I wonder if a century from now people will be waxing nostalgic and discussing the differences in models of the government M-16 such as we do with Krags and '03s? I kinda hope they will be.
One thing I'm not clear on- was there a system in place during the 1890's whereby a civilian could purchase a Krag directly from the Armory, as in the NRA sales '03's, NRA Sporters, NM rifles, etc. of a couple decades later?
Anecdote regarding Krags and cast bullets: At the tender age of 16 I bought my first Krag, along with a bullet mold that casts a plain base design bullet. I hustled up some 2400 powder, cast some bullets, and proceeded to load a couple boxes- not knowing that A) the bullets needed to be lubricated and cast of harder material than pure soft lead, and B) 2400 isn't an ideal powder for shooting plain base bullets- and I loaded them fairly "hot" to boot. I started whacking away at a target and got decent grouping with the first 3-4 shots, and then the bullets started flying with a mind of their own. Discouraged, I slunk back home. Imagine my surprise when I looked down the bore that evening and saw a smoothbore- the grooves were completely filled with lead. I found myself wishing I had stopped shooting before I went through a couple dozen of those cartridges. Glory be, what an ordeal getting that lead out was. Sometimes I wonder how I escaped my teenage years...
