New member-Owner of 2 Krags refinishing

[Christopher K.]

Hello to the group!

I acquired two 1898 Springfield's 30-40 Krags that I am in the process of restoring. Both were manufactured in 1900 and have the inspectors stamp from 1899. Both were used as parade rifles for the American Legion color guard by my wife's grandfather. I have stripped off the enamel blue paint that was on them and now want to get to the original condition. My questions are;

1. What was the factory color of the wood stocks?
2. All of the metal parts were chromed by the American Legion. What was the original finish? Does anyone know of a good place to have the metal parts refinished to their original finish?

Thanks in advance. Photos to come.

-CK

[madsenshooter]

You can run into two colors of stocks from 1899. American black walnut or an orange colored Italian walnut. Sometimes the orange was covered with black walnut stain, maybe so the guy with the only orange rifle in the outfit didn't stand out. Color can vary on the Italian walnut, I've seen some that were almost yellow, but for the most part it's orange. I have a Japanese type I rifle, made in Italy, of the same wood.

Stocks were finished with boiled linseed oil.

[psteinmayer]

Krag stocks should not have a finish or stain. Once you strip the finish/paint, you would apply linseed oil. Some people use BLO (Boiled Linseed Oil), and others say it should not be boiled. I couldn't say which is right... but it should absolutely be linseed!

The chrome could be stripped and a new bluing applied. There are places which can accomplish this.

Hope this helps!
Paul

[madsenshooter]

Boiled, the unboiled either takes a loooong time to dry, or doesn't dry at all.

[waterdogg]

Boiled for sure, I just did a Remington 22 rolling block stock it turned out beautiful.

[Christopher K.]

When using linseed oil, do you sand down the old finish to get bare wood, or do you re apply to the existing finish after you clean all the dirt/grim off it?

[Parashooter]

Please forget the "BLO" job. On a U.S. military rifle, oil that dries into a shiny surface film wasn't desired. Raw linseed penetrates into the wood's pores and gradually dries below the surface where it doesn't shine and can't be scratched away.

Don't believe me, though - take it from the "Regulations"

[Old Soldier]

Don't go sanding. Use a paint remover, and steel wool, but lay off of the sand paper, you will remove any inspector marks, as well as make the metal proud. You can use a damp wash rag, and your wife's iron to iron out any dents.
I do not know how to remove crome plating, but once it is off, a cold blue will give you an old used look, that will look closer to what a naturally aged rifle would look like, than a commirical re-blue job would. Be careful not to over buff the parts. People get crazy there, and change the shape of parts as well as buff out the markings.
Good luck on your project, it is good to get the old warriors back looking as the should.

[Christopher K.]

Here are the pics of the two rifles that I am restoring. The top one looked just like the bottom one before I removed all the hardware and stripped off the enamel paint.

[psteinmayer]

Don't go sanding. Use a paint remover, and steel wool, but lay off of the sand paper, you will remove any inspector marks, as well as make the metal proud.

I agree about not sanding if possible... but be aware - there are thousands of Krags in existence with sanded stocks, that were sanded during an arsenal rebuild. This is the case with my 1898... which shows no proof or cartouche, but is absolutely correct. It was most likely rebuilt sometime prior to the Great War.

Paul