That was basically the doctrine of the day. Single load, keeping the magazine in reserve to "repel a charge". Since the Krag wasn't a clip-loader (excluding the Parkhurst experiment - which, BTW, actually worked) storage of individual rounds wasn't an issue.

The transition to a Mauser-like clip-loading design was inevitable, and the Krag was always seen as a foreign interloper anyhow - it wasn't even called a Springfield! That term was reserved for the .45-70, until the 1903, which was called "the New Springfield".