Saw a Krag in a movie

[Littlejohn]

It was too cold here tonight to do much but stay inside and keep the fire going, so I dug out an old VHS copy of the movie "Death Hunt". While watching it, I noticed that the character played by Lee Marvin was using a Krag rifle. Looked like a sporterized 1896 model to me. Anyway, here are some scenes from the movie of Marvin and the Krag. Good Movie in my opinion.

[GBertolet]

If you ever watch the old reruns of Hogan's Heros, SGT Schultz the German guard, is carrying a Krag. I guess they couldn't find a 98 Mauser for him.

[Dick Hosmer]

The Krag in "Death Hunt" appears to be some kind of bubba'd Norwegian - look at the loading gate. Have no idea why the property department couldn't have come up with a more appropriate model, other than to say that Hollywood (other than John Milius) has a bad record in that regard.

As to Schultz, the story is that the actor (John Banner?) was Jewish and refused to carry a weapon that "might have killed some of his people". I've always wondered why - if he felt that strongly (and I'm not saying he was wrong) - he had no problem wearing the uniform and playing the role.

[psteinmayer]

I was thinking the same thing Dick. The first thing I noticed was the taper on the barrel... which is not a US Krag barrel. Also, I've heard the same thing about Schultz and why he used a Krag instead of a Mauser.

Speaking of Krags in movies, check out To Kill A Mockingbird. Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck) shoots a rabid dog with a sporterized 1898 Krag.

[gunboat57]

Yeah, Marvin's Krag looks like a sporterized 1894 Norwegian: seems to have a pistol grip stock, shape of the loading door, the enlarged area at the front of the receiver ring for the handguard, and the shape of the rear sight. I'll have to watch the movie to see if there are any shots of it by itself.

Just noticed one more thing, the wood between the bolt handle and the magazine is short. At first I thought it was broken like some US Krag stocks, but the '94 Norwegian was shaped that way.