1898 cut down rifle?

[Parashooter]

There's plenty enough wood on that replacement to allow taking the excess down to armory-finished contours and surface texture. A couple hours with files and sanding block, followed by a little wood dye and raw linseed, should do the trick.

Just be sure to avoid droopynose syndrome :P -

[concretus]

Okay, I see... I could remove material as far as I can depending how deep the rivets are recessed....

[Kerz]

I'm always impressed by the wealth of knowledge on this forum and the willingness to help others!
Vic

[butlersrangers]

'Concretus' - You can salvage your original hand-guard, with the missing wood.

Make a 'Dam' with sticky tape, like Masking Tape:

1. Make a wall, underneath, with tape on the inside of the hand-guard.

2. Make a wall at the rear edge, with tape.

3. Mix Acraglass and darken it with the powdered stain that comes in the kit.

4. With the hand-guard sitting level on a 'safe' surface, (not a family heirloom table), pour Acraglass mixture into the form, you have made.

5. It may take a couple of pours, allowing the Acraglass to setup in-between, to get adequate depth of Filler.

6. File and sand Acraglass to a pleasant contour.

This will not be an invisible repair, but, it will be strong and functional.

Someone with good woodworking skills could do a nicer wood patch.

[Galvinator77]

Does anyone have information on how the M1903 front sights were installed on the cut down rifles / aux carbines? My buddies 1903 born on date Krag (that I posted about a couple of years ago) was cut down to a carbine length barrel w/ a carbine profile stock and has the M1903 front sight. The rear of the base is cracked on one side and I am afraid if we try to fire it the front sight blade will... "Exit stage left" ( old cartoon reference for the young ones out there). I was thinking of silver soldering it but figure a total replacement would be better option. Since we have a number of the M1903 front sights from salvaged drill rifle barrels I have the parts. I was hoping that someone has plowed the road before hand and I can leverage their knowledge.

Thanks,
Mark

[Galvinator77]

OK, I looked at the front sight under magnification and found the drift pin through the polished bluing and the repair to the rear of the sight band. Removed the band and found a flat milled into the top of the barrel under the band. Possible Carbine barrel that did not have a front sight soldered on?

Regardless, to install a M1903 front sight band will need a woodruff key on the flat to keep the band from rotating. Believe a 1903A3 band and key can be installed but would not look like the correct "vintage". An A3 key fits under the 1903 band with the milled flat but the drift pin clearance is in the wrong place and would require cutting the key or drilling a new clearance notch. Anyone else tried to replace a front sight and have a key solution?

[butlersrangers]

I had a cut-down Krag barrel that someone dovetailed a horrible front-sight on.

I enlarged the opening, of a 1903A3 front-sight band, to fit on the barrel. I improvised a 'key' from aluminum by Filing it to shape.

It fit in the dovetail and provided a 'key' for the sight-band. I notched the top of the Key to accept the 1903A3 sight's lower cross-pin.

Aluminum works good for this purpose, since it is easily shaped and conforms.

Only the 'Key' ends show and can be blackened with a felt-tipped marker.

(Admittedly, a 1903 front-sight looks nicer. Krag barrels have usually been 'stepped' by reducing diameter, to fit a 1903 sight. If there is a 'flat' in the sight area of the barrel you are working on, you can make a simple 'key' to size from aluminum).

[Galvinator77]

Thanks! I have both M1903 and M1903A3 front sight bands. Will try the aluminum woodruff key fabrication route for a 1903 band. Did you hone the inside of the band to allow it to slip fit on the barrel? For future forum reference I will try to post a picture of the existing barrel flat. The band I removed did not have a woodruff key installed but it did look like the interior had been polished or reamed to fit on the barrel as the depth of the key slot on the band was reduced.

Did you have to adjust the front sight blade to regulate the rear sight POA to POI or did yours have a carbine rear sight?

Mark

[butlersrangers]

'Galvinator' - I 'honed' a rather beat-up 03A3 front-sight base to fit on the cut-down Krag's barrel. (This was a barreled/action that came with a model 1903 rifle rear-sight on it).

I pinned a 'shorter' commercial '03A3 blade in the base, because issue '03A3 blades were way too tall.

IIRC - The front-sight combination was still too high and the rear-sight was set at 200 yards, to zero shots to hit 50 yard 'point of aim'.

It was practical and looked far better than what came on the 'cut-down'. It cost me nothing but tinkering with reject parts.

[butlersrangers]

My experience with sights on 'cut-down' Krag rifles - FWIW:

A snug fitting 1903 or '03A3 'banded' front-sight will probably stay put with an application of JB Weld glue, (especially if there is a flat, dovetail, or spline-groove on the barrel). It can later be removed with a bit of heat and a plastic mallet.

The height of the front-sight blade and rear-sight notch, (above the top of the barrel), and the distance between the front and rear sights (if the barrel taper changes sight height), will all influence the angle of the bore, in relationship to the target.

Different bullet weights and profiles will likely have different trajectories. This is solved by 'sighting-in' for specific loads and recording rear-sight adjustment. This allows return to 'load specific settings' at future shooting sessions.

An original model 1898 Krag rifle (30" barrel), front-sight blade 'top', will be approximately .665" to .675" above the top of the barrel.

A 'cut-down' Krag rifle will often have a barrel that is 22 to 24 inches in length. If fitted with a 1903 Springfield 'banded' front-sight with a commercial blade, the height of the blade above the original barrel surface, (not the stepped part), often is about .665" to .674".

Although the front-sight heights in the two examples seem the same, they are different.
The 'cut-down' rifle's front sight is 8 inches closer to the rear-sight.
Due to barrel taper and the 1903 band being on a machined step, a higher front-sight blade has been used for the measurement to be similar.

This changes the angle of the bore (downward) and likely the 'cut-down' will shot low.
Moving the rear-sight slide to 200 to 300 yards will likely have the 'cut-down' shooting close to the 'point of aim' at 50 yards.

Attached photos: A model 1896 'cut-down' with a 1903 front-sight (blade height .675" above original barrel surface). 50 yard targets from two different loads. Rear-sight settings from 200 to 300 yards were used