1898 Krag restoration?

Historical threads originally posted to the 'Krag Forum' board
Fenn
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Joined: Tue May 06, 2014 10:04 am

1898 Krag restoration?

Post by Fenn »

Hi, (My first post! Yay!)
I have read about the Krag Rifles over the years but have never even seen one in the flesh little lone held one. So when this one came up at auction I put in a bid (sight unseen), and lo and behold, I won it!

My first look down the barrel I struggled to see light. I had my fingers crossed that it was just grease, but was sorely disappointed after running a brush and about a billion patches through it. Small elements of rifling are still there but the rest looks like rocks sitting there waiting to chew up the projectile. The bolt however looks brand new with not a hint of rust on it (go figure).

So it has a few things wrong with it. Original bluing a just about completely gone and the barrel is beyond salvation. But all is not lost as I have been able to locate and order all the parts that I require to bring this baby back to some state of serviceability. Well everything except a barrel.

I shoot a lot of service rifle competition and my intention is to bring it back to life just for that.

Questions
1. Anyone able to tell me anything special about this rifle?
2. Is it common for the elevation knobs to break on the model 1898?
3. I removed the butt plate from the rifle and there appears to be two holes drilled. Both are around 1 in diameter. one is for the cleaning gear what's the other?
4. Does the side plate screw have a tendency of coming loose?

From Down under
Regards Fenn.
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psteinmayer
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Joined: Tue Aug 30, 2011 2:31 am

Re: 1898 Krag restoration?

Post by psteinmayer »

Hi Fenn... Welcome to the forum, and to the wonderful world of Krags! You won't regret owning and shooting a Krag rifle. You'll find (once it's working properly) that there isn't a smoother operating rifle made!

From what I can see, it looks like an 1898 rifle with a nice cartouche on the stock wrist. Yes, it's common for the windage or elevation knobs to be broken off, and replacement sights are available. The two holes in the stock are correct. The upper is for the cleaning rods and oiler. The lower hole is just for lightening of the stock. Sometimes, people have found that there was enough of an opening between the two that the oiler falls into the lower hole, but that is not a common thing. As for the bluing, that is pretty average for a Krag. If you find one with amazingly consistent and deep bluing, chances are that it was re-blued... and that can lower value.

Now for the barrel, if it's truly beyond use, then there are barrels available. Criterion sells replacement barrels (in the white - un-blued). These are high quality and correct, but you will need a competent gunsmith to remove the front sight post from you old barrel and install it on the new, which requires specific brazing techniques. Also, the rear sight screw threads will not be correct (original are 8/30, and the criterion are usually 6/32), so that will require some attention. Also, original barrels do come up from time to time on Gunbroker, EBay, etc. I would continue working on your barrel and see if you can clean it up some more. Keep in mind that barrels with pitting and poor rifling do sometimes provide accuracy with jacketed bullets. Slug the bore and see what size it is. Krag barrels can sometimes be oversize and having the correct size bullet will make a world of difference.

This forum is a great resource, and there are wonderful people here with amazing advice!!!

Where from down under are you? I lived in Christchurch NZ for two years!

Paul

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butlersrangers
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Location: Below the Bridge, Michigan

Re: 1898 Krag restoration?

Post by butlersrangers »

Fenn: Welcome and G'dday to the KCA forum! I'm sorry your bore did not clean up real nice. For a Match Rifle, your best bet would probably be a Criterion (Krag) barrel. The second hole in the butt stock was for lightening purposes. Your rifle, #305,953, was likely built around February 1901. A correct fitting side plate screw usually stays put. I have not found the 1902 sight to be particularly fragile. However, careless storage and shipping probably took its toll, as evidenced by this 1912 photo detail (at Kemper Military School, with 4 out of 5 knobs missing). You can get small sight parts from S&S Firearms, Glendale, N.Y. Their catalog is viewable online. However, you might be further ahead getting parts or a complete sight from one of the Gentlemen selling parts in the KCA Classifieds.ImageImage

madsenshooter
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Re: 1898 Krag restoration?

Post by madsenshooter »

The CMP sells the Criterion Krag barrels, their shop can do the replacement and probably the front sight fixing. Maybe on the rear sight fix. But maybe you're more a do-it-yourself type. https://estore.thecmp.org/store/catalog/catalog.aspx?pg=catalogList&cat=BAR

Fenn
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Joined: Tue May 06, 2014 10:04 am

Re: 1898 Krag restoration?

Post by Fenn »

Thanks for the replies.
I have really been enjoying reading the various posts .

Psteinmayer Im from Australia.

Butlersrangers - Good to see you suggested S&S firearms because thats who I ordered the part sight knob from.

Madsenshooter - I contacted the CMP to see it they sell to international customers, unfortunately for me they replied stating they only sell to U.S. citizens and only within the United States.
I have contacted Criterion to ask if they have an Australian distributor that has the krag barrels locally.

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psteinmayer
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Re: 1898 Krag restoration?

Post by psteinmayer »

Have you considered shipping to the CMP and having them replace the barrel with the Criterion barrel? Even if they won't sell to you in Australia, they may perform the work for you if you ship it there...

reincarnated
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Re: 1898 Krag restoration?

Post by reincarnated »

I am just curious as to how the Krag arrived in OZ in the first place. Any ideas? And, IIRC, you can reform .303 British brass to make brass for the Krag. Or maybe even rebarrel it to be a .303 British caliber. Or is that verboten?

madsenshooter
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Re: 1898 Krag restoration?

Post by madsenshooter »

You can make 30-40 from .303, but it will be short in the neck. I wasn't aware you were in Australia. I've seen some nice Krags from there, one had an old long target scope on it that was worth more than the rifle. With the new laws prohibiting export of almost anything gun related, you'll likely have to get someone there to turn you a barrel. That won't be cheap as blanks that will finish out at 30" are expensive in themselves.

Fenn
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Joined: Tue May 06, 2014 10:04 am

Re: 1898 Krag restoration?

Post by Fenn »

Reincarnated - Yes it is interesting how some of these fire arms made it to their current locations.
In previous years lots of gun shops used to import surplus rifles, not so many these days.


Madsenshooter - here is a Krag in nice condition, its currently advertised on an Australian gun shops web site
http://www.lawranceordnance.com/shot_and_shell/rifles_ex_military/krag_425307.php
Also I managed to pick up some Krag brass the other day. Heres a photo of the30-40 Krag next to the 303.
Krag on the left 303 on the right.
Image

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butlersrangers
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Re: 1898 Krag restoration?

Post by butlersrangers »

Fenn 'down under': That is a nice example of a model 1898 Krag at 'lawranceordnance'. At a U.SA. gun show in the Midwest, it would probably be priced at about $1,000 to 1,200 (USD). It would be neat to know how it came to be in Australia.
BTW - In Michigan we considered the 'Lee' a North American design. The State of Michigan, (due to the slowness of the U.S. Government in issuing Krags), purchased Model 1899 Remington Lees in .30-40. Here is a circa 1900 picture of a relative's company in the Michigan National Guard. The Sergeants have Krags and the privates have Remington Lees. (The Lee-Enfield was a far more robust arm than the Remington-Lee).ImageImage

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