Anybody seen the latest issue of Sports Afield? The "Custom Shop" department features an article by a well known writer on early Springfield sporters.

He writes, "And American servicemen did not know bolt action rifles until the Spanish-American War, when Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders charged up Kettle Hill in 1898 carrying the new Krag Jorgensen rifles in .30-40 Krag loaded with black powder."

Say what?

And it went over the editor's head as well.

i thought volunteers had trapdoor 45/70

The 10th Cavalry (Buffalo soldiers) had trapdoors with blackpowder. Ted's RR had the 30-40 which unless I am terrible mistaken were smokeless. I believe they also had 2 colt machine guns. Weren't these refereed to as "potato diggers"?

The Rough Riders were much impressed by the Mauser rifles the Spanish were firing at them. Both for the rapidity of the fire (stripper clips) and that smokeless ammo they could not directly locate…
All you have is criticism for the story?

US servicemen actually did carry some blackpowder bolt-action carbines in action, Hotchkiss .45-70s against the Apache. But not many, and not for long.

Did not criticize the story at all, in fact, I thought it was good. But the fact remains, the 30-40 Krag was not loaded with black powder.

This is Cartridges of the World, Barnes Pg.271. My go-to reference about cartridges. But you are probably correct. What are your references?
I have not seen the story in print yet...

From The Rifle in America, Philip Sharpe:

In his description of the original Krag Model 1892 "regulation rifle", he writes "The twist of this early barrel was one turn in ten inches, and it used a round nose, cupronickel jacketed bullet weighing 220 grains with 38 grains of smokeless powder."

Bolt Action Rifles, Frank De Hass:

On the Krag, "Adopted with the new rifle was a new .30 caliber cartridge. Using a rimmed, bottleneck case it was the first U.S. military cartridge loaded with smokeless powder. Officially the .30 Army or .30 Government or, more popularly, the 30-40 Krag."

In Brophy's The Krag Rifle, he quotes from the 1893/94 reports from the Chief of Ordnance - "The regular manufacture of service ball cartridge ammunition for the .30-caliber magazine rifle, model 1892, using smokeless powder of domestic production (Peyton), was commenced at the Frankford Arsenal in May last, and up to the end of June about 200,000 rounds had been made and issued or placed in store."

According to Hackley, Woodin & Scranton in History of Modern U.S. Military Small Arms Ammunition Volume 1: 1880-1939 (Macmillan Co.1967) compressed black powder loads were tested during the initial developmental efforts (c.1889) - but velocities were extremely low. It appears that the first cartridges loaded with smokeless power were produced in September 1890. Blank (1893) and Gallery practice (1895) cartridges were initially loaded with black power.

Blackpowder loading, but probably not at Kettle Hill.
I stand corrected.

I do have that issue, May/June 16. I was confusing it with the next, due out anytime. About a Niedner Krag stocked by Shelhamer; mighty fine rifle. More on the 30-40 including some of my own experiences.

Or maybe the next issue is about Elmer Keith's Hoffman #1 Springfield in .400 Whelen? I lose track writing them so far in advance of publication...

Description of the 30-40:
" the .30 Army loading was standardized in 1894 using a 220-grain metal-jacketed round-nose bullet with 40 grains of nitrocellulose powder. This loading developed a maximum velocity of 2,000 ft/s (610 m/s) in the 30-inch (760 mm) barrel of the Krag rifle,[2] and 1,960 ft/s (600 m/s) in the 22-inch (560 mm) barrel of the Krag carbine."
Description of the 7mm Mauser:
"7×57mm Spanish Mauser". It featured a long, 11.2-gram (173 gr) round-nose, full-metal-jacketed bullet with a muzzle velocity of about 700 m/s (2,300 ft/s) with 2,744 J (2,024 ft·lbf) muzzle energy from a 740 mm (29.1 in) barreled rifle.[2]"

The US Army wasn't impressed with the "smokeless" mauser, they were impressed with the vast superiority of the mauser rifle and it ammo. I like to think a comparison is of our under gunned Sherman tanks against the high velocity gun of the German Tiger tanks. Gun to Gun no matched at all.

But I suppose we should qualify this all with the fact that the Shermans did win by shear numbers and Teddy won at Kettle Hill because the 10th Cavalry, armed with 45-70 trapdoors, was already waiting at the top when Teddys RR's arrived. ("Sergeant George Berry (10th Cavalry) took his unit colors and that of the 3rd Cavalry to the top of Kettle Hill before the Rough Rider's flag arrived")

Last is just a general statement about the Krag, shortest lived US Army standard weapon ever...it was an unmitigated failure. I am sure, at the time, some generals and some in the War department asked how did they ever get bamboozled into buying the Krag.

I am interested in early custom Springfield sporters. Other than the mistake about blackpowder loaded cartridges, does the article contain useful information? I will buy the magazine if so.

Cartridges of the World is often wrong, be very careful, when depending on it for important information.
Mike

Looking forward to your future articles.

Often Wrong? Examples?

Thanks Craig, I'll try and fact check a bit more closely.

I am also trying to get Townsend Whelen's .400 Whelen Springfield that was converted to .35 Whelen for pics and a story in an upcoming retro issue of Sports Afield.

For those that may have missed it, March/April 2016 issue of SA my column was about Wundhammer Springfields.

One example:

http://dutchman.rebooty.com/8x58rd.html

I certainly would not call the Krag "an unmitigated failure." It actually compared very well with many rifles of the era and performed quite well during the expedition to China during the Boxer rebellion and in the Philippines. A lot of countries adopted rifles that lasted only briefly from the time of the first single shot breech loaders to the modern era. The 1888 German Commission rifle replaced by the 1898 Mauser comes to mind. The Krag was well made, serviceable, reliable, and well liked by the troops. In many respects it was inferior to the Mauser but it got the job done.

Jerry Liles

I would agree that "unmitigated failure" is 'way too strong. US military policy was responsible for many of the shortcomings of small arms in that period of very rapid technological innovation.

One of the characteristics of the Mauser that is always cited as a great virtue for it and one of the Krag's negatives is the Mauser's higher sustained rate of fire. But the US Army was extremely apprehensive about the enhanced rate of fire of ANY repeating rifle in the hands of troops, and apparently didn't consider a higher rate of fire a virtue!

And one of the Krag's "negatives" could have been fixed by changing the shape and weight of the bullets it fired, as the British did with the Lee Enfield and the .303.

The fact that the Krag served well in the Philippines is a testament to its ruggedness and easy maintenance. Anyone who has been in the southern islands knows that they are a serious test of both man and machine, once you leave the beach.

Bad data for the 8x58 Danish, 1889 Swedish Rolling Block handloads!
That must put it right up there with the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook, eh?

Thats why I focus on the web cause everyone knows if it's on the web it has to be true. LOL

I thought this side-lever, side-hammer, side-lock single shot Krag rifle on the same site Very interesting!
http://dutchman.rebooty.com/krag.html

Apparently rotating the side-lever downward lowered the breech block for loading. But not a single picture of operating the rifle?

Steven,
Bullet diameters are often wrong in COTW, just one example is shown in data for 8x72R ( which is wrongly credited to S&S rather than Brenneke, BTW). They say the correct bullet is .323", but mine and every other one I have experience with, or my friends loaded for, required .318". Always check the rifle itself, before loading from data from them.
Mike