- 1896 Krag 02-r.JPG (250.27 KiB) Viewed 9930 times
The barrel was never drilled & tapped for any sort of military barrel sight. Just in front of the action ring, there is a turned-down section about 1.25" long, as if the breech end of the barrel was fatter and had to be turned down and then threaded to fit a Krag action. Seems to be a steady taper until it comes to a place turned down for the front sight band. I think the front sight is from an '03 Springfield. The "original" barrel band was stamped out and held in place by what looked to be a nail with the head & point cut off. The "no drill" rear sight was already in place.
In the late 1990s, my best friend, a retired Navy Chief Machinist's Mate, said he was tired of looking at that ugly *** Krag and insisted I give it to him. Two months later, I got it back looking like this, along with some strong language about the barrel and chamber. Apparently, the chamber reamer was not quite in line with the bore when the barrel was chambered. The rifle was & is reasonably accurate, but has always been hard on brass. I've never had a case last for 4 reloads.
I didn't know any more about the Krag until I saw some photos of a custom Krag on Mike Petrov's site on the Doublegun Forums. The Krag in Mike's photos was reported as having been made from a Bannerman blank. Color & grain patterns were identical to this one.
