- US Springfield Armory Model 1899 Carbine with Parkhurst Device 30-40 Krag Value? Discussion in 'The Ask the Pros & What's It Worth?Forum' started by winnbighunter, Jul 8, 2014.
- Gunkeyword Springfield Armory 30 40 Krag Serial Numbers Reviews & Suggestion. Gunkeyword Springfield Armory 30 40 Krag Serial Numbers On Gunkeyword Springfield Armory 30 40 Krag Serial Numbers Sale. For folks who are trying to find Gunkeyword Springfield Armory 30 40 Krag Serial Numbers review.
Springfield 30 40 Krag Stock
I have a 1898 30 40 Krag carbine with the serial number of 426426. I checked oldguns.net, they indicated the year of mfg as 1902. I have read other places that my Krag has too high of a serial number to be a Carbine. That is how I came to own my Model 1898 Krag with the 216299 serial number. Since I bought the Krag about 40 years ago, I have always assumed it was a true carbine because it looked like a carbine, and the State Police reportedly used them for their mounted troops.
By David Tong,
In this review, gun writer David Tong discusses the history behind the U.S. Krag-Jorgensen Rifle.
In this review, gun writer David Tong discusses the history behind the U.S. Krag-Jorgensen Rifle.
U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- As all the world’s militaries did by the late 1880s, the adoption of the repeating bolt action rifle with smokeless powder cartridges of approximately 0.30” caliber completely replaced the prior 0.45” caliber single-shot rifles of the 1870s.
In those days, it was a heady time for firearm designers. Most all designs were non-detachable box magazine types save the British Lee-Enfield, and these magazines were also generally machined steel items attached to the action by the combination trigger guard/floorplate of the German Mauser pattern.
U.S. Krag-Jorgensen Rifle
One unique action that did not follow this pattern was the Norwegian Krag-Jorgensen. Named after its two designers Ole Krag and Erik Jorgensen around 1886, it featured an integral magazine that held the rounds in a semi-circle below the action in a rotary motion for feeding.
The original design was adopted by both Norway and Denmark in the 1890s and it soon caught the attention of US Army Ordnance and it was adopted by our government in 1892. It differed mostly from the original Norwegian design by a change to the magazine feed door. On the original Norwegian rifle, the door was hinged on its forward edge and operated exactly as a door on an automobile, while on the US Krag, the door was hinged on its bottom, and this may have provided somewhat less chance for dirt ingress during reloading in combat.
Most rifles of the day also had a magazine cut-off, which allowed for manual single-loading of rounds directly into the chamber while leaving the topped off magazine “in reserve” without cycling the bolt. The early Lee-Enfield SMLE and all Springfield 1903 rifles also featured a cut-off.
30-40 Krag Ammo
The Krag’s rear locking system, single-heat treatment (case-hardening), and no spring loaded magazine follower that could cause bolt drag, meant this rifle was restricted to low pressure ammunition, but it is arguably the smoothest military rifle action of them all as a result.
The US government subsequently adopted several updates including the Models 1894, 1896, and 1898. Many of these changes were slight changes to the bayonets, upper handguard, rear sight, and stocks but the essentials of the action remained the same. There were both full-length rifles as well as “Cavalry carbines” issued to our Army. Carbines lacked any provision for mounting bayonets, and there was also a special version for the Philippine Constabulary after the American colonialization of those islands after the Spanish-American War.
Just as the British soldier had encountered substantial problems with both the initial lack of a “charger” loading system (known more commonly here as “stripper clip”) for quick reloads, the use of round-nosed full-metal-jacketed bullets when attempting to stop hostiles, the Krag’s primarily rear locking of its action, and deference for its metallurgy limits its ballistic potential, it was the second-shortest official issue US military rifle in history, only the five years of the M14’s tenure was shorter.
![30-40 krag brass 30-40 krag brass](/uploads/1/2/4/9/124952684/542027299.jpg)
Many more rifles were built than carbines, and are thus less expensive for the burgeoning collector. Approximately 475,000 rifles and carbines were built between 1894 and 1904.
U.S. Krag-Jorgensen Ammunition
Original G.I. ammunition (“.30 Army”) was called “.30 U.S. Government” commercially, and is very rare, and it has been known as “.30-40 Krag” after the adoption of the .30-06 in 1903.
Ammunition is still available for the 30-40 Krag, though I am unaware of any manufacturer but Remington still producing it (limited) as of 2016. Most of this ammunition is still of round-nosed design, albeit in jacketed-soft-point form. The original military loading was a 220gr RNFMJ at just 2,000fps, while nominal velocity for a typical commercial 180gr. JSP loading is approximately 2,200fps, about ten percent under the .303 British round.
The design of the U.S. Krag-Jorgensen Rifle magazine and the open-topped receiver with its bolt handle track makes it very difficult and time-consuming to re-stock an original Krag into a scoped hunting rifle, not that one should actually do this to a collector’s item. Many that have been “sporterized” in the past were turned into single-shots as a result, as the late Frank De Haas described in his book “Bolt-Action Rifles.”
