1899 Krag Carbine

[Mk42gunner]

Any body have any words of wisdom regarding a Krag Carbine? It will be a while before I can shoot it, somehow the previous owner broke the stock at the wrist, and attempted to repair it with some sort of epoxy. Unfortunately, he didn't quite get the pieces lined up right, so I have to fix that first.

Right now I am slowly getting the blackened oil out of the stock.

Bore looks good, but will undoubtedly need a good decoppering.

It has what I believe are the 1901 Carbine rear sight and I think the front is stock. The big surprise was that I can actually use the peep with my reading glasses.

Seems to be a very handy little carbine, I just wish it had sling swivels; although with the stock in the condition it is I don't see how it would hurt to install a set if I ever decide to take it hunting.

Robert

[HighHook]

Once you get the the stock fixed and a taller front sight should be a great shooter.

[Multigunner]

IIRC soaking the glued area in Vinegar will soften expoxy glue .
To remove old oil from a stock mix a strong solution of Tri-Sodium-Phosphate (available at most hardware stores and paint stores) with water, soak the surface, let dry thoroughly, rinse the crystals that form on the surface with household 2% Hydrogen Peroxide or plain tap water, repeat over a period of several days.

If very oil soaked you may first have to hang the wood over a heat source to liquefy the congealed oil and bring it to the surface.

Depending on where the break is you might consider bracing the wrist with a threaded rod set into holes by means of accraglass compound.

[bob208]

for what real 99 carbines are worth. I would take my time and fix that stock right and forget the sling swivels. if you do need a sling a rifle front band will fit. just put it on with the top of the U pointing at the front sight. for the rear use a sling that goes over the stock like on muzzleloaders.
I got a 8 point buck with my 99 using the 311299 loaded to about 1800 fps. it went through front to back. it upset and tumbled on it way through.

[Mk42gunner]

The break starts at the rear of the trigger guard and goes back more or less horizontally to the nose of the comb, then up. I have already installed a section of ¼-20 allthread with Devcon 2 Ton epoxy through the center section of the break.

I am fairly certain it will be strong enough, when I got it the wrist was wrapped with three or four layers of that structural marvel, electrical tape. I just need to fill the remaining voids, very little sanding will be necessary. I have enough other pieces of walnut stocks to sand to get the filler material. Hopefully I can do a good enough job that the repair doesn't show too badly.

Bob, good to know about the rifle band fitting; I like the sound of using a muzzle loader sling. I didn't really want to drill this stock.

This particular example of an 1899 is a long way from pristine, it also has a bit of rust and discoloration from same. But it has grabbed my attention and gotten me interested in doing something again.

Like I said it is going to be a while; I work on it when I am feeling okay, let it set when I am not.

Thanks for the advice,

Robert

[gnoahhh]

Ah, there is no value in that stock now, except as a very serviceable shooter (sounds like you did a good repair). That said, if it were mine, I would go ahead and put sling swivels on it if that's what you want. Furthering that thought, I would use a standard Krag rifle rear swivel inletted into the butt, and swap out the front band for a rifle lower band with a swivel on it.

[Mk42gunner]

gnoahh, thanks for the kind words. I haven't done anything to it in the last few days. I did buy a new can of boiled linseed oil, the last can I had was several years ago. Still a long way from needing it though.

I'll see what parts I can come up with at the next few gun shows I go to. I do like the idea of a rifle front band, so who knows just what I will end up with? I have more than enough guns that already have slings to take deer hunting, I really don't need to take this one. The way my knees, hip and back feel; I am not going this year anyway.

Robert

[gnoahhh]

I hear you. My hip, back, and neck are slowing me down too. The thing with a Krag carbine is they are pretty well balanced and as such can spend most of the time in one's hands where a rifle belongs. The slings for the few rifles I hunt with, that are fitted for them, spend most of the day riding around in my day pack. The rifle goes over my shoulder when I'm hiking in to the stand in the dark or staggering out of the woods after dark, or on occasion when dragging a deer behind me.

I'm amazed at the number of guys I see who go about a days hunting with their rifles constantly slung over their shoulders. I often wonder how many missed opportunities happen on account of those seconds needed to unlimber Old Betsy. Are those folks' rifles so heavy or unbalanced that they can't be comfortably hand carried, or are they just weak or lazy? Hmmm...

I suspect a lot of it has to do with scopes. A scope on a rifle wrecks its handiness for carrying, and perhaps leads to sling use.

[Mk42gunner]

gnoahhh, I hear you on actually holding the rifle in your hands while hunting, the main reason I like a sling is for after the shot. I have drug enough deer with one hand while carrying a rifle with the other to not want to do it any more.

Most of my rifles have a military sling on them, and I adjust it up to about four holes looser than a parade sling while hunting, that or I have the loop loosely on my arm but not tight, while watching.

Mike, they really didn't do too bad a job epoxying it back together, it is structurally sound; but just doesn't look very good. I really think the tape was there to smooth out the ridges left by the excess epoxy, more than trying to hold things together. There are a couple of spots that in total have less volume than a toothpick that they could have filled and things would be fine.

I am going to fill the voids with walnut sawdust and epoxy, I put the steel rod through the repaired break because I can't take it apart and I want to be sure it doesn't break again.

When I got it, it had about a half a bottle of red fingernail polish on it (not quite, but it was a lot) in various places-- the safety, five different spots on the rear sight, and the front sight was built up with fingernail polish over rust until it was about 1/8" thick. As I was using acetone to take that off, I thought "Maybe I better check under the tape."

This old girl is probably slated to become a Range Queen, but we will see.

Robert

[Multigunner]

I've seen old Muskets from Africa that had rawhide glued down and secured with brass tacks along the edges to cover the wrist and fore arm of the stock.
I've seen Lee Enfield Rifles from India with windings of cord around the wrist for better grip when hands are sweaty.
A friend applied decorative and functional cord windings to the handles of some of his knives.

To cover voids in a repair to the wrist of a broken Double shotgun stock I applied several thin layers of brown dyed accraglass ,alternating etween medium and dark brown to build up a layer with the look of old oil stained wood.

If you don't want to make permanent alterations to mount a sling the resr of the sling can be sewn to a lace on leather butt pad and the front of the sling can be looped around the barrel and drawn tight.
I've seen something of that sort on an old muzzle loader.

[Mk42gunner]

We called it Ordnance Tape in the Navy.

This stock still has its cartouches in pretty good shape, surprisingly enough. That is yet another reason I really don't want to sand the whole thing.

When I was a kid ~40 years ago, one of Dad's cousins had a J.C. Higgins .22 that he had wrapped rawhide around the cracked wrist of the stock. I don't think it had broken completely; at least as I remember it, he said cracked not broken.

One of these years I will remember to take before pictures. Don't anyone hold their breath, it hasn't happened yet.

Robert

[CastingFool]

I once refinished the stock on an old N.R. Davis that had belonged to my BIL's grandfather. After sanding it down, you could see where the oil had penetrated the stock. I got rid of most of the oil by wiping the stock down with alcohol. I would wipe it, let it sit for a while, then wipe it down again, then let it sit for a day or so, then repeat the process. It didn't take long before the oil was no longer visible or even detectable.