a shift. With the invention of smokeless powder in the late 1800s, the US Army adopted a bolt action rifle, invented in Norway as its primary service firearm – the Krag-Jorgensen.  

Adopted in 1892 and produced by the Springfield Armory beginning in 1894, the US made Krag weighed in at 8 lbs. 7 ounces and were just shy of 49 inches in total length. They had a 5 round capacity of .30- .40 caliber ammunition. It was loaded through a large bottom-hinged loading gate on the right side of the receiver and fitted with a knife bayonet. The Springfield Armory produced 3 rifle variants, the model 1892, 1896 and 1898, and three carbine variants for cavalry divisions – the model 1896, 1989 and 1899.  

In 1898 at the start of the Spanish American War, the Krag was the standard U.S. service rifle. However, there were only about 30,000 available, barely enough to arm U.S. Army regular infantry units. To meet the manpower needed for the war, the small regular army was augmented by many volunteer units. 

One of the most famous volunteer units of the war was the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, better known as the Rough Riders. Due in large part to the efforts of the unit’s second-in-command, Theodore Roosevelt, the Rough Riders were equipped with the latest Model 1896 Krag carbine, but the unit didn’t receive them until a few days before departing for Cuba. Armed with Krags, the Rough Riders played a key role in bringing the war to a quick end with the decisive American victory at the Battle of San Juan Hill.  

Despite the victory, the conflict in Cuba highlighted several of the Krag’s deficiencies. The locking system was cumbersome, the cartridge was low powered compared to the Spanish Mausers and the firearm didn’t adapt well to clip loading. Most problematic was that when fired, their positions were easily spotted due to the white smoke the Krags produced. With the decisive victory in the Spanish American War, the US emerged from the war as a leader on the world stage. This newfound position led to a need for a new, more powerful, reliable and stealthier service rifle for the US Army.  

Find out what rifle succeeded the Krag in part 2.