My first experience shooting the Krag began during my Scouting days forty years ago, and I fondly remember it being a nicely-balanced, fast-handling, and relatively light-recoiling rifle capable of hunting deer-sized game at shorter range. The U.S. Krag-Jorgensen Rifles remain so to this very day.
![30-40 krag brass 30-40 krag brass](/uploads/1/2/4/9/124952684/468135719.jpg)
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The Model 1899 Krag Carbine, which was manufactured until 1902,was the final variant of the Krag-Jorgensen rifle to bemanufactured by the U.S. Armory at Springfield. Approximately36,000 were produced before production was halted due to theadoption of the Mauser-patterned Model 1903 Springfield rifles. D3d9 dll skyrim download.
30-40 Krag Value
Named for its inventors, Norwegian Royal Artillery officer OleHermann Johannes Krag and civilian Erik Jorgensen, theKrag-Jorgensen rifle was the first small-caliber smokeless powerrepeating long arm to be adopted by the U.S. Army. This rifle alsomarked the beginning of the change from large-caliber/low muzzlevelocity ammunition to smaller caliber/higher energy rounds formilitary applications, and the demise of the Springfieldsocket-style bayonet, which was finally replaced by a knife-styleblade. Although invented in Norway, the U.S. version was patternedafter the Model 1889 rifle which was then the standard infantry armof Denmark.
The Norwegian government did not adopt this design for itsmilitary forces until 1894. Some of these rifles continued inservice with Norway's armed forces through the Second World War,long after they had been replaced elsewhere. The U.S. Army held aseries of trials beginning in 1878 in hopes of finding a suitablemagazine rifle that would replace the single-shot .45-70 caliberTrap Door rifles and carbines that had entered service shortlyafter the Civil War.
Fifty-three different models that were tested and rejectedbefore the Army's 1892 adoption of the Krag-Jorgensen. Aside fromits superiority in ordnance tests, the Krag, as it is commonlyknown, was extremely reliable and could easily be field-strippedand re-assembled without the need for tools. Despite its successduring initial field trials, American armsmakers opposed theselection of a foreign design and successfully agitated for asecond round of tests against American-made magazine arms,including the Remington-Lee, the Chaffee-Reese, and the HotchkissBolt Action Rifles. Once again, the Krag emerged as the winner.
The U.S. government purchased manufacturing rights for the newrifle, then set about improving the original Danish model toproduce a nearly-perfect military arm. Aside from the original U.S.Model 1892 Rifle and Carbine, subsequent modifications yielded theModel 1896 Rifle, Cadet Rifle, and Carbine, the Model 1898 Rifle,Carbine, and .22 caliber Gallery Practice Rifle, the Model 1899Carbine, and Model 1899 Philippine Constabulary Carbine, withadditional variants appearing within these primary modelclassifications. Chambered for the jacketed 220-grain .30-40caliber (.30 Army) cartridge, the Krag-Jorgensen design utilized afive-shot box magazine that was loaded via a large bottom-hingedloading gate located on the right side of the receiver. Inaddition, the Krag featured a magazine cut-off that allowed it tofunction as a single-shot arm, with the magazine's ammunitionsupply kept in reserve.
In a later effort to increase this arm's rate of fire, 200 Model1898 Rifles and Model 1899 Carbines were modified at SpringfieldArmory to accept the Parkhurst Clip Loading Attachment. Thismodification consisted of a machined 'T'-shaped steel block withguide lip that was fitted into right side of the receiverimmediately behind the magazine cover for the purpose ofaccommodating a Mauser-type stripper clip.
This experimental alteration was later abandoned, and mostmodified rifles were subsequently stripped of usable parts anddestroyed. In addition to military service, special Krag riflesequipped with eight groove Stevens-Pope barrels were used by theU.S. 1903 Palma Team, which defeated British marksman at their homerange of Bisley to claim the international long-range championshipin a match that was later protested by Britain on the grounds thatthe Pope barrel had not been adopted for military use.Approximately 160,000 Krag rifles and carbines were produced atSpringfield Armory and Rock Island Arsenal between 1892 and 1899,and all Regular Army units were re-equipped with these arms by late1895.
During the Spanish-American War, Krags first saw combat whileserving with U.S. troops, but this conflict also brought about thecombat debut of another new arm, the German-designed Mauserbolt-action repeater. Although the Krag continued in servicethrough the Boxer Rebellion and the Philippine Insurrection, thesuperiority of the Mauser design eventually brought about itsdemise as the Army's primary-issue arm after the brief span ofeleven years.
With the exception of approximately 850 .22 rimfire caliberGallery Practice Rifles, production of the Krag-Jorgensen wasdiscontinued after the U.S. Army's adoption of the Mauser-patternedModel 1903 Springfield rifle. Many Krags were sold as governmentsurplus through the 1920s, including a group of modified examplessold through Benicia Arsenal to National Rifle Association membersin conjunction with the office of the Director of CivilianMarksmanship. While standard military-style rifles and carbineswere sold as-is through various firms including Francis Bannerman,some were later converted to sporting configurations.