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A Krag Rifle Rarity

By Gary McCraw
AZOD Shooting Section Leader


Every now and then a true rarity walks in the door of the gunshop and this is one of them.  I have seen hundreds of Krag rifles over the years.  Unfortunately a majority of the time some would be gunsmith has tried to sporterize the rifle.  The finished product would run from bad to worse.  I was amazed to see one in 90% plus condition but when the bolt was opened and all it had was a little .22 caliber hole, wow!

It was an honor to hold a treasure like this in my hands and I thought you would enjoy it as well.

The Cal. .22 Gallery Practice rifle was the last U. S. Krag for which receivers and barrels were manufactured.  This rifle had its origin in early 1905, when General Order No. 34 of the Pennsylvania National Guard came to the attention of the Chief of Ordnance.  This order encouraged procurement and substitution of cal. .22 rimfire Stevens-Pope barrels for standard cal. .30 barrels on Krag rifles and carbines, for use in indoor (gallery) target practice.

Although the Krag rifle had by this time been superseded by the Model 1903 rifle as the official U. S. service arm, the militia as well as the bulk of the regular army were still armed with the Krag.  The Ordnance Department therefore toll the position that installation of barrels by state armorers or commercial arms companies was unauthorized, and directed that this practice be stopped.

At the same time, recognizing that there was a demand for a smallbore gallery practice arm based on the Service rifle, the Chief of Ordnance direct Springfield Armory to begin development of both Model 1898 and Model 1903 versions of such rifles.  Springfield had no prior experience with development or production of smallbore rimfire rifles.  Within the short period of three years, 1905-1907, the Krag Gallery Practice rifle went from inception through obsolescence.

By October 1905 the Ordnance Department had decided that the .22 Long rimfire cartridge was to be the standard gallery practice cartridge.  Springfield was therefore directed to design Model 1898 and Model 1903 gallery practice rifles along the lines of the Stevens-Pope system, requiring no changes tot he basic rifle other than substitution of a special barreled receiver.  The intention was to supply the Model 1898 cal. .22 barrel-receiver units to state militia for installation in the field, and it was estimated that 3,000 w2ould be required for this purpose.

Springfield’s fiscal year 1906 summary of fabrications fails to list Model 1898 Gallery Practice rifles, although it is known that at least two were produced during that period.  The fiscal year 1907 report shows that 341 complete rifles and 124 barreled receivers were produced, and it is assumed that this represents the total.

In 1910, Springfield reported that 215 Krag Gallery Practice rifles were still on hand at the Armory, and the Chief of Ordnance authorized Springfield to sell them for $7.50 each.  A few were used as subcaliber devices for artillery pieces.

It sure is great that a piece of history has survived and maybe just maybe someday I will get a chance to squeeze the trigger on this relic.

A special thanks to Franklin B. Mallory and Ludwig Olson for supplying the information from their book, The Krag Rifle Story, 2^nd Edition, Springfield Research Service, Silver Spring, Maryland.   - END -

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