Krag sporter origin

[jhjacksonpowell]

Gentlemen: New to this forum, but it has already been a great source of information. Purchased a really nice Krag sporter from a source in MT several months ago. Nicely figured oil finished dark stock, severely classic 20s-30s style with checkered metal butt plate and very generous cheekpiece which flows to the comb. (no monte carlo) 24 in barrel with no holes for mounting rear sight, nicely crowned and appears to have an 03 banded front sight. (Maybe an 03 re-chambered barrel?) Rear sight is Redfield 102K with non-micrometer adjustment. Only departure on stock style is a rather abrupt comb drop line. Very fine multi-point checkering. Barrel tie-down separate from front sling swivel, very unobtrusive. Feels like it weighs about 8 lbs. Rounded FE tip- no separate black horn or schnable. When I received the rifle, it would not feed from magazine- cartridge hung up on rear of cartridge case. Browsed through forum which suggested that the Redfield no-drill sight should have mag cutoff rod (with head removed) installed in correct position. Inspection revealed no trace of rod. I purchased a replacement mag cutoff switch through ebay, cut the head off and loc-tited it in the correct (flat down) position. Problem solved thanks to you all! With 75 year old eyes, shot a one-inch 3 shot group with sandbags at 60 yards over on the east 30. Inletting is so tight and perfect that I had to tap barrel with rubber mallet to remove stock so that my smith could smooth up the trigger. No trace of gunsmith name or company on exterior or interior. Looks like a fancier-than-normal Sedgley, but no markings. My take is that somebody in the old days knew what they were doing. Haven't had a Krag since I was in high school in the 60's. I don't know how they capture people's attention but they surely do. Based on lack of markings, probably impossible to identify builder. Let me know if you have any ideas. /s/ john in TX

[waterman]

We would certainly like to see some photos of this Krag. You mention that it has no rear sight holes. To me, that hints that it might not be an 03 barrel. If it were an 03 barrel rechambered from 30-06 to 30 Krag, it would be set back and be shorter than 24". Since it is a between-the-wars sporter, might it have a barrel from a 1917 Enfield? Have you looked down the bore? Slugged the barrel?

[butlersrangers]

Sometimes, the Krag rear-sight holes were so neatly 'filled', that it is a real challenge to find them!

[jhjacksonpowell]

Will take a closer look for any filled holes. Have looked down barrel which has strong rifling but would not be able to distinguish having no knowledge of differing styles at this point. Have not slugged barrel. Will submit photos when I figure out how to do this. Thanks John in TX

[Cat Man]

Flaigs Gun Shop in PA used to sell ready to install replacement barrels in 30-40.
They were recycled (new) replacement 1903A3 barrels. Usually the new barrels were wartime 2 groove but some 4 groove.
They cut the 30-06 chamber off, threaded and rechambered them to 30-40.
Like Waterman said, the barrel will be shorter than the standard 24 Inch 1903. I measured my sporter rifle with the Flaig barrel and it measures 22 inches.
I'm with BR, look very carefully in good sunlight to find the filled and hidden sight mount holes on a Krag barrel.



Jeff The Caterpillar Man

[butlersrangers]

The best clue, as to whether a barrel is an original Krag barrel, is the large 'P' stamped on the bottom, near the breech-end.

(Repurposed 1903 or 03A3 Springfield barrels will normally have some vestige of later style markings).

[jhjacksonpowell]

Thanks to all for info. Will take a look and get back. jOHN IN tx

[jhjacksonpowell]

I had a chance to look at barrel in bright sunlight. No sign of filled sight holes. Barrel has four-groove rifling. Barrel length is as follows; (a) from crown to front of receiver ring:
23 3/4 in; (b) from crown to breech face: 24 7/16 in. Don't know if this will shed any light. Have not had action out of stock, so can't say whether there is a "P"proofmark on bottom. Thanks again for the help. John in TX

[butlersrangers]

bump