Magazine door wants to close

[KRAGKRAZY64]

I recently bought a Model 1898 rifle.
I find I have to push hard on the magazine door to get it to stay open, otherwise it shuts, as it is spring loaded.
It works OK for now but if anything wears I'm afraid it won't stay open when I want it to.
Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks

[Dick Hosmer]

Make sure the pivot rod is straight and make sure the spring is installed so that the rod nests in the groove in the spring.

[KRAGKRAZY64]

Thanks, I will give it a try.

[butlersrangers]

Inspection, cleaning, and lubrication, will usually solve Magazine-Gate problems.

Look for burrs on the hinge-pin shaft or gouging & excessive wear on the spring-tip and follower-arm contact surfaces.
A broken or improperly installed gate-spring will cause problems.

[KRAGKRAZY64]

Thanks for all the advice.
I took the door off, cleaned and lubed it (there really wasn't any dirt to begin with) and put the door back on.
I checked the relationship of the follower spring to where it bears against the follower pivot.
It looked like the posted picture both before and after.

All this did not fix the problem, in fact the door won't stay open at all anymore.
It kind of makes the gun a single shot since it is hard to hold the door open and load the magazine at the same time.
Any other advice would be welcome.
Thanks.

[Culpeper]

You may need a second set of eyes and fingers to troubleshoot the problem. Some thing is not correct.

[Whig]

KragKrazy - Welcome to KCA.

These magazines can be touchy if everything isn't installed just right.

This short video is one of the simplist I found to show dis-assembly and re-assembly of the Krag magazine, assuming that all of the parts are undamaged.

Check this out and see if it helps you get yours working again.

If not, something may be damaged or broken.

Good luck!

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=replacing+the ... fb3jSrkdeM

[butlersrangers]

Rather than Demonic Possession, your Krag must have a broken, very worn, modified, or an improperly assembled part.

A likely 'candidate' for problems is the curved flat-spring, that tensions the magazine-gate and powers the follower-arm assembly.

The arch of the spring needs to bear firmly against the hinge-surface of the magazine-gate, to resist its opening.

There is a shallow groove on the bow of the spring, that engages a 'corner' of the gate-hinge, to help hold it open.
Possibly, your spring has lost its temper, is installed wrong, a part has broken off?

[KRAGKRAZY64]

Buttlersrangers,
My Krag looks like the photo you posted last fall as seen above.
the rounded projection on the front of the follower spring engages the follower pivot as shown there.
There are not burrs, but the edges have polished themselves from friction.
The rear of the rear of the spring does not have any burs or irregularities on it either.
The center of the spring, where it bows outward and is compressed by the loading door also has rub marks on it form the inside of the loading door compressing it.

The spring gets high tension on it when the door pivot is installed, and that long door pivot is in place.
I have to clamp the receiver in a padded vise to be able to compress the door against the receiver so I can install the door pivot.
Lack of spring tension is not a problem.
Once assembled everything works smoothly but the door doesn't stay open.

Are there any replacement parts you think I should buy and try to install?
Thanks.

[butlersrangers]

Make sure you have a model 1898 magazine-gate and that it has not been switched to a model 1896 gate.

I suggest that you get a spare magazine-gate and spring.

I have never had the problem that you are encountering.

I once had a gate that was difficult to open. I replaced the spring and carrier-arm.
The tip of the spring was worn and galling into the cam on the carrier-arm.
(The replacement parts solved the issue).