Krag question

[KYCaster]

I put a Krag on lay-away at one of the local schutzen emporiums last week. I have to admit that my knowledge of Krags is almost nil. The good news is there's very little rust on it, not much original finish left but not too bad. The bad news is....well, where should I start? The stock is broken at the wrist and glued back together, the butt plate is gone, the rear sight has been removed and a reciever sight installed, unless there was a carbine varient the barrel has been chopped by a couple inches, the barrel has some rifleing visible but most of it is caked with gobs of grease and dust.
The really good news is its $150.00 cheeper than any other Krag I've seen lately.
So, my question is, now that I'm soon to be the proud owner of a Krag, can anybody point me to a site where I can learn something about this gun? Is there a Krag forum? A Krag collectors society? A source for parts, brass, load data? Can anybody help me out?

Jerry

[KCSO]

Yes there is a Krag site, I don't have the address handy, but I will post it tomorrow. Krags stocks in sporter and Military are available from www.boydsboys.com and both Dixie and Gun Parts have parts for the Krags. If the gun has been chopped you might consider having the bbl crowned at 22" and putting on a 1093 springfield front sight and a carbine stock., as per the NRA Sporter. Joe Poyers book on the Krags is realtivly inexpensive and is good. If you post a picture or send me one in an E mail I could make better suggestions as to where to go with your project.

[Scrounger]

Try these links:

http://home.sprynet.com/~frfrog/kragrifl.htm
http://www.spanamwar.com/krag.htm
http://armscollectors.com/kragboltremoval.htm
http://www.public.asu.edu/~roblewis/SMLE/IIID2a10a.htm
http://www.jouster.com/cgi-bin/krag/krag.pl
http://www.gunsandammomag.com/classics/1896_krag/
http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/mb/surplusrifle?forum=6078

Should be many hours of research available ftom these sources. By the way, links are not active on the "Today" page, they won't instantly connect you to the link site. You have to type in the address on your address bar, or better yet, click on the topic title, find this post, then you only have to click on one of the links to be connected to it.

[carpetman]

KYcaster---That Krag with missing buttplate,chopped barrel,stock broken--but glued up mind you, cobbled up sight, sewer pipe bore and caked with grease sounds like a custom grade Buckshot model. You need to tell us more so it can be ascertained for sure which model. Is the sight attached with a hose clamp or duct tape? Is there a peace sign or RT carved into the stock? If so you hit pay dirt,you have the Presentation Grade Supreme. This same model is the one he almost won a burrito match with but either the sight or the trigger fell off during the match--I forget which one. One or the other most weeks.

[KYCaster]

Thanks for the links KCSO and Scrounger.
Cman, no duck tape or hose clamps, the guy must be an amateur. He didn't even carve his initials in the stock, must not be very proud of his work!

Jerry

[shooter575]

KYCaster Here is another Krag site. Has a BB etc.www.kragcollectorsassociation.org

Parts sites http://www.ssfirearms.com/
and http://www.lodgewood.com/

[Buckshot]

...............I have bought 2 stocks from Boyds. A sporter for a small ring Mauser and a Krag Infantry stock and handguard. Their work is superbly done with laser sharp inletting. You won't be disappointed getting wood from them. I hope the barrel of yours turns out to be a good shootable one.

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

[Bob S]

Buckshot:

Wow. That's 180 degrees out from my personal experience with Boyd's on 3 stocks for M1903's. The inletting was crap and in a few critical dimensions W-A-Y off. Were your purchases recent? Maybe they have cleaned up their act in the last two years ....

Resp'y,
Bob S.

[Ed Barrett]

I recently (2 months ago) got a stock from Boyds for a model 17 Enfield and it fit "like a glove". They used to sell a semi inletted grade which were very semi and not too inletted.

