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Krag Christmas Present w/pictures
- Thread starter kraigwy
- Start date
Gary L. Griffiths
New member
Odd they went from the rod bayonet of the Single shot Springfield's to the Knife blade on the Krag then back to the rod for the Springfield.
Had to do with the diameter (and thus durability) of the bayonet. The M1888 Springfield cleaning rod/bayonet was half again as big around as the '03's counterpart. That made it substantial enough not to bend when parried, unlike the '03's, which Teddy Roosevelt demonstrated (using a bayonetted Krag).
SPEMack618
New member
There is something about hearing your company commander shout
"Comp-anee! FIX, bayo-nets!"
On the individual unit level, like Troop and below, we did plenty of bayonet training for our secondary role as National Guardsman instead of Cav Scouts.
As previously stated, I didn't carry one down range becaus I was a grenadier, but cold steel is very nice to have.
Next question: What kind of scabbard is issued for the -1901 bayonet?
"Comp-anee! FIX, bayo-nets!"
On the individual unit level, like Troop and below, we did plenty of bayonet training for our secondary role as National Guardsman instead of Cav Scouts.
As previously stated, I didn't carry one down range becaus I was a grenadier, but cold steel is very nice to have.
Next question: What kind of scabbard is issued for the -1901 bayonet?
I've got too good an imagination - the idea of fighting with bayonets scares the puddin' out of me. But in regard to the earlier post about the Krag and the 1903 and their relationship to Mauser, the Krag has a single locking lug. Krag also has a claw extractor, but it is smaller and in a different place on the bolt than that of a Mauser. That, along with the side-gate magazine, make the Krag much different. At the time the Krag was adopted, the main Mauser was the Argentine Model 1891, and the claw extractor had not appeared at that date, but it still had the famous dual, opposed locking lugs.
On the other hand, if you look at an '03 Springfield, I think you have to admit the close similarity to the contemporary Mausers. I am sure most of you know that the U.S. paid royalties to the Mausers. Wasn't that nice of us? An interesting thing is that the '03 retained the magazine cutoff that first appeared on the Krag, but which was never found on a Mauser. Our ordnance people apparently maintained an allegiance to the idea of single loading fire for a long time after discarding the trapdoor Springfield.
On the other hand, if you look at an '03 Springfield, I think you have to admit the close similarity to the contemporary Mausers. I am sure most of you know that the U.S. paid royalties to the Mausers. Wasn't that nice of us? An interesting thing is that the '03 retained the magazine cutoff that first appeared on the Krag, but which was never found on a Mauser. Our ordnance people apparently maintained an allegiance to the idea of single loading fire for a long time after discarding the trapdoor Springfield.
The Krag bayonet and M1905 bayonet are similar and sometimes will fit the other rifle, but that was not intentional and they were always considered separate weapons. The Krag latch was found to be weak and the M1905 bayonet latch was a completely new design.
"nothing ever comes up about the krag being a mauser copycat...."
That is because it wasn't. The action designs are not the same, the main difference being that the Krag uses two locking lugs but they are not opposite each other. The Mauser 1893 Mauser (some of whose design was copied by Springfield - they never saw a Model 1898 Mauser) has dual opposed lugs, a somewhat stronger system, and can be loaded using clips ("stripper clips") where the Krag could be loaded only with single rounds. The advantage of the Krag system, and why the Army chose it, was that the magazine could be replenished without opening the bolt and thus taking the rifle out of action.
Jim
"nothing ever comes up about the krag being a mauser copycat...."
That is because it wasn't. The action designs are not the same, the main difference being that the Krag uses two locking lugs but they are not opposite each other. The Mauser 1893 Mauser (some of whose design was copied by Springfield - they never saw a Model 1898 Mauser) has dual opposed lugs, a somewhat stronger system, and can be loaded using clips ("stripper clips") where the Krag could be loaded only with single rounds. The advantage of the Krag system, and why the Army chose it, was that the magazine could be replenished without opening the bolt and thus taking the rifle out of action.
Jim