Kraig 1898 Springfield ( not orginal) $225

[Shooter6br]

posted at range Kraig 1898 ( Made 1903) not orginal(whatever that means) $225.i hear good cast bullet gun. Any opinions? Have not seen it. Rick

[Dutchman]

Bore condition is a big thing with Krags as many were shot with surplus corrosive primed ammo and not cleaned correctly. Sewer pipe is the correct descriptor for many Krags.

Other than that you've not seen it, I've not seen it, neither of us can have much of an opinion.

Dutch

[Char-Gar]

Krags are indeed fine rifles and that is a decent price depending on how bad it has been butchered. Most of these "nor originals" have had the military stock cut down.

As Dutchman said, the condition of the bore is what needs to be determined.

[Dutchman]

This may be a bone fide NRA carbine as it has a carbine rear sight and carbine stock but was a rifle. Thus it also is
(not original). I paid a lot more than $250 for it but I knew the seller and the bore is beautiful, sharp & shiny.
This is not "sporterized".

[Char-Gar]

Yum..yum!

[Hang Fire]

I was watching the Military Channel as to the top ten military rifles. They were saying in the Spanish American War, the 7mm Mauser in the hands of the Spaniards ate our boy's lunch who were under armed with the Krags.

Now I know the 7mm is a fine cartridge, but the .30-40 is no slouch. I think they were confusing the Krag with the single shot black powder .45-70 Trapdoor Springfield, with which many of the militia and such were issued.

[Shooter]

I was watching the Military Channel as to the top ten military rifles. They were saying in the Spanish American War, the 7mm Mauser in the hands of the Spaniards ate our boy's lunch who were under armed with the Krags.

Now I know the 7mm is a fine cartridge, but the .30-40 is no slouch. I think they were confusing the Krag with the single shot black powder .45-70 Trapdoor Springfield, with which many of the militia and such were issued.

The Mauser loaded with stripper clips. Much faster to reload.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
I have several Krags... +1 on bore condition as all firearms. Be aware you can have a fat bore (.316) & smaller sizes... I have never seen a .310. My closest is a .312. But they are fun to shoot and well capable of hitting bowling pins at 100 yards off cross sticks.
Mike in peru

[Char-Gar]

The 7mm in the Mauser rifle was far superior to the Krag. The Mauser was much faster to reload and could be used for barrage fire at extreme distances into troop formations because of it's better ballistics and bullet shape.

Our experience against the 7mm Mauser, was one of the main reasons we developed the Model 1903 and the 30-06 round. The Krag just could not cut it against the Mauser, which were selling like hotcakes to armies all over the world.

I have 3 Krag rifles and the groove specs are .3080, .3095 and .3120. Townsend Whelen in his "Days of the Krag" tells of rifles with grooves as large as .317. The big ones give pitiful performance with jacketed .308 bullets, but sterling accuracy with cast.

[madsenshooter]

Good morning
I have several Krags... +1 on bore condition as all firearms. Be aware you can have a fat bore (.316) & smaller sizes... I have never seen a .310. My closest is a .312. But they are fun to shoot and well capable of hitting bowling pins at 100 yards off cross sticks.
Mike in peru

Nearly all mine are .310". Like new barrels, just made that way. I have only one that is less than .310. I'm guessing it's a star-gauged barrel, there's a 6 pointed star beneath the P proof mark on the barrel. It's a .307 groove diameter, but doesn't have the shortest throat of the lot.

[bob208]

now not to pick a fight. the mauser is better then the krag. but if it was so bad just how did the troupes take that hill and other hills??? in fact cuba and the phillapines should still belong to spain.

the krag did well in china in 1900 too. and that was againest the mauser also.

[Char-Gar]

1. The quality of the man often is more important than the quality of the weapon.
2. The Marines defending the embassy in Peking were armed with 6mm Lee straight pull rifles.
3. The soldiers of the China Relief Expedition came from 8 nations with Japan sending the most troops.
4. The U.S. send the 9th and 14th Infantry from the Philippines and the 6th Cav. from the US and some artillery. They all had Krags.
5. The Boxers were armed with a motley assortment of weapons, many were single shots of some kind.
6. There were also US Marines and they are the ones who scaled the wall and they again had Lees.

