1899 Carbine rescue

[Ronki53]

[butlersrangers]

Ron - I use Hoppe's #9 solvent and a toothbrush to soften up surface rust deposits. Heavier rust spots, I lightly work with Hoppe's and the edge of a copper penny or old bronze bore-brush. Lightly rubbing surface rust with a small pad of #0000 Steel Wool, saturated with Hoppe's, will remove rust and leave finish and patina intact.

I clean 'blind' barrel screw holes with a drop of Hoppe's solvent and a Jeweler's screw-driver blade (smaller than the hole diameter). Rotating the screw-driver, counter-clockwise, brings residue to the surface. Following-up with solvent & cloth patch or 'Q'-tip, cleans out threads.

BTW - Krag sight screws seem to be .156" X 30 threads per inch. Side plate and barrel-band screws are .187" X 26 t.p.i. You are not likely to find these at your local 'Hardware'. S&S Firearms is a good source for reproduction screws and originals show up on Ebay. (KCA Members may help with parts occasionally).

[madsenshooter]

Op's handguard is for a 1902 or 1898 carbine sight. I think S&S has some repro 98 carbine sights too.

[Ronki53]

Update:

I purchased the cut off assembly, side plate screw, and "Granpa's Special" sights off eBay. The seller says the sights are made out of a 1898 base and M1903 "rod bayonet" leaf. I think that cool because the only place I have seen early M1903 Springfields in original configuration are at Rock Island and Springfield in the museums. Now I get a piece of one.

I e-mailed Dan Lowery and he had 1898/1902 sight screws. I sent out payment for them today. Now I wait for parts. She should be back in shape, minus correct sights, within two weeks.

Before I purchased everything, I checked S&S for sights. They are sold out of their reproduction carbine sights.

[butlersrangers]

I believe S&S simply put a 1902 top on an 1898 rifle base to make their "repro carbine sight" (Same as "grandpa's special"). What I thought was shabby was S&S stamped these 'repros' with a "C", which is unethical IMHO. (Why not stamp these improvised bogus sights with an "R" for repro?

BTW - Springfield used the knob and leaf from the 'ram-rod bayonet' 1903 Springfield to repair 1902 Krag rear-sights, when these 1903 parts became surplus (with the adoption of the 1905 sights for the '03..

[Ronki53]

I got the right screws in the mail, attached the sight, and took the carbine out for a range trip.. I shot some Remington ammo I bought when I first got my M1898 rifle. Everything worked fine. Attached are pictures of how she sits now.

[butlersrangers]

Ronki53 - Your 1899 Krag carbine appears quite handsome. You did a nice job restoring the 1898/1902 hand-guard.

[madsenshooter]

Some of those 03 sights have very fine elevation adjustment. You either have to be able feel pretty good, or put your specs on to see how much you've moved. I have one of the 98 rifle ramps with the finely serrated leaf on one of my 92/96 rifles. The outer notches have been ground off and has a V cut in the center notch. It's closer to being on with the higher velocity 180gr factory load than the 02 sight.