Firearms trivia question April 16th

[Float Pilot]

Our time travel has just landed us in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. July 1898..

Teddy Roosevelt thinks we are touched in the head, so we have been assigned mule skinner duties with the supply company.

We are ordered to go down the the beach head and get ammunition for the US Volunteer Cavalry's Krag carbines. Which is called 30 Caliber US Army at this time.

But, Col Roosevelt also orders us to bring back a couple of crates of ammo for the US Marines and Naval landing party members who hold a nearby position.


What type (caliber) of ammuntion will the Marines and Navy guys need?

 

[motorboatn]

Is it

Is it

.45/70 ???????

 

[Darreld Walton]

6mm Lee Navy

6mm Lee Navy

Predecessor of the .220 Swift, perchance.....?

 

[KCASEY]

My bet is

My bet is

i WOULD GUESS .45/70

 

[akrifle]

trivia guess

trivia guess

I think that the Krag was chambered 30-40.

 

[akrifle]

I think that the Krag was chambered 30-40.

Whoops! that is also 30 caliber ammo.

 

[338WM]

I think that's about the time the .30-06 was first introduced to the U.S. military before it was adopted in 1903.

So I say .30-06'

 

[MontanaRifleman]

Is this a cal or cartridge question???

 

[MontanaRifleman]

I think the 30-40 Krag and the .06 are both possibilities and lean to the 30-40 Krag

 

[rbuck351]

6mm Lee I think is what the navy was using at that time. And it is the parent case for the 220 swift.

 

[henry2]

6mm lee round i think that would be the round they use at the time along with the 30 cal krag rifle round for which i think was a 30-40.cal typle of round

 

[jguy.357]

Lee 6mm

Lee 6mm

+1 for the 6mm.

 

[Float Pilot]

YES THE 6mm LEE NAVY.

While the Navy and Marine had used the 45-70 at one time with the REmington-Keene rifles, they were the first US Service to try a fairly high speed and small caliber rifle.

The 6mm Lee Navy.

Which was also the first US cartidridge to use a metric designation.

It was also the first US rifle to use a stripper clip for loading the magazine.

The Lee Navy had such a good trajectory that Winchester actually had to add more property to their test range.

The Navy and Marines used this caliber in the Lee Rifle and in Colt Machhine Guns.

The WINNERS ARE :::::

1. Darreld Walton.....6mm Lee Navy
Predecessor of the .220 Swift, perchance.....?


2.rbuck351....6mm Lee I think is what the navy was using at that time. And it is the parent case for the 220 swift.


3. henry2......6mm lee round i think that would be the round they use at the time along with the 30 cal krag rifle round for which i think was a 30-40.cal typle of round


4.jguy.357

Lee 6mm
+1 for the 6mm.


BONUS QUESTION??????

What was the most noticeable mechanism on the Lee Navy Rifle? It was the only widely issued US rifle to date, that used this...

 

[rifleshooter]

Good question

Good question

Good question, thanks for the education. I was surprised that noboby guessed the very short lived US cal .30-03, which was quickly changed a little to make the 30-06. There was also the very short lived .50-70 that quickly erroded chambers.

 

[rifleshooter]

Bonus

Bonus

Bonus question:

Would that be the bolt mechanism that the British adopted?

 

[hunt_ak]

The box magazine? Good link here...

 

[mauserboy]

Straight pull bolt

Straight pull bolt

was the mechanism requested.

 

[akrifle]

Straight pull bolt.

 

[Float Pilot]

YES THE STRAIGHT PULL BOLT.

Well actually the Lee Navy was a semi straight pull. You have to pull up slightly and then back. the bolt comes back at an upward angle. It really looks weird.

The Lee Navy was also called the Model of 1895.
So it had been around for a couple years by the time of the Spanish American War in 1898.

They were later phased out and replaced with 30 caliber rifles around the 1903 to 1906 time period. Winchester built a sporting version few a few more years after that.

Part of the reason the Navy and Marines adopted the 6mm was that they required the bullet to penetrate steel boiler plate at certain ranges. The 30 US ARMY (30-40 Krag) was not able to do what they needed. They were thinking about being able to disable steam launches and the like in harbors and rivers. Remember the Marines and Navy were engaged in advetures in China for many years against pirates and warlords.

 

[FLtoAK05]

I think I read somewhere that the Navy/Marines used a 6mm Lee cal machine-gun made by Colt.

BGiddens