Sight installation question.

[Bilbo]

I received a rear sight (1901 model) for my Krag this Christmas. It fits in the hand guard perfectly but the screw holes are slightly mis aligned. What should my next step be? They line up perfectly front and back, It just seems like the hand guard needs to be rotated clockwise a little bit.

[Dick Hosmer]

I'm guessing you have, perhaps unbeknownst to you, a repro handguard - they are famous for being not quite right. The odds of the barrel or the sight being "wrong" are infintesimal - so, you will have to play with the handguard cutout itself until everything fits - sounds like you might have to file on the left rear and right front (or vice versa) edges, if you have a rotational issue.

This is going to be a tedious process, because you do NOT want to snap the handguard on and off while fitting. I'd suggest that you do not use the screws until you get close, and make sure the barrel has plenty of oil where you slide the clips back and forth.

[Bilbo]

Thanks Mr. Hosmer. The gun was hanging on my uncle's wall without a sight for about 50 years. I wonder if the hand guard may have changed shape slightly over those years. I will work the wood down a little bit at a time. I have a friend who was the armorer for the local PD. I will get him to help.

[Dick Hosmer]

You are welcome - if it is just warpage, you may not have to file too much. The key is NOT snapping the HG up and down - alway slide it.

[butlersrangers]

Bilbo: It is possible that old dried grease and stock pressure is preventing your hand guard from easily being shifted or rotated. I would suggest you remove your Krag's barreled/action from its stock. Wipe the exposed barrel with some Hoppe's #9 in the area of the hand guard clips. Move your hand guard slightly forward on the tapered barrel so its clips are no longer 'glued' by old cosmoline. Correctly position your hand guard and mount the sight. Then, try putting things back together in the stock, checking both sides for even clearance or contact between the stock and hand guard. This usually works. Original Krag parts are quite precise. It is not unusual for both sides of the stock to be in contact with the hand guard and putting a little pressure upward on the spring clips. (As Dick Hosmer warns: Never snap a Krag hand guard off or on the barrel. You slide it off the barrel).