X'mas Krag

[madsenshooter]

Pre-X'mas shopping sometimes brings good deals. Found this Model 1896 for a good price. Sorta classic bubba, but not badly done. http://www.auctionarms.com/Closed/DisplayItem.cfm?ItemNum=10083840.0

[pincherpartner]

Congratulations! That looks like it will be fun. :drinks:

[C1PNR]

That's a really nice deal. Mine has a MUCH worse "Bubba" job on the stock and it cost me a buck more! Not to mention the gas for the 260 mile round trip to pick it up.

You should have a Lot of fun shooting that. Maybe even think about putting a receiver sight on it. Ha, what a concept.

[madsenshooter]

I just happen to have a couple receiver sights, one a Redfield and the other a Pacific with target knobs. I also have a Miller Kodiak Dreamount that'll fasten on where that rear sight dovetail is cut. Way my eyes have been lately, it'll probably get scoped, at least for load development.

[Char-Gar]

Not that bad a job. Classic early 50's local gunsmith job. I did note what was said about the bore condition. I hope it cleans up for you OK. I have seen some that cleaned up well, that looked bad at first.

[madsenshooter]

Thanks Charger, barrel condition wasn't much of a concern, I have several originals leaning in various corners of the room. I thought there may be some hope with shiney and slightly pitted used in the same sentence. Guess I'll have to wait and see how it cleans up. The way the price of j-words is going, it'll probably be cast boolit dedicated, like the rest of my Krags have become. That old barrel steel goes fast when shooting j-words, might have to get me a modern CMP barrel someday and see how it does.

[3006guns]

I have to throw this in, just to be a jerk............

About eight months ago, our little VFW lodge decided to raffle off some "stuff" in order to raise badly needed funds. They put up EIGHT Krag Jorgensen service rifles complete with bayonets. These guns were used for firing salutes, parades, etc., had been in storage and most of the members preferred the "new" Garands anyway.

I saw the guns about a year before this and they wouldn't consider selling one....and of course I was out of town when the raffle happened.. All eight were about as pristine as you can get, bores and all.

To little, to late........................:violin:

[WILCO]

Yeah. That hurts just reading it..............

[madsenshooter]

One of my nicest Krags is a 92/96 that came from a veteran's organization in the Carolinas. I believe it was assembled by a master armorer, tightest fitting Krag I have, best trigger too. Oh, and it was parkerized. It was handled very little after that was done. P.O. delivered it broken in two at the wrist, but I eventually got the proper parts together. I try not to shoot or handle it too much to save some wear on the parkerizing job. The one from the auction will be here tmrw, ammo is loaded and waiting! Can't let that 30 day guarantee run out on me.

[madsenshooter]

She's here in one piece! The barrel is not a Krag barrel . I see a place in it where a cross pin would have went. A few strokes with a bore brush cleaned it out pretty good. Fairly sharp lands and she slugs .308x.300. The side plate needed replaced, some one had ground on the front edge of the one that was on it. The angle of the bolt handle has been altered. Headspace checks ok. Believe it or not, this was once a military stock! The whole pistol grip has been added and the rest of the military stock reshaped to make this! Or at least that's the way it appears to me, the cuts for the handguard clips are there, as are the lightening cuts. No proofs cartouches or stockfitter's mark to tell though. Judging from the patina, who ever put the 22.5" barrel on, did it long ago. If this is a military stock, oddly enough, it has the remnants of a band spring slot that has been filled in. The only Krag stock that would have used a band spring in the location that this one is in would have been the 1996 Krag Cadet rifle. Not that I would think this rifle was one, it's way beyond the accepted serial # range for them. Shame they didn't save something, the stock fitters initials or something. But that didn't seem to start until 98 production. Naw, that band spring must'be been an earlier experiment or something, if it was an 96 cadet rifle stock, I'd be able to see the rod filler, and the rod stop at the bottom of the receiver ring cut.

Aded: I can make out the stock fitters "C" in the bottom of the receiver ring cut, it was a real Krag stock once upon a time.

[madsenshooter]

It's going to be couple days before I can shoot. That schnabel forearm was just hanging out there creaking back and forth. My Pacific sight has a shorter stud on it, made for a 98, and I'm missing a piece of my Redfield. So, I decided that I'd use a bolt out of a 92 that has a Rice peep site on it. Looks to be about the right height, so now it's just a matter of waiting for the glue to dry.

