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A close-up detail of the hook safety.
The rear end of the bolt is just about as bad. This action could have been made to fully cock on the up-swing of the bolt handle, but instead it was made to cock on the closing of the bolt. This is not altogether bad, but I see no rhyme or reason in the design of the hook safety. To begin, the hook is too small. Rather than being designed as a safety, it appears to me that the hook was put there in order for the soldier to recock the striker in case of a misfire, but with the hook is too small to do this with ease. And as for a safety, after the action is cocked, this hook can only be swung down requiring that it be pulled back a slight amount first. When swung down, the striker is then put on SAFE. However, there is no positive halting point to stop the swing of the hook until its end touches the stock and then it is not easily swung back again. It is crude to say the least.
And cruder still is the entire cocking mechanism. Not having any instructions on how to disassemble the bolt and firing mechanism it took me hours to figure it all out. Anyway it was no wonder why this Hook Safety rifle with its rather complicated action was replaced by the Type 38 rifle.
Conclusion
A great many Japanese rifles were brought into the United States by G.I.s after WWII, and many more were imported and sold by dealers in military surplus arms, so the total number in the U.S. must be great. Many of them will remain souvenirs and many of the better specimens and the rarer ones are in collections or will be obtained for this purpose.
Krag-Jorgensens: U.S., Danish and Norwegian FdH
U.S. Krag-Jorgensen Model 1898 rifle.
THE CALIBER 45-70 single shot “trapdoor” Springfield rifles and carbines had served the United States Army quite well since 1873, when the model was adopted. By the late 1880s, however, military men were discontented with it, and it was felt that a smokeless-powder cartridge and a repeating rifle to handle it were needed. Some of the other world powers had already adopted these changes, including France (8mm in 1886), Germany (8mm in 1888), England (303 in 1888) and Belgium (7.65 mm in 1889). To work toward this change, boards of inquiry were appointed to look into the selection of a suitable new rifle and cartridge, to determine by test the best rifle to adopt and manufacture. In 1890, some 53 rifles were submitted (some were nearly alike or minor variations of the same action) for the tests.
Among the rifles submitted were the Lee Magazine system, Mauser (Belgian M1889), Swiss Rubin, French Berthier, German Commission M1888, Mannlicher, Savage and Krag-Jorgensen. Incidentally, the Savage was an early version of the M99, a lever action with rotary-spool magazine. As a result of these trials, the Krag-Jorgensen (with some modifications to be made) was adopted in 1892, with a royalty to the inventors.
This rifle was a joint invention of two Norwegians: Capt. Ole Hermann Johannes Krag and Erik Jorgensen. Denmark had already adopted their design in 1889, but Norway waited to do so until 1894.
Adopted with the new rifle was a new 30-caliber cartridge. Using a rimmed, bottlenecked 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.” More on the cartridge later.
Although officially adopted in 1892, it was not until 1894 that Springfield Armory (Springfield, Mass.) was sufficiently tooled up to begin making the Krag. Meanwhile, and for several years after 1892, the old 45-70 Springfield continued in service use. In fact, not enough Krags had been made by 1898 to arm all of our soldiers who fought in Cuba during the Spanish-American War, and many of the old 73s were used in that short but costly conflict.
The Krag Rifles and Carbines
All U.S. Krag rifles and carbines are marked on the left side of the receiver roughly as follows:
U.S.
MODEL (year) SPRINGFIELD
ARMORY (serial number)
Only rifles were made at first, these the M1892. On this rifle, the word MODEL was omitted from the receiver marking and they were stamped 1894, indicating only the year they were made.* The M1892 (marked 1894) has a 30” barrel with a flat muzzle, a ramrod under the barrel, a square-toed stock, and no trapdoor in the buttplate. The first deliveries were made in the fall of 1894.
A very few test M1892 carbines were also made. These had a 22” barrel, were stocked nearly to the muzzle and had a ramrod. All military U.S. Krags were made without a pistol grip.
Some changes were made, and a Model 1896 rifle and carbine were brought out—and so marked—in that year. The muzzle was crowned, the ramrod was eliminated, and a 3-piece sectional cleaning rod, to be stored in a hole in the buttstock through a trap in the steel buttplate, was furnished. The buttplate toe was rounded also.
The M1892 Krag rifles already in use in the field were returned to the armory and converted to the M1896 pattern. To identify these converted models, look for M1896 features on those pieces bearing the 1894 date.
The first real carbine production began in 1896. The M1896 carbine had a half-length forend with a barrel band to hold forend, hand guard and barrel together. The barrel band lies against the front end of the rear sight. These carbines had no ramrod or sling swivels, but were fitted with a so-called saddle ring on the left side of the stock.
The biggest changes to both Krags came with the M1898 rifles and carbines. The two most noticeable changes were the reversal of the magazine cutoff so that it was in the ON position when swung down, by changing its spring, and eliminating the lip under the bolt-handle notch. Far more M1898 rifles were made than any others, nearly 263,000 of them. Only 5000 M1898 carbines were produced.
The M1899 Krag carbine had a forend about 2” longer than the M1896 type and used the same length handguard as the rifle. This placed the barrel band about 2” ahead of the rear sight. The saddle ring was omitted, and some were made with a knurled, but unflared, cocking piece—commonly called a “headless” type.
A number of very minor changes were made in the Krag from 1894 on, but they are not important enough to be mentioned here. Various rear sights were also used, and these, as well as other changes, are covered thoroughly in other books.
Some unusual and now rare versions of the Krag were made. The Cadet rifle was similar to the regular M1896, but it lacked sling swivels and had a ramrod.
A few 22 rimfire Gallery Practice rifles were made at Springfield Armory in 1906. They were single shot rifles based on the M98 action, the barrels offset at the breech and made with an auxiliary extractor. These 22 barrels were made under the watchful eye of famed barrelmaker Harry Pope. Some, at least, carry his name stamp.
After the 1903 Springfield rifles were in production, most of the Krag rifles and carbines were sold to NRA members through the DCM at unbelievably low prices.* The carbines were far more desirable than the rifles, so many of the M98 Krag rifles were converted to the carbine style at the Benicia Arsenal. These were like the regular M99 carbine, but came with sling swivels and 03 Springfield front sights.
