First Krag

[true_w]

Tried posting pictures, but I got a message saying I needed to make one normal post before linking any pics to a post, so this is my attempt. Hope this works.

[true_w]

Hi everyone. I picked this rifle up about a month ago now. I bought some Remington ammo, which I hope is OK to shoot in it? I plan to reload for it this summer if I can ever find primer and powder again in the local stores here. The panic buying has emptied the shelves. I picked up Poyer's book and hope to educate myself on these beautiful rifles. Thanks for looking.

[butlersrangers]

true_W: Welcome to the KCA Forum from a fellow Michigander. You have a mighty nice looking Model 1898 Krag. I believe your Krag rifle was manufactured in January of 1903. Your handsome stock appears to be made from one of the Italian walnut blanks Springfield purchased around 1899-1900. What date appears in the cartouche stamped on the left side of the stock? I'm glad you are shooting it on its 110th birthday!

[true_w]

Thanks for the welcome. Nice to know a fellow Michigander is freezing along with me. ;)

1901 on the cartouche.

