New Member w/ Carbine ?'s

[AzMedic]

Hello Everyone - new member from Arizona - I've been slowly collecting US Military rifles and have recently come across a 1896 Krag Carbine [SN 32861] for sale - I was hoping the membership could help me validate the Carbine and advise on its history. I have a collection of photographs of the carbine - I can email photo's for further review...
thank you
Steve

[psteinmayer]

Howdy Steve, and welcome to the forum, and to the wonderful world of Krags!

You might be having trouble posting the pictures if they're too large. Try resizing them to under 200 KB each.

Krag carbines fall into specific serial number ranges with few exceptions. Letting us know the serial number, and maybe a few key pictures will definitely help.

Things to be aware of: If the front sight post is banded around the barrel, it is most certainly a cutoff rifle barrel. Likewise, if the barrel band is retained by a pin rather than a spring clip, then it's most likely a cutdown rifle stock too. Check the rear sight. Depending on the sight model, there are differences between rifle and carbine sights, and all carbine rear sights are adorned with a "C" on multiple places (caution here - there ARE fakes).

Visit the KCA Forum photo page where you'll find pictures of Rifles, Carbines, and also of the various rear sights as well as the associated hand guards.

Even if it is not a true carbine, but rather a cutoff or sporter, don't despair - All Krags have a place, and all are great shooters too!

You'll get some great help here, and believe me, there are several people here who know wayyyyyyyy more than I ever will about Krags!

[Dick Hosmer]

That appears to be a real carbine, and there is nothing wrong with the serial number range. The plain "1896" (as opposed to "Model 1896") is the least common date format, with only about 7000 arms so marked. The rear sight should be graduated to "20" (2000yds.) and be marked with a "C". The upper edge of the slide should have a slight depression at the sighting notch.

[psteinmayer]

Nice! (The pictures weren't posted when I made my comments, so I wasn't sure).

[98src]

Here are the closest numbers as listed in the SRS records:

32827 96C 03/13/97 TRP C 10TH CAV
33013 96C 10/05/96 TRP A 8TH CAV

[AzMedic]

Thank you All for the replies ---