[DanM]

The Krag may have the smoothest bolt action ever made. You would be hard pressed to find a more enjoyable cast bullet shooter. My rifle has an unusually tight bore at .308", also mildly sportered with the stock cut back to the rear band. Barrel is still full length, and has a set of Redfield sights. It has delivered fine accuracy with 160, 180 and 200gr cast bullets sized to .310".
I have read that the Krag was DQed from competition in 1909 because the military wanted the '03 to win some matches. True or not, the Krag is a fine shooter, and a great conversation piece at the range.

[Char-Gar]

Townsend Whelen was active in the Army during the transition from the Krag to the 03. He was also involved in rifle competition at the same time. He wrote his experiences up in a series of articles called "Days of the Krag" and "Days of the Springfield" which were published in Guns and Ammo Magazine. These articles were reprinted in his book Mr. Rifleman. They are primary source material for folks who are interested in this subject.

Long story short, is the 03 proved to be superior to the Krag in every way. I am a Krag nut with more than a fellow should own, but I must tell the truth, that it is indeed inferior to the 03 in every way except bolt smoothness.

When the Krag was still The Army Rifle, Harry Pope was called in help produce some special Palma Match rifles. He about had a stroke over the poor quality of the Krag barrels and his input directly lead to latter Krags barrels being much better.

The Army was used to the black powder trapdoor Springfields whose barrel specs were all over the map. It didn't matter much as the black powder expanded the lead bullets up to fill whatever barrel it was fired in. Smokeless powder and jacketed bullets didn't do the same thing and it took the Army a while to break the code on that one.

[doubs43]

A pretty decent summation by Townsend Whelen of the Krag and the 1903 rifles is to be found in his book "THE AMERICAN RIFLE". Originally published in 1918, reprints are available new. The targets reproduced in the book that were shot in competition by the author show him to have been an excellent marksman. It's an excellent book worth having in any shooting collection.

[Char-Gar]

Anything Townsend Whelen wrote is worth the effort to read. He lived, worked and wrote in a time when the rifle in American was evolving. He died before most of the current crop of shooters were born and they are not familiar with this giant of a rifleman. In fact, very few of today's shooters even know what it means to be a rifleman. Riflecraft is not dead, but it is very weak in America.

[Thumbcocker]

Working the action of a Krag is a sensual experience. Pull the bolt and feel how smoothly everything is finished. IMHO the .30-40 is the ultimate .30 cast boolit rifle cartridge for someone not into customs and experimintation. I have had two militaries one bore .310 and the other .316. Even though I love them I think the 03 is a better battle rifle and the 06 is a better military cartridge. The stripper clips were a big deal. I have heard that the U.S. licensed the clips from Mauser but have never researched.

[leadman]

The US was paying Mauser royalities before the war.
Too bad the Army insisted on a change to the was the original Krag could be fed with stripper clips.
A fella had a Danish Krag for sale here in Phoenix awhile back and I wanted it badly, but alas money had to go for medical bills. I do have my old sporterized Krag that I will probably keep until I die.

[Throwback]

There is so much hyperbole about the Krag vs. the 7 Mauser - as loaded in the Spanish American War, they were kissing cousins. The real difference was never the cartridge - it was the rifle. The Krag is a fabulous rifle (especially with cast). If pressed I would say it is my favorite. But it is not a great military rifle.

The Mauser would be my choice to arm soldiers. That said, its sole albeit significant advantage was its ability to be loaded with stripper clips. The sights are not great and its combat zero meant that they shot high at short to middle ranges. This may have saved some lives on our side.

[madsenshooter]

It would have been pretty simple to make the Krag load with strippers. The Parkhurst Device was one way. Or they could have made a charger like I did following some of Parashooter's directions. I use it when I shoot in highpower matches. Now that they've again changed the rules, I guess I'll have to make another. Can't have the magazine loaded for the first string of 5 like you used to be able to. OK in the vintage match, but not in regular highpower.