Editing Krag–Jørgensen (section)

== American Krag–Jørgensen rifles ==<!-- This section is linked from [[M1911 Colt pistol]] -->
{{See also|Springfield Model 1892–99}}
[[File:Springfield .45 and Krag rifle.JPG|thumb|right|200px|American [[Springfield Model 1892–99|Springfield M1898]] Krag (left) next to a [[Springfield Model 1888]]]]
Like many other armed forces, the [[United States Military]] was searching for a new rifle in the early 1890s. A competition was held in 1892, comparing 53 rifle designs including Lee, Krag, Mannlicher, Mauser, and Schmidt–Rubin.<ref name="canfield">Bruce N. Canfield "The Foreign Rifle: U.S. Krag–Jørgensen" ''American Rifleman'' October 2010 pp. 86–89, 126. 129</ref> The trials were held at [[Governors Island]], New York, and the finalists were all foreign manufacturers—the Krag, the Lee, and the Mauser. The contract was awarded to the Krag design in August 1892, with initial production deferred as the result of protests from domestic inventors and arms manufacturers. Two rifle designers, Russell and Livermore, even sued the US government over the initial selection of the Krag, forcing a review of the testing results in April and May 1893. In spite of this, an improved form of the Krag–Jørgensen was again selected, and was awarded the contract.<ref name="NMG" /> The primary reason for the selection of the Krag appears to have been its magazine design, which could be topped off as needed without raising and retracting the bolt (thus putting the rifle temporarily out of action). Ordnance officials also believed the Krag's magazine cutoff and lower reloading speed to be an advantage, one which conserved ammunition on the battlefield. This magazine design would later resurface as a distinct disadvantage once U.S. soldiers encountered Spanish troops armed with the charger-loaded [[Mauser Model 1893|1893 7mm Spanish Mauser]] in the [[Spanish–American War]].<ref>Stans, Samhope, "The Krag–Jørgensen Gun: It Is Inferior In Many Respects To The Mauser Used By The Spaniards, ''The New York Times'', 1 August 1898</ref>

Around 500,000 "Krags" in .30 Army (.30-40) calibre were produced at the [[Springfield Armory]] in Massachusetts from 1894 to 1904. The Krag–Jørgensen rifle in .30 Army found use in the [[Boxer Rebellion]], the [[Spanish–American War]], and the [[Philippine–American War]]. A few carbines were used by United States cavalry units fighting [[Apaches]] in [[New Mexico Territory]] and preventing poaching in [[Yellowstone National Park]]. Two-thousand rifles were taken to France by the United States Army 10th–19th engineers (railway) during [[World War I]]; but there is no evidence of use by front-line combat units during that conflict.<ref name="canfield"/>

The US 'Krags' were chambered for the rimmed "cartridge, caliber 30, U.S. Army", round, also known as the .30 U.S., .30 Army, or .30 Government, and, more popularly, by its civilian name, the [[.30-40 Krag]]. The .30 Army was the first [[smokeless powder]] round adopted by the U.S. military, but its civilian name retained the "caliber-charge" designation of earlier black powder cartridges. Thus the .30-40 Krag employs a round-nose 220-grain (14 g) [[cupro-nickel]] jacketed .30 caliber (7.62&nbsp;mm) bullet propelled by 40 grains (3 g) of smokeless powder to a muzzle velocity of approximately 2000 feet (600 m) per second.<ref name="canfield"/> As with the [[.30-30 Winchester]], it is the use of black powder nomenclature that leads to the incorrect assumption that the .30-40 Krag was once a black powder cartridge.

In U.S. service, the Krag eventually proved uncompetitive with Mauser-derived designs, most notably in combat operations in Cuba and the Philippines during the Spanish–American War. It served as the U.S. military's primary rifle for only 12 years, when it was replaced by the [[M1903 Springfield rifle]] in 1906 and many units did not receive it until 1908 and later. Surplused Krags were given to the US Navy where they remained in second line service (to arm shore parties, boarding parties, and the like or stored in crates in the holds of older ships) well into the 1930s. US Marines were still using Krags in  [[United States occupation of Nicaragua|Nicaragua]] in the late 1920s.<ref>https://www.usmcu.edu/Portals/218/image%206%20The%20Marine%20Air-Ground%20Task%20Force%20in%20Nicaragua%201927-33%20from%20MCH%20Vol_%202%20No.jpg {{Bare URL image|date=August 2024}}</ref>

=== Subtypes of the Krag–Jørgensen used in the United States ===
There were at least nine different models of the American Krag–Jørgensen:

* ''M1892 rifle'', is {{convert|49|in|mm}} in overall length weighing 9.3 pounds with a 30-inch (760&nbsp;mm) barrel and a magazine cut off that operates in the up position. It can be identified by the cleaning rod under the barrel. Because it took two years to retool for production, Model 1892 Krags have receivers dated "1894." Most of the M1892 rifles were arsenal reconditioned to the Model 1896 configuration.<ref name="canfield"/>
* ''M1892 carbine'', presumably a prototype, as just two are known today. Looks like the M1892 rifle, but with a 22-inch barrel, including the long stock, and one-piece cleaning rod.
*''M1896 rifle'', where the magazine cut-off operates in down position and a three-piece cleaning rod is stored in a butt trap. An improved rear sight and tighter production tolerances gave better accuracy. Stock altered slightly (made thicker). This model figures prominently in the first part of Andrew Krivak's novel, ''[[The Sojourn]]''.
* ''M1896 cadet rifle'', which was fitted with cleaning rod like M1892 rifle. Only about 400 were made before it was discontinued. The [[cadet rifle]] did not have sling swivels, and the lower band was retained by a band spring.
* ''M1896 carbine'', with the same modifications as the M1896 rifle.
* ''M1898 rifle'', generally much like M1896, but with a wide range of minor changes, including reconfiguring the bolt handle recess to simplify receiver manufacture, reversing the operation of the magazine cut-off lever, and (beginning in 1901) providing windage adjustment on the rear sight.<ref name="canfield"/>
* ''M1898 carbine'', same minor modifications as the M1898 Rifle. Only 5000 made, originally had the same short stock (rear sight touches band) as the Model 1896 carbine; most were restocked as Model 1899s.
* ''M1899 carbine'', generally the same as the M1898 carbine, but with a slightly longer forearm and hand guard, and without the swivel ring. Most of the M1898 carbines were arsenal reconditioned to the Model 1899 configuration and fitted with windage-adjustable rear sights.<ref name="canfield"/>
* ''M1899 constabulary carbine'', 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.

