1892 snowballs chance... front band?

[butlersrangers]

I am very late to this discussion.
These days, it has become a very difficult and expensive task to build a Krag rifle or carbine from parts, starting with just an action or receiver.

A "U.S. model 1892 rifle is even more challenging, because many of the parts are very rare and costly.

Recently it became the subject of 'fresh discussion', because some "1894" marked receivers were sold on GunBroker.

One receiver, #332, caught my attention because it was never 'up-dated' by being annealed and ground for a bolt 'hold-open' notch.
Another, #482, was ground for 'the notch' and had old scope mount holes filled with weld material. Ironically the action had an early bolt with some rare parts.

'Nagkalimot', the OP of this thread, bought a nice 1894 marked action (with a five digit serial number), that was updated with 'the notch'. Now he is puzzling a bit, as what to do with the action.
One option would be to accumulate a bunch of model 1896 Krag parts and build a simulation of a model 1892 rifle, updated to model 1896 features. (This is what actually happened to his "rifle" in 1897 or in the early 1900s).
Another option is to complete his action with any missing small parts and just keep it as a conversation piece and study aid.
Chances are, that 'Nagkalimot' will find a complete Krag rifle to his liking at a better value than piecing together a parts gun.

[butlersrangers]

'Parashooter' posted a response that showed pages from one of the Ordnance Department "Rules for Managment" rifle manuals.

A fun tool for a Krag enthusiast, with a special focus and interest in the model 1892 rifle, is the Ordnance Department "Rules for Management", that was published in 1894.
They are tricky to find, but reprints of the 1894 booklet are around.
I have copied and attached some pages that show details of some of the early and rare parts.

(Note - The cover of the 1894 "Rules for Management" mentions Magazine Rifle and Carbine. Only two of the prototype carbines were actually built)!

[butlersrangers]

A couple of more pages from the 1894 "Rules for the Management" of the .30 Caliber Magazine Rifle.
Page 23 shows the rare ('2nd type') front barrel-band of the U.S. model 1892 (Krag) Magazine Rifle.

Also a few pictures of my '1894 dated' rifle, (serial number 19381), that was updated and refurbished at Springfield Armory in 1897, to have model 1896 features.
This Krag is 1,320 digits earlier than the OP's and likely was originally built within days of his.

(After the official updating and rebuild, all the metal parts are model 1896, with the exception of the 1894 dated receiver. This receiver has received 'the notch' update).

The stock has an '1895 dated cartouche', because the rifle was taken apart, during the rebuild & update process and became a new mixture of serviceable parts.
The stock is an altered and reused model 1892 stock. The wrist is long and slender. The butt-plate is 'recurved', and the butt has a trap for cleaning-rods & oiler.

Note how the inside of the stock's barrel channel lacks the 'lightening chambers' of later stocks. The original clearing-rod groove has been skillfully filled with a pinned & glued wood strip. There is also a cavity that once held a 'ram-rod stop', that the full-length cleaning-rod screwed into.