Sangamon County Rifle Association
Right Reason on Second Amendment Rights
Springfield, Illinois



Phil Davis

The .30-40 Krag Rifle
Phil Davis
SCRA meeting February 2004
March 2004 GunNews





Phil Davis not only gave an excellent technical presentation but treated members to a brief history lesson as well.

He said the predominant rifle of the regular army during the Spanish-American War was the Krag-Jorgensen rifle.  State militia units had a variety of rifles of their own purchase, mostly single-shot arms.  As a result a majority of American infantry coming from the state units entered the war armed primarily with old .45-70 Trapdoor rifles firing black powder cartridges.

The Krag's distinctive side opening is loaded by dropping cartridges into it.  Davis showed us an original round made by Frankfort Arsenal in 1906, the 30-40 Krag. Adopted in 1892, it was the United States' first small caliber smokeless cartridge. It shot a 220 grain bullet at 2100 feet per second with a round nose full metal jacket.  The Krag has one of the slickest actions ever.  You will literally have to look to see if you are chambering a round it is so smooth.

The Spanish American war began in 1898 when the USS Maine exploded in Havana Harbor.  We know now that it was probably an explosion of the coal bunker rather than a bomb.  Shortly after, the U.S. invaded Cuba and destroyed the Spanish forces there and in the Philippines as well within two years. The main fighting in Cuba was completed in less than nine months.

While there was a carbine version issued to the cavalry troops, the standard infantry Krag-Jorgensen rifle Davis brought came with a unique story and a lot of Springfield history.  It was made in about 1902 and has been in his family since 1908.

In 1908, state troops were brought to Springfield to quell the race riots here.  One of the main marshaling areas for those troops was at the railroad stop in Petersburg, Il.

Davis said his grandfather ran a saloon there and as the troops were going back and forth from the race riots in Springfield, some of the soldiers came in and got quite intoxicated in his bar.  One of them left this rifle, along with a bandoleer of ammunition and a sling.  It sat in the corner of that bar with the bandoleer of ammunition hanging off the muzzle for forty years until that bar closed in 1948.  Davis' grandfather sent letters to the Governor and to the Commandant of the Illinois State Guard for somebody to come and get the rifle.

It sat there in the bar with the ammunition sitting right next to it unmolested for forty years.  In 1948 when Davis' grandfather closed the bar he put a bill for five dollars a year for storage into the till and took the rifle and ammunition home.  They shot up the ammunition in the 1950's and they passed the rifle along to Davis.

It still has the oiler and the cleaning kit full of whale oil and it's a hundred years old.  Davis said it is one of the slickest shooting rifles he has ever owned and he shoots it regularly.

Mr. Davis brought a second treat for the audience.  The first U.S. volunteer cavalry, known as the Rough Riders were formed by General Leonard Wood.  His executive officer was Theodore Roosevelt.  Theodore Roosevelt took over after Wood got promoted just before the battle of San Juan Hill.  The Rough Riders were issued Krag-Jorgensen carbines except for the officers which had the Model 1895 Winchester lever-action repeating carbines, provided at Theodore Roosevelt's personal expense.  Davis brought one of these rifles - a military configuration carbine.  Davis had purchased the gun two weeks ago so so he hadn't run the serial number yet. Given the low number and the markings it might have been one of the hundred issued to the first volunteer cavalry because it is still marked 30 US Army for the caliber and it is full military with a hand guard.

Davis said even though the U.S. Army was considered to be one of the top in the world, they were Facing Spanish troops in Cuba armed with superior Model 1893 Mausers in 7 mm.  Anytime they had a face on face engagement with the exception of Kettle Hill and San Juan Hill, U.S. troops got pummeled by the superior Spanish rifles, thanks to their side loaded clips.  The Krag was loaded by dropping a handful of loose cartridges into the hopper on the side.  In a dirty, tropical battlefield condition like Cuba, all sorts of other debris was thrown in at the same time causing malfunctions.

The Spanish Mauser fired bullets at 2400 feet per second, giving them a flatter trajectory.  American soldiers called it the "Spanish Hornet" as the supersonic bullet would make a cracking sound as it passed over head.  It was also very accurate.

American artillery was also out-gunned.  The Spaniards were using French 75 repeating cannons and we were using the three inch cannons from the Civil War that had been converted to breach loaders.  The Illinois State Militia took brass smooth bore 12 pounders to Cuba that were obsolete even during the Civil War!

Davis said everyone always says the Civil War was the conflict that tore the country apart.  Most people are unaware that the Spanish-American War was the conflict that brought the country together again.  People stopped thinking as southerners and northerners and started thinking of each other as Americans again.

Davis said he wanted to bring both guns to our meeting so we could take a look at them because they remind us of an often forgotten defining moment of America's history.  America truly became a world power following its victory in the Spanish-American War.  When Dewey sent the great white fleet to Manila and wiped out the Spanish fleet in Manila bay, that said "Take notice, the United States is on the world scene."  Our victory announced that this hemisphere is ours and if you mess with things here, you are going to have a war with the U.S.


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