30-40 krag Jorgensen

[Lethemgo]

Happened to find this rifle so now the adventure begins. Want to see if it fires before i invest in the rest of the parts. Appears to be in decent enough shape. The guys brother in law started stripping her down but at least he had found a stock to put it in years ago before he lost interest. I will need to find a barrel band, nose cap, rear sling mount, and a butt plate. Can't wait to get this quest going.

[salpal48]

Try granpasgunparts.com. He has a lot of Krag parts on line

[380AUTO]

My Krag is all original model of 1898 out of 70 plus rifles it is my favorite one. I hope you restore that old girl and take her shooting again.

[Hamish]

http://www.kragcollectorsassociation.../yabb2/YaBB.pl

[GBertolet]

The Krags are great rifles for cast bullets. That long neck case is ideal.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Nice find! It has a lot of potential, especially if the bore is still good. All of the parts are still obtainable from various sources including e-bay and S&S Firearms. Having the uncut stock and handguard is really a big plus. Looks like the back sight is pretty rusty and will be a major restoration job, but it can by done with a dunk in Brownell's Rust Remover and then a reblue, or you can replace it with another. Just looking at your photos, the most expensive part will probably be the front band/bayonet lug. Nice ones go in the $60-$100 range. Good luck with your project, and don't forget to post some "after" photos.

[Chill Wills]

I want to insert a word about the fairly new GRAF & Sons 30-40 Krag brass. A sample of cases weighted a bunch heaver than all the old lots of R-P 30-40 Krag brass I have used and the necks are running less uniform at 9-12" thousandths thick in each case. - the R-P mic. 9-10" thousandths.

I am not giving a bad review but rather a heads up that loads should be worked up when a change in components occurs, and in these smaller capacity Graf & Sons cases, that goes double.

CW

[DxieLandMan]

Mine is an 1899 and it is a dream to shoot. Yours will be too. I prefer semi-autos but this is my 2nd choice.

[Rich/WIS]

WARNING: Do not try to "snap" the upper handguard over the barrel, it will likely crack. Remove the rear sight and slide it back into position and reinstall the rear sight. I had a sporter and it loved the 311284 backed by 10-12 grains of Blue Dot. A different sporter hated the load but loved the 311291 instead. If the sights are an issue for your eyes it may take some searching but Redfield and Pacific made no drill receiver sights, I had a Redfield on mine and it made all the difference in the world for accurate shooting.

[gnoahhh]

"Civilize them with the Krag."

[RangerDan]

I have an 1895 Krag and love the old girl. Haven't shot any cast bullets in it yet only jacketed and she is a tack driver. Have some 200 grain cast loaded up and am waiting on cooler weather to test them. Hard to shoot open sights with sweat getting in your eyes.

[Chill Wills]

I have an 1895 Krag and love the old girl. Haven't shot any cast bullets in it yet only jacketed and she is a tack driver. Have some 200 grain cast loaded up and am waiting on cooler weather to test them. Hard to shoot open sights with sweat getting in your eyes.

At least it is not flood water and sea surge in your eyes. Glad you are high and dry.

[leadhead]

Do you have the hand guard for it? There's different one's and it depends on which
back sight you have. There is a place that sells repo hand guards, but I forget what
it is.... You will have a blast shooting it. Good luck in you finding all the parts.
Denny

[Multigunner]

I once had a Krag Carbine in wallhanger condition, good overall except for a bore that looked like the surface of the moon. I still regret trading it off since a few years later repro barrels became available.

A few years back I was on the verge of buying a Krag sporter from a forum member, and had the money put aside for exactly that purpose when the floor of my bathroom collapsed due to a pin hole leak between the layers of flooring. the Krag stash went for rebuilding the floor and replacing the plumbing.

Not sure if I'll give it another go, finding one I can afford is not as likely these days,but I can't think of any rifle I'd rather have at this point.

[Lethemgo]

You know I just couldn't resist putting her in the right stock, I thought I heard a sigh of relief coming out of the chamber area. The stock has some pretty good nices and gauges in it but most are there to stay. I do see a couple faint cartouches im going to just start oiling it and that will pretty much be it. So what do you guys think, reblue it or just leave it. There is a few spots of surface rust and the guy before me already started stripping (doing a bad job). My buddy has a few rounds i need to go pick up to put a couple rojnds down range. Than purchase the other parts to finish up.

[too many things]

they must not had wind then. no windage adjustment

[Lethemgo]

There is windage adjustment

[Der Gebirgsjager]

" So what do you guys think, reblue it or just leave it"

You know, that is just strictly, 100% up to you. You've got to decide what it is that you want the finished project to look like.

It's hard for me to own a firearm that doesn't look it's best. But, I've come into conflict many times with the "collector purists" who believe that old guns should remain untouched, that rust and chewed up stocks are part of a visible, tangible history that should remain as found.

Were the rifle mine I would certainly refinish the stock. To me, the visible surface damage on the right side is unsightly and would give me the shudders every time I ran my hand over it. I would start by carefully removing them with a cabinet maker's wood rasp, followed by sanding with sandpaper from 80 to 220 grit. Then, depending on whether I desired an oil finish to approximate the original finish, or a Tru Oil finish I'd go from there with applying the oil at that point or continuing to sand to 320 grit. As for the rust on the gun, if it is active rust it will only get worse unless you do something to neutralize it. You can usually remove rust with 4-0 steel wool and a fine oil or kerosene, but the unsightly pits formed by the rust will remain. If the pits are deep it is hard to prevent rust from reforming and continuing to eat away at the metal in the bottom of the pits, and a method must be found to seal out air and moisture from the pits. My choice would be a professional hot blue, which I used to do a great deal of, but the original blue was a rust blue. This is a bit more labor intensive, harder to do, takes more time, and you'd find that service harder to come by and more expensive than the hot blue. A good craftsman will file and polish out all of the pits in the metal before the blue job.

Deciding just exactly what to do for a particular piece is always a judgment call. It has to be based on the amount of damage to be repaired, and some specimens that have survived in better condition require none at all. And again, as I already stated, the call is entirely yours. It's your rifle, and you are the one that has to be pleased with its appearance.

Attachment 227587 Attachment 227588
Click to enlarge.

These two didn't require too much work to restore. This one took a lot of work and it had apparently been run over by a pickup truck. The receiver was slightly crushed, the bolt wouldn't fully cycle, and the stock was broken.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Here are some of the sights that were used on the Krag. Lethemgo's rifle has the second type. The lever on the front of the sight loosens it in its base and allows the entire leaf to be turned right or left. Then, by turning the lever back toward the center it binds the leaf into the desired position.
Attachment 227595
Click to enlarge.