![]() ![]() The newer cartridges were smaller, mostly around. Most single-shot breechloaders of the period were. In line with recent developments in Europe, it would be a smaller caliber than the current round. In 1889, research began on a new cartridge that would use smokeless powder. By the late 1880s, the concern had finally grown serious enough for a new board to convene to discuss developing a modern rifle for the U.S. Military strategists following advances in Europe feared that the United States was far behind most European nations in adopting repeating rifles. Despite occasional difficulties, it had effectively gotten the job done in the West, but it was now obsolete. This single-shot, breech-loading weapon fired a. 45-caliber “Trapdoor” Model 1873 and its derivatives. The standard American rifle in the 1880s was the Springfield. Eventually, as the nation’s growing power and status caused its eyes to turn outward, the United States began to recognize that it lagged behind Europe in modern weapons. There were few areas in which a conflict with European powers might occur, and American planners gave little thought to the prospect. Army’s only opponents in the late 1800s were the various tribes of Native Americans who were resisting the continuing loss of their lands in the West. The ongoing arms race had an effect on the United States, as well. Resistance to expenditures generally melted away after success on the battlefield. These new weapons were expensive to make, but conferred great advantage to those who had them. Artillery likewise was evolving from brass muzzle-loading guns to quick-firing breechloaders made of steel. Machine guns were still in their infancy, but growing rapidly. The muzzle loader gave way to the breech-loading cartridge rifle, which in turn was outclassed by the repeating rifle firing high-velocity cartridges using smokeless powder. Advances in technology were quickly rendering obsolete the weapons that had served relatively unchanged for decades. During the era in which the Krag Jorgensen rifle came into its own, an arms race was in effect among the nations of Europe. ![]()
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