State of U.S. Krag in May, 1893
Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2021 6:06 pm
In spending considerable time pouring through period publications, I have reached the following conclusion on the state of the U.S. Krag-Jorgensen rifle in early 1893.
The U.S. Ordnance Department did not have a completed Springfield Armory Krag-Jorgensen magazine-rifle, available, to include in the War Department's extensive display. (The new rifle was still a work in progress when the display was being planned and assembled).
The W.D. display was housed in the U.S. Government Building at Chicago's Columbian Exposition which opened on May 1, 1893, and closed on October 31, 1893.
The Ordnance Department did display the manufacture of Springfield .45-70 rifles and ammunition.
They had examples of the intended new .30 caliber cartridge and displayed the rifling and boring machinery developed for making .30 caliber barrels.
There were two Krag rifles in the War Department display, a Danish Krag and a Norwegian Krag. The Norwegian example was used to show the public what the new service rifle would basically look like.
A third Krag Jorgensen rifle, an 1893 Patent Model, was in the Goverment Building display of the U.S. Patent Office.
(I suspect the rifle used was the "1893 Patent" Krag-Jorgensen with dual locking-lugs, that is now in the collection of the Smithsonian Museum). Mention of a 'Krag patent', (or Crag patent rifle), occurs in some guide book descriptions of the Patent Office display at the 'Fair'.
Captain Andrew H. Russell, U. S. Army , in a report describing the Ordnance Department exhibit of guns and ammunition, gives clear insight that the Norwegian Krag-Jorgensen rifle is a bit of a 'stand-in' (for the new U.S. rifle) , due to on-going work at Springfield Armory.
The U.S. Ordnance Department did not have a completed Springfield Armory Krag-Jorgensen magazine-rifle, available, to include in the War Department's extensive display. (The new rifle was still a work in progress when the display was being planned and assembled).
The W.D. display was housed in the U.S. Government Building at Chicago's Columbian Exposition which opened on May 1, 1893, and closed on October 31, 1893.
The Ordnance Department did display the manufacture of Springfield .45-70 rifles and ammunition.
They had examples of the intended new .30 caliber cartridge and displayed the rifling and boring machinery developed for making .30 caliber barrels.
There were two Krag rifles in the War Department display, a Danish Krag and a Norwegian Krag. The Norwegian example was used to show the public what the new service rifle would basically look like.
A third Krag Jorgensen rifle, an 1893 Patent Model, was in the Goverment Building display of the U.S. Patent Office.
(I suspect the rifle used was the "1893 Patent" Krag-Jorgensen with dual locking-lugs, that is now in the collection of the Smithsonian Museum). Mention of a 'Krag patent', (or Crag patent rifle), occurs in some guide book descriptions of the Patent Office display at the 'Fair'.
Captain Andrew H. Russell, U. S. Army , in a report describing the Ordnance Department exhibit of guns and ammunition, gives clear insight that the Norwegian Krag-Jorgensen rifle is a bit of a 'stand-in' (for the new U.S. rifle) , due to on-going work at Springfield Armory.