Makeover: De-sportered my 1896 carbine

Sporterized and unofficial modified Krags
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Warpspasm
Posts: 29
Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2021 7:17 pm

Makeover: De-sportered my 1896 carbine

Post by Warpspasm »

Even though some said "It's a nice sporter, leave it alone." a sporter wasn't what I wanted. I picked this sporter up gun up few weeks a go and after a few prayers went to work. I removed the rubber recoil pad, stripped off the shiny lacquer finish and removed the sling swivels. It was a challenge and I did some things I've never tried before, like shortening a handguard and carving by hand the inlets to allow it to fit over the receiver on one end and under the barrel band on the other. I hand carved an inlet to allow the steel buttplate to fit the stock too. I also plugged holes that were made from aftermarket sling swivels. Finally, I gave her 3 nice coats of BLO and ended up with 2 coats of Tom's 1/3 mix. I have to admit, I'm amazed by how well this turned out. Here are some pics. The first picture is the way the gun looked when I got it. The last picture is the handguard before I modified it.
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Handguard mod1.jpg
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butlersrangers
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Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2009 11:35 pm
Location: Below the Bridge, Michigan

Re: Makeover: De-sportered my 1896 carbine

Post by butlersrangers »

Your stock looks a lot better with the rubber & swivels gone and a 1903 Springfield butt-plate fitted to the shortened butt-stock.

Warpspasm
Posts: 29
Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2021 7:17 pm

Re: Makeover: De-sportered my 1896 carbine

Post by Warpspasm »

butlersrangers wrote: Sun Mar 14, 2021 1:39 pm Your stock looks a lot better with the rubber & swivels gone and a 1903 Springfield butt-plate fitted to the shortened butt-stock.
Thank you. I can't begin to tell you how happy I am with how it turned out. Shortening and inletting the handguard was definitely the toughest part. It didn't help that I used a set of wood gouges that my daughter had when she was younger and did some crafts. They were horrible. If I had any sense I would have gone out and bought some decent ones. I tossed the crappy ones after I finished. LOL

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butlersrangers
Posts: 9823
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2009 11:35 pm
Location: Below the Bridge, Michigan

Re: Makeover: De-sportered my 1896 carbine

Post by butlersrangers »

Years ago, I bought a set of 4 (small) Mills Falls "carving chisels". It was one of the better investments, I ever made. (easy to sharpen & hold an edge forever)

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Cat Man
Posts: 184
Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2015 10:28 pm

Re: Makeover: De-sportered my 1896 carbine

Post by Cat Man »

Hummm? "De-Sporterized". I like that new term.

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