M1892 Krag Rifle

M1892 KRAG (1892-1903)

First US knife bayonet. The Krag fits the Krag rifle, and is almost a direct copy of the Swiss Model 1889 for the Schmidt-Rubin rifle. (Check Janzen's Notebook, page 186.) Blade length is 11 1/2" for regular model, and 8 3/4" blade length for the cadet version. This is a knife bayonet manufactured to fit the first bolt-action magazine rifle adopted by the US Military.

The rifle was based on the Danish Krag while the bayonet was based on - and virtually identical to - the Swiss Schmidt-Rubin Model 1889. This bayonet - and rifle - saw most of its action during the Spanish-American War and the ensuing action in Cuba. They are very well made, all steel, with wood grips.

The hilt configuration is a "bird's head" pommel with the standard push-button/integral spring latch, steel crossguard; grips are wood and held on by flush-mounted rivets. The blade is also well made: steel, single-fullered (both sides), single-cutting-edge with short false-edge towards the tip. Blades are marked US on one side of the ricasso, with a date between 1894 and 1902 on the opposite side. Scabbards come in two basic configurations, both sheet-rolled steel and blued. The difference is in the belt attaching hook or loop, but all types swiveled side-to-side (front-to-back when on a side-belt).

m1892 Krag bayonet in m1892 scabbard.