[Frank46]

Saw your link. Looks like the upper cheek piece and pistol grip were grafted on to your stock. And looks to be a good job. I have a P14 stock that has been cut down
and both comb and pistol grip were added on. Funny thing is that it fits really well. I've a cut down 1917 '06 with a 21" cherry bbl. One of these days will have to get the receiver reworked (its already cut down) and set up for the scope. Enjoy your krag, I know I like mine. Sounds as though you have a springfield bbl on your krag. Was a common usage putting a springfield bbl on a krag. Frank

[madsenshooter]

Hi ya Frank. It could very well be a Springfield barrel. The pistol grip was added on, but the comb was cut down from the military stock. It looks like it was cut down from an 1899 carbine stock, the ones that were made for the 1896 carbines that were rebuilt. It's the orangish Italian Walnut the armory sometimes used circa 1899-1902. I can lay down a series of stocks, 1892 unsanded, 1892 lightly sanded, 1892 cutdown and heavily sanded,then this 1896 very heavily sanded and cut down. You can see the deterioration, and see that the little 96 would come out of the military stock. A fellow would have to know what he was after, be able to visualize the end before starting the cutting. If only he'd used the straight lines he had from pistol grip installation to start the lines of the checkering! There's a lot of work in it, the slots for the handguard clips are even filled with a veneer like the diamonds. The dovetail is really bubba'd, but I might just be able to peen it enough to accept the dovetail mount for an old Miller Kodiak Mount. Looks like a suspension bridge atop your rifle, but serves a purpose. Hmm, I'd have a good choice of scopes, as I have 1", 26mm or 7/8" rings. I have a Weaver K6 L that might fit well, or an Alaskan boosted to 6x. I'll have to see what'll fit. Now where did I put my big de-bubba tool...An Alaskan like this will bring about double what I paid for the rifle.

[cajun shooter]

I have a 98 Krag that my step father won in a raffle in the mid sixties. He gave it to me when I came home from the service in 68 as he is not a gun person. I was very disapointed when I used a bore light on the barrel. It was as ruff as 40 grit sandpaper. The rest of the rifle is in great shape. Who ever had it just did not clean the barrel. I fired 20 rounds out of it and received the results that such a barrel would give. I have always wanted to do something with it but never did. I always was impressed with the slick action and the magazine cut off was the first rifle I had ever seen with such a devise. They are a neat piece of our history.

[madsenshooter]

cajun shooter, if you still have it, the CMP sells new Krag barrels.

Update: I've found this rifle has a throat that's quite long, it''ll probably be replaced at some point, the only bullet I could get out anywhere near the lands was the 311284 with a .302 nose. So, I've decided to spend the time finishing up a 98 that I put a new forearm on. It has a star-gauged barrel. Some collectors would argue otherwise, but that star with a circle in it beneath the P proofmark is there for a reason. They didn't start putting the mark on the crown of the 03s until 1921. The gauge had been in use since 1906. But I haven't been able to uncover anything except one author stating the star-gauged barrels for the Krag were unmarked, but had a card that accompanied them. That'd be sorta stupid, as hustlers would quickly be getting rid of standard barrels to accompany those cards, while keeping the gauged ones. Anyway, this rifle is now on the projects to do list.

[cajun shooter]

Yes, I still have the rifle. It's been in my closet for the last 30 because of the barrel. It is still the smoothest bolt action I have ever used. I will check into the barrels at the CMP.

[Multigunner]

Yes, I still have the rifle. It's been in my closet for the last 30 because of the barrel. It is still the smoothest bolt action I have ever used. I will check into the barrels at the CMP.

If there are no huge gaping craters like mine had, then lead lapping may be all thats needed to restore the bore to shootable condition.




One of my nicest Krags is a 92/96 that came from a veteran's organization in the Carolinas. I believe it was assembled by a master armorer, tightest fitting Krag I have, best trigger too. Oh, and it was parkerized



It very well may have been the work of a master. The Krag was at one time as popular for match shooting as the Garand.
I ran across an old book with a section on preparing the Krag for competitive Match shooting.
If I can find the download page for it again I'll post a link here.

[madsenshooter]

Pic's a little fuzzy. I don't have any other such barrels, yet, but I've seen other pics of the mark. The bore/groove is .299/.307 and is very consistent. The throat appears shorter than standard too, which could be just a function of the smaller bore. I might never shoot a j-word in it! The cartouche is 1902, which jibes with the serial #. That by itself is unusual, stocks got shuffled around so much. The barrel may have been gauged, but the action is no match rifle. Machining of the receivers in 1902 wasn't as fine as it was in 1895. The rifle's overall fit is sloppier and the trigger is nothing like the partkerized 92/96. There's no doubt star gauged barrels were made for Krags, just a question of whether or not this is one. Looks like a star with a circle in it to me, just a bit mistamped on one of the points. Probably some Masonic symbol or something like that, right?