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The M1898 Krag Rifle: This was the final variant of the Krag-Jorgensen rifle of the Spanish American War and was, at best, obsolescent. The Krag was 49.1-inches in overall length with a 30-inch barrel. It weighed 9.3 pounds. It was chambered for the U.S. .30-40 cartridge. This fired a 220 grain bullet at 2,000fps. The Krag also could not be loaded via a charger and its 5-round magazine had to be loaded, one round at a time. At the start of the war, some 160,000 M1898s were stored at various ordnance depots. In order to free up M1903 and M1917 rifles for the front, the Krag was issued to training camps. While most recruits would have preferred a Springfield or an Enfield, the Krag certainly beat training with a broomstick! As soon as enough M1903 and M1917 rifles were available, the M1898s were sent back into storage. Records indicate that some 2,000 Krag rifles made it to France but there is no evidence that they were used in combat. The Krag also served with various US Navy units in France. Not bad for an obsolescent rifle!

The Canadian Mark II Ross Rifle: When the War Department was scrambling for rifles to be used for training, the Canadian government advised that they had some 100,000 Mark I and II Ross rifles for sale. The Ross had recently been withdrawn from front-line service by the Canadians due to problems with operating its bolt in the mud-encrusted environment of the trenches. The Ross weighed 9 pounds, 14 ounces and was 50.25-inches overall in length with a 30.5-inch barrel. It was chambered for the British .303 cartridge. The U.S. purchased 20,000 Mark II Ross rifles, along with bayonets, scabbards slings and cleaning kits at the cost of $12.80 each. 4,629,470 rounds of .303 ammo was also purchased (at $20.00 per thousand) and a quantity of spare parts and ($7,814.78) as well as 2,000 rifle manuals. These were sold, at cost, to the states of New York (10,000 rifles), Massachusetts and Ohio (5,000 rifles each). The Ross was used for training purposes and never saw combat.

The M1891 Mosin-Nagant Rifle: This Russian design was 51.3-inches in overall length with a 31.6-inch barrel. It weighed 9.63 pounds and was chambered for the 7.62mm cartridge. When Russia entered the war, the quickly approached Remington and Westinghouse with a contract to produce M1891 rifles as quickly as possible. With the fall of the Czar, the contracts were cancelled, both companies had produced 1,500,000 M1891s of which 469,951 had been shipped to Russia. Since the companies had not been paid for most of the work and wanting to keep the two factories viable, the US purchased 280,000 M1891s at a cost of $20.00 each. Both companies were soon retooling for the production of the M1917 machine guns, the M1917 rifles and the M1910 military shotguns. They were used as training rifles and many equipped the US troops sent to North Russia and were later turned over to the White Russians.

The French Lebel and Berthier Rifles: The M1886 Lebel Rifle weighed 9.75 pounds and was 51.4-inches overall in length, with a barrel length of 31.5-inches. It was chambered for the 8mm and featured a 8-round tubular magazine under the barrel. The M1907 Berthier Rifle was a modification of the Lebel but fitted with a one piece stock and a Mannlicher-inspired box magazine. It weighed 8.38 pounds, had an overall length of 51.4-inches long with a 31.4-inch barrel. The rimmed 8mm round prevented a standard charger from being used and the Berthier used a 3-round clip. It was later modified to hold 5-rounds, but many 3-round versions served until the end of the war. Both rifles were considered to be very inaccurate and clumsy to handle. In US service, the Lebel’s claim to fame: this was the Rifle that Rick O’Connell used in the opening scenes of The Mummy.

The British Short Magazine Lee-Enfield Rifle, No.1 Mark III: Better known as the SMLE this was the standard service rifle of the British military. It weighed 8.62 pounds, was 44.5-inches long with a barrel length of 25.2-inches. It used a 10-round magazine. Initially, the British felt that the SMLE was inferior to the Mauser and there were plans to replace it with a Mauser design. As subsequent events proved, the SMLE was a reliable and effective rifle that served until the 1950s. While issued to the US Army for training in France, several US regiments were attached to British divisions and were armed with the SMLE; while derided as being heavier and clumsier than the M1903, the SMLE was respected.