Bored Cavalrymen Standing in Line (Krag Carbine)

On this day in history, April 11th 1900, some (presumably) bored cavalry trooper stood in a line and turned in his carbine to be upgraded at the arsenal. And this pictured carbine MAY have been one of those. On this day, the 6th Cavalry Regiment turned in their Model 1896 carbines, presumably receiving fresh new Model 1899 carbines in return, shortly before shipping off to China.
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A Storied Unit
The 6th Cavalry was formed early in the Civil War, fighting in a number of significant engagements. It remained active during reconstruction, eventually being stationed in Texas, before becoming part of the Department of the Missouri in 1871. From there it fought on during the Red River War, Apache Wars, Ghost Dance War, and Johnson County War. It was sometime after that point it was issued the new repeating Krag carbines to replace the now obsolete Trapdoors they carried. It was with these that they helped take the San Juan Heights alongside the more famous Rough Riders.

​Then things got real interesting. After handing in their old 1896 Carbines, the 6th Cavalry was deployed directly from the United States in the summer of 1900 as part of the China Relief expedition, designed to rescue US and European citizens from the ravages of the Boxer Rebellion. In August 1900 they took part in the Battle of Peking, relieving the besieged Legation Quarter and rescue the foreigners surrounded there.

But What About This Carbine?
​So why might this have been a 6th Cav weapon (and why am I being so wishy-washy about that)? Well this carbine's serial number (71064) puts it in a large block of carbines documented as having been turned in for upgrade by the 6th, including its immediate serial number buddy 71065. But as close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, it is only SLIGHTLY better than wild speculation to say that this rifle could have been part of the 6th or 8th Cavalry Regiments, both of which turned in their weapons in 1900, and had overlapping dense serial number blocks in this range.

What IS clear is that this carbine is a pretty good example of an arsenal upgraded weapon. The stock has been swapped to one of the Model 1899 pattern, which lacks the iconic cavalry sling bar and ring. While the cartouche is mostly faded, the last two digits appear to be "01" which would jive with a 1900 turn in, and 1901 upgrade date.
It may have undergone further upgrades, or just sat around the arsenal in a semi finished state for a bit, as the rear sight is a 1902 pattern (properly "C" marked), while the hand guard likewise fits the type used with the 1902 pattern rear sight. Besides the usual cracks in the hand guard, the stock is in very nice shape. The metal has lost most of its finish, but has acquired a pleasing gray patina throughout.

Service Long After Obsolescence 
Krag rifles and carbines continued to serve in the tens of thousands right up through WW1. While VERY few actually made it to France (in the hands of railway engineers), literal tons of them were used for stateside training and home guard use, with some arsenals not actively producing m1903s being tasked with repairing Krags -- see Archival Research Group for a TON of neat documents concerning this mad scramble. While the blunt nosed .30 Army cartridge was made obsolete by the new Spitzer tipped 30-06, they were still being reloaded and repacked through the 19-teens by major arsenals such as Frankford.

I hope I've couched my writeup in enough qualifications to prevent anyone from saying "well achktually you don't know where it was", because I recognize this isn't an SRS hit or otherwise documented (always holding out hope Archival Research Group! ). But I mostly hope you enjoyed this nice, well-used, old carbine!