A few prototype Model 1898 sniper rifles were assembled with Cataract telescopic sights for limited testing. In 1901, 100 Model 1898 rifles, and 100 Model 1899 carbines were fitted with a Parkhurst clip loading attachment to test use of Mauser-type stripper clips. In 1902, 100 rifles were made with {{cvt|26|in}} barrels in an effort to develop one model acceptable to both infantry and cavalry. The so-called ''NRA carbines'' were rifles cut down to carbine length for sale to members of the [[National Rifle Association of America]] beginning in 1926 as a means of keeping skilled armoury workmen employed at [[Benicia Arsenal]].<ref name="canfield"/>

===In the Caribbean and Latin America===
In the early 20th century, the United States also distributed the Krag to some Caribbean countries in which US forces intervened. These included Haiti, where they equipped the [[Gendarmerie d'Haïti]] (newly founded in 1915) with surplus Krags.<ref name="Ball2011">{{cite book|author=Robert W.D. Ball|title=Mauser Military Rifles of the World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p40IsLJv80AC&pg=PA240|date=2011|publisher=Gun Digest Books|isbn=978-1-4402-1544-5|pages=240–}}</ref> A 1919 letter to the [[Marine Commandant]] from the First Provisional Brigade in Port-au-Prince noted: ''"...[A]bout 2,000 bandits infest the hills... I don't believe that in all Haiti there are more than 400 to 500 rifles, if that many. They are very short of ammunition.. They use our ammunition and the Krag by tying a piece of goatskin on string around the base of the cartridge."<ref name="Domingo1922">{{cite book|author=United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Haiti and Santo Domingo|title=Hearings before a select committee on Haiti and Santo Domingo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=frBmAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA428|year=1922|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|pages=428–}}</ref>

The [[American occupation of the Dominican Republic (1916–24)|1916-1924 American occupation of the Dominican Republic]] resulted in a small flow of Krags to that country. The [[Guardia Nacional Dominicana]] issued the received Krag rifles, though the rifles broke down quickly when issued to unfamiliar Dominican troops, and spare parts were hard to obtain.<ref name="FullerCosmas1975">{{cite book|author1=Stephen M. Fuller|author2=Graham A. Cosmas|title=Marines in the Dominican Republic, 1916–1924|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q9UZyfdOJh8C|year=1975|publisher=History and Museums Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps|page=47}}</ref> The discovery of Krag bullets in victims' bodies in the 1937 [[Parsley massacre]] was taken by US observers as evidence of the government's involvement in the killings.<ref name="Peguero2004">{{cite book|author=Valentina Peguero|title=The Militarization of Culture in the Dominican Republic, from the Captains General to General Trujillo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-xqMRwzuVLMC&pg=PA114|year=2004|publisher=U of Nebraska Press|isbn=0-8032-3741-3|pages=114–}}</ref> At the start of World War II, the Dominican government had 1,860 Krags on-hand, supplementing their over 2,000 Spanish Mausers.<ref name="LeonardBratzel2007">{{cite book|author1=Thomas M. Leonard|author2=John F. Bratzel|title=Latin America During World War II|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YA6-HTSJv5MC&pg=PA80|year=2007|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-7425-3741-5|pages=80–}}</ref>

In Nicaragua, to support the government of [[Adolfo Díaz]], the American government provided Krags to the newly formed [[National Guard (Nicaragua)|Guardia Nacional]] in 1925.<ref name="Kuzmarov2012">{{cite book|author=Jeremy Kuzmarov|title=Modernizing Repression: Police Training and Nation Building in the American Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DBkPkRPmIA0C&pg=PA48|year=2012|publisher=Univ of Massachusetts Press|isbn=978-1-55849-917-1|pages=48–}}</ref> In 1961, [[Cuba]]n militias were still fielding some Krag-Jørgensons during the [[Bay of Pigs invasion]].<ref name="Cuba">{{cite book|title=The Bay of Pigs: Cuba 1961|series = Elite 166|first=Alejandro |last=de Quesada |date=2009|isbn=9781846033230|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EE-1CwAAQBAJ|page= 60}}</ref>

===In Africa===
In 1919, the United States provided discounted arms sales to the Liberians, giving them a number of Springfield Krag rifles, in addition to [[Peabody rifle|Peabody]] and [[Mauser rifle|Mauser]] rifles.<ref name="KappelKorte1986">{{cite book|author1=Robert Kappel|author2=Werner Korte|author3=R. Friedegund Mascher|title=Liberia: Underdevelopment and Political Rule in a Peripheral Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xiKNAAAAMAAJ|year=1986|publisher=Institut für Afrika-Kunde|isbn=978-3-923519-65-1|page=134}}</ref>