Krag-Jorgensen Model 1898 Carbine

About the Krag-Jorgensen Model 1898 Carbine

The Krag-Jorgensen Model 1898 Carbine is a bolt-action carbine produced at Springfield Armory as a cavalry version of the U.S. M1898 Krag service rifle, chambered in the rimmed .30-40 Krag cartridge. It mated the improved Model 1898 receiver to a 22-inch barrel and short saddle-carbine stock, and retained the Krag's hallmark side-loading horizontal box magazine that allowed the internal five-round magazine to be topped off with the bolt closed. Mechanically it was essentially a Model 1896 carbine fitted with the newer 1898-pattern receiver and bolt, sharing that carbine's barrel, handguard, sights and furniture. Only about 5,001 were built in 1898 before the pattern was superseded by the revised Model 1899 carbine, making it one of the scarcer U.S. Krag configurations.

Because it was made only briefly in 1898 and closely resembles the earlier 1896 and later 1899 carbines, the genuine Model 1898 Krag carbine is one of the harder U.S. Krag variants for collectors to authenticate, and unaltered examples command a premium at auction.

Krag-Jorgensen Model 1898 Carbine specifications

The Model 1898 carbine is, for practical purposes, a Model 1896 carbine built on the improved Model 1898 receiver and bolt; its stock, barrel, handguard and sights are otherwise the same as the 1896 carbine except for the bolt recess. Production began on 15 August 1898.