Restored 1898 Rifle

[Stretch32]

I recently picked up a pretty nice Sporter '98 rifle from a friend that hadn't been butchered too bad (full length barrel with stock cut down above the lower band). I was able to source a reproduction fore end and a complete upper band to replace the missing parts. I also picked up an original 1901 hand guard (not shown in the pictures since I haven't received it yet) to replace the poor reproduction HG it came with.

I reattached the fore end using a wooden dowel as a "spine" and some brass all thread along with Brownell's Acro-glass Gel dyed black. I stained the butt stock and fore end to match with Fiebing's Light Brown Leather Dye and sealed that in with a thin coat of tung oil. The metal parts are in original finishes although I may refinish them in the correct types of bluing (rust, nitre, etc.) since its a hodgepodge of different colors / levels of wear.

This is the second rifle I've restored after the '96 I did several years ago which, incidentally, lead me to this group. My new '98 rifle was originally built in 1900 and I'm pretty sure the stock is original to it with a very faint cartouche that appears to be "1900" in the right light (it's almost impossible to tell). It's also got an excellent bore (better than my '96 which is really pretty good) so it should make a great shooter in CMP Vintage Bolt Action Rifle matches.

Overall I think it turned out pretty well and, since this rifle is literally the first Krag I ever shot, it has some additional significance beyond just being a nice rifle.

I'm already working on my next project, a '99 carbine. If anyone has an unmodified carbine stock fore end (or a good deal on a '99 carbine stock ) let me know.....

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[scottz63]

Very nice! Do you have any pics of the stock repair process? I would like to see those.

[Stretch32]

Scottz, unfortunately I didn't take any pictures during the assembly process.

It was actually pretty easy in this instance though since the replacement fore end was already predrilled with a 1/4" diameter hole in the center to fit a 1/4" wooden dowel where it butts up to the original stock at the barrel band step. This particular fore end also had a smaller hole (for 10-24 diameter all thread) drilled to either side of the 1/4" hole. This fore end was made by Larry Price but I don't think he's making these anymore although replacement fore ends without predrilled hole are currently available. With these predrilled holes, I simply drilled corresponding holes in the original stock after removing the remnants of the original fore end with a band saw and sanding the surface smooth / flat.

Once all the holes were drilled, and the 1/4" dowel and all-thread pieces cut to about 1/2" in length, I put the barreled action back in the butt stock to use as a jig for the gluing of the fore end. I mixed up a small quantity of Brownell's Acro-Glass (dyed black) and applied it liberally to both mating surfaces (and in the predrilled holes) then inserted the dowel / all-thread and pushed the fore end on to the butt stock. Since the Acro-Glass has a pretty good working time, I made sure everything lined up correctly then used several zip ties around the fore end and barrel to splint the fore end in place (constantly tweaking alignment of the two parts as required). I also used a large, cheap, aluminum clamp (from Harbor Freight) and clamped between the butt of the stock and the tip of the fore end to keep pressure on the joint until the Acro-Glass had cured over the course of a day or so. I carefully cleaned up any Acro-Glass that oozed out of the joint with a rag / q-tips / razor blades working hard to keep it confined to areas that will be covered by the barrel band once complete.

After a few days, I pulled the clamp off, cut the zip ties and removed the action from the now spliced stock and inspected the work. I generally go in with a Dremel tool and clean up the joint inside the stock then stain the new fore end to match the butt stock. If you were good about cleaning the outside of the joint while the Acro-Glass was still wet then there's normally nothing required other than maybe a light sanding with fine sand paper.

Finally, you need to match the new wood to the old wood. In this case, I've simply colore matched the fore end to the original finish of the butt stock / hand guard and I've also completely stripped a butt stock / hand guard and color matched that way using various dyes and stains. Stripping a butt stock / hand guard to bare wood is easier to color match in my opinion but if you can retain the original finish I prefer to do that.

Hopefully this helps.

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[scottz63]

Thanks! Nice work.

[psteinmayer]

I'm looking forward to seeing this one in person... Beautiful work!