[swheeler]

KYC: go to http://m1903.com/sn/usmildates.htm. , just enter the serial # it will tell you the date of manufacture, rifle-30" or carbine-22. This is the quickest site I've found to find a date of manufacture for ALL US military firearms. Scooter

[fourarmed]

I have a LeFever Nitro Special double that has been a basket case for about 2 years because I bought a Boyd's buttstock for it, and the hole through the stock was in the wrong place. One of these days I'll get around to making a new stock bolt nut that will accommodate the hole placement. Shouldn't have to do that.

[Shepherd2]

I called Boyd's last year to order a stock. Told the person what I wanted and what I wanted it for. He said it wouldn't work and that I needed this other model. So I ordered what he told me I needed. When the stock came it wouldn't fit my barreled action by a longshot. I called Boyd's and another person told me I needed what I wanted to order in the first place.

I complained but wound up eating the shipping on the return. The replacement does fit my action after a fashion but a proper fit is a long way off. It's one of those "basket cases" too.

Seems like some folks have better luck with Boyd's than others do. I'll probably give them another chance down the road.

[Buckshot]

Buckshot:

Wow. That's 180 degrees out from my personal experience with Boyd's on 3 stocks for M1903's. The inletting was crap and in a few critical dimensions W-A-Y off. Were your purchases recent? Maybe they have cleaned up their act in the last two years ....

Resp'y,
Bob S.

...........The sporter was for a small ring mauser. My 7.62x39. VERY well done piece of work. I had to do the barrel channel as it was basicly just a 1/2" routed channel. Advertised that way.

The Krag infantry hasn't been on the rifle yet. Just quoting from appearances. VERY sharp and well done edges, corners etc. Nice piece of wood.

The wood horror stories I have are from Gunstocks.com.

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

[KYCaster]

Thanks to all who provided links to info for the Krag. It followed me home today and I've learned a little more about it. My first impression was that it had been chopped because the barrel and stock were both flush with the front band, but it looks like it is an original carbine bbl.(22 in.) with original crown and front sight band that has been fitted with a chopped rifle stock. The link that SWheeler posted says it was made in 1902 but doesn't tell me which configuration, it just shows the number of rifles and carbines produced that year.
The sewer pipe bore looks promising. Being a plumber by trade, I know how to deal with sewer pipes! Equal parts Ed's Red, Sweets, Chore Boy and Elbow Grease made a world of difference. I can actually see some rifleing and haven't seen any pitting yet, but I'm still getting green patches so I'll wait till its clean before pass judgement on it.
The overall "patina" is not nearly as bad as I first thought either. A little bit of brisk rubbing with Ed's Red and most of it came right off. The only ugly spots are a small area that would be under the rear sight if it had one and some slight pitting on the bottom of the reciever around the front guard screw, no pitting at all under the stock like I've seen on so many Mausers.
The only thing I'm not happy about is the stock, it's still broken. I suppose, since this appears to be a carbine, I could chop off the stock just in front of the rear band and make it look like a carbine stock. A good sharp Boy Scout axe should do the trick. And a little bit of Bondo and several layers of Duct Tape around the wrist should keep the splinters out of my hand. I guess I'll start lurking on E-bay to see what turns up.
All in all I'm very pleased with my new toy. It's much better than what I thought I was getting. Now I need brass, dies, powder,.......
Jerry

[swheeler]

KYC: look at http://armscollectors.com, submit the SN # if it hits there will be a code behind it, C-carbine, R-service rifle, A -cadet rifle, and so on.
Scooter

[Bob S]

If it has a front sight band, it's a cut-down rifle. All Krags originally had brazed-on bases, no bands. It was a common mod when sporterizing the long rifles to shorten the barrel to 22-24" and install a M1903 front sight, which does have a band.

Resp'y,
Bob S.

[swheeler]

Not too many months ago I had a "carbine" over here for a friend. The front sight was brazed on, ran the serial # and came back RIFLE manufactured in 1902. There can be a certain amount of overlap on serial numbers between rifles and carbines, could also be mistakes on records of serial numbers.
Scooter