New life for an old Krag sporter

[ammohead]

I picked up an old krag sporter a couple years back from a parking lot "out of the trunk" sale. I shot it a bit with cast and it did quite well. The after market stock was quite blocky and had some serious gouges in it from the years. I decided to slim the stock, install a barrel support to get rid of the barrel band, and use it to play with the new engraving tool that I recently aquired from NCBS friend Urny and his wife Linda. I finished up today and took some pics.

http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/ss189/brucerfrechette/DSCF2661_zpsb3fed72e.jpg
The stock had a gawd awful monte carlo hump that I removed and gave the cheekpiece a shadowline.

http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/ss189/brucerfrechette/DSCF2663_zpsef917774.jpg
Bottom metal. Built rear sling swivel mount to replace loop type. Original inletting was a little ruff.

http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/ss189/brucerfrechette/DSCF2667_zpseb4754ee.jpg
Escutcheon for barrel support. Cut a dovetail into bottom of barrel where there was lots of metal. A steel cylinder with male dovetail was added with d&t to take the screw. Some of my amature engraving.

http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/ss189/brucerfrechette/DSCF2668_zpsc23b3c49.jpg
Trigger guard engraving.

http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/ss189/brucerfrechette/DSCF2669_zps06a1d628.jpg
Made steel grip cap and engraved to replace plastic original.

[1911cherry]

That's a fine looking sporter, I really like the engraving- it sets it apart from other rifles. How does it shoot now?

[JeffinNZ]

Beautiful. I would be proud to own that.

[ammohead]

Thanks 1911, Jeff.

I am going to the range with it tomorrow. I have some loads with 168 gr Amax and 180 gr coreloks. I have my fingers crossed that the change in barrel support did not mess the accuracy up.

[webradbury]

Nice!!! I'd love to learn engraving! Yours looks great!

[Artful]

good liking sporter - your engraving is very attractive.

[AlaskanGuy]

Holy buckets... You did an Awesome Job... Really nice work...

[ammohead]

webradbury,

Your krag project has me looking into the rust blueing process. I must try it. Your blueing looks beautiful on your krag. Buckshot posted some pictures of the action nut he is building for you on the NCBS group forum, so I know it is coming and probably soon.

Thanks to all for the kind words. I need a motorized diamond sharpening system for the engraving equipment so the krag will not be staying with me long. I am taking it to the Big Reno Show next Friday to see what kind of price it can bring. It is a shame to part with it and I won't give it away, but I really want to pursue the engraving thing as a way to supplement my meager Social Security income in about 6 years. I need to get practicing to get to that next level of quality that I see on real custom rifles.

[ammohead]

That's a fine looking sporter, I really like the engraving- it sets it apart from other rifles. How does it shoot now?

Just got back from the range. The old girl will still shoot.
http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/ss189/brucerfrechette/DSCF2670_zps19670abb.jpg

[BigEyeBob]

Oh my that's nice .Ive just started on a No1MKIII Lee enfield .
So far Ive removed the charger bridge and filled the holes and the slot where it was installed , Next I'm looking at putting a quarter rib on the barrel so I can install some express sights .
Just have to work out how to do that.

[StrawHat]

I have a Krag 1898 that I intend to sporterized. Please tell me more about the barrel support.

[nekshot]

very nice, sure appreciate what you did and a gun like that has true character the newbies with plastic don't have!

[webradbury]

very nice, sure appreciate what you did and a gun like that has true character the newbies with plastic don't have!

I agree...fine wood adds to the soul of the weapon. At work I carry a glock, but that's work. At home, you won't find any plastic guns in my gun safe

[nicholst55]

A truly elegant looking rifle! I like what you've done with it, but I would personally prefer a forend tip of a contrasting wood. I think I might also have tapered the trigger guard, but that's just me. Enjoy the old girl!

[ammohead]

StrawHat,

A photo essay.
http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/ss189/brucerfrechette/DSCF2580_zps614f7c03.jpg
I used a 3/8" dovetail cutter in my chinese milling machine. The picture don't show it well but it is right before any serious tapering of the barrel so there is plenty of metal left after the cut. I suppose you could do it by hand with a triangle file but....

http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/ss189/brucerfrechette/DSCF2581_zps833144d0.jpg
Then I turned a small cylinder from oil hardening drill rod. Other steels would have worked as well. I drilled and tapped a 1/4-28 hole through the center and used a set screw to secure it to the barrel as I cut the corresponding dovetails to loose for a press fit.

http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/ss189/brucerfrechette/DSCF2583_zpsf7a020c4.jpg
I then turned the escutcheon .4" where it meets the support and 1" for the flange that goes into the wood. I wanted more than just a round piece so I cut 4 scallops from the flange with a 1.250" end mill to give it a star shape.

http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/ss189/brucerfrechette/DSCF2585_zpsb3b71dbd.jpg
Assembled components with stock in background.

http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/ss189/brucerfrechette/DSCF2596_zps924a5b83.jpg
Rough inletting.

http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/ss189/brucerfrechette/DSCF2660_zps6a8f4e3c.jpg
Border engraving. I had a socket head cap screw shown in one of the pictures but was reprimanded by Buckshot for cheating so I turned a screw on the lathe and cut a slot then engraved rays from the center.

http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/ss189/brucerfrechette/DSCF2667_zpseb4754ee.jpg
Finito!

[ammohead]

nicholst55,

I toyed with the idea of a schnabel but would have had too much of a taper between it and the support to pull it off and look right. I bought the old girl with the stock on it and had to dance with who brung me so to speak. I liked having plenty of room to engrave on the trigger guard. I can get fancier as I get better at the craft.

[StrawHat]

Thank you, it looks good.

[Wayne Smith]

I'm not a machinist, but how hard would it be to time that screw you made so the cut is parallel to the rifle?

[Buckshot]

I'm not a machinist, but how hard would it be to time that screw you made so the cut is parallel to the rifle?

.............Wayne, not too hard. With a 28 tpi pitch a full turn would require you to remove .0357". Looks like 1/8 turn so .0045" would do, but you'd want it snugged up so take off some less (depending upon how tight it was currently). Always easier to take it off then to put it back on :-) He DID do good work, eh?

..............Buckshot