The American Straight Pull, The Lee Model 1895Nit picky gun myth — Most people have been led t

The American Straight Pull, The Lee Model 1895Nit picky gun myth — Most people have been led to believe that the Krag-Jorgensen was the main battle rifle used by the US Military in the 1890’s.  Wrong!  You see the military was not yet into the whole standardization thing, and each branch of the military used their own equipment and firearms.  The Krag was used by the US Army, while the Lee Model 1895 was used by the US Navy and Marine Corps. A straighpull that used a 6mm rimless cartridge, the Lee rifle was manufactured by Winchester with over 15,000 produced.  The Lee rifle saw action in Cuba and the Phillipines with Marines and Sailors during the Spanish American War.  Because of its high velocity and long range the Lee rifle was famous for being used by American sailors to pick off Spanish crew and officers from ship decks during the Battle of Manila Bay.  It straight pull action, requiring only a back and forth movement of the bolt, allowed more firepower than most bolt action rifles of its time.Despite its advantages the Lee Rifle had some serious drawbacks.  Due to its high velocity long range cartridge the rifles had to be sighted in at 700 yards minimum, which mean’t that the rifle shot very high when used at close ranges.  Some Marines complained that Lee was not a very good rifle in the field.  The firing pin could be fragile leading to misfires and eventual breakdown.  Often the springs in the magazine were weak which led to jamming and failures to feed.The model 1895 Lee would be replaced after the Spanish American War by the .30-40 Krag.  Later the 1903 Springfield would be adopted. -- source link

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