For Administrator!

[Dick Hosmer]

Just for grins - do you know who submitted the pictures of the Krag sporters in the "Photos" section, and then, if so, do you have (or can you ask for) the serial number of the LOWER rifle on the GREEN background? It looks "interesting".

Bonus points to the first person to tell me WHY I find the rifle "interesting", and worthy of follow-up. There are two features/clues in plain sight. One may be bogus, as the picture is not the greatest, but it still caught my eye. :-)

[Ned Butts]

Dick, those are part of Tom's sporter collection. If he doesn't check in soon I'll let him know you want the serial number.

[Dick Hosmer]

Thanks, Ned. If it belongs to Tom, then Im SURELY on the wrong track. But, heres how I looked at it:

From the wood, and the magazine box, the rifle is an 1898. The rear sight appears to be an 1896, and the handguard has been removed. So far, no big deal. Perhaps a hunter found the simpler sight more to his liking?

But, look at the barrel. Just at a passing glance, you can easily tell that it is neither 22 nor 30. And, it is clearly not any sort of band-sighted 23+ 1903-style abortion. So, what IS it? I believe, from having taken some accurate proportional measurements last September, that barrel is either spot-on 26, or VERY close to it.

Next, with curiosity raised, look at the front sight - yes, its not a real sharp photograph, but the sight appears to at least have the possibility of being original. And, of course, what does an original sight on a 26 barreled 1898 rifle suggest?

The next logical step is to ascertain the serial number - if it is in, or very close to, one of the known clusters in the 387 - 389xxx range, bingo! If anything else, the game is over, and we are probably looking at the remains of one of the shortened V.F.W. / A.L. / parade rifles shown in Brophy.

So, has a BoOF rifle been under all of our noses for more years than Id care to admit? Ive blown past those pics MANY times.

[Tom Butts]

Dick,

Yes, that one is a sporter that I gave to my son when he turned 16. It is an older '98, serial number 164xxx.
Sorry, not a BoF rifle.

Best regards,
Tom

[Dick Hosmer]

Thanks, Tom - I knew I was likely mistaken when the owner turned out to be someone as knowledgeable as yourself. Just for grins (and an eye-check) IS the barrel 26"?

[Tom Butts]

Not quite. It is a hair under 25". Kind of an odd length for a cutdown. But a nice rifle and a good shooter. My son has gotten a few dear with it, and he loves it.

[Dick Hosmer]

Tom, many thanks for taking the trouble to check, but I have to say I'm STILL puzzled as to the barrel length.

I admit to just eye-balling things at first, but now I've laid a strip of paper on my screen, made some marks, and done it right. The answer still comes up 26" (even when I fudge things a little bit in your favor)

The only thing I cannot control is camera lens distortion (which I really do not see here) and, the shot appears to have been taken straight on. The process does not work well on angled shots.

By any chance, could you - or your son - have measured to the receiver ring, instead of in the bore? Sorry to drag this out.

[Tom Butts]

Nope, I measured the bore correctly. I did go back and recheck it after you asked, just to be sure, though. I had a good local gunsmith put the front sight on before I gave it to my son.
I wish it were a BoF rifle, but just an nice cutdown rifle. :-)

[Dick Hosmer]

Well, that IS strange - all I can say is that the method HAS worked to perfection for me in the past, not once, but twice.

Either there must be some mild distortion in the photo after all, or, it was not taken as close to 90 degrees as it appears to have been. I'll have to be more careful in future!

Many thanks, and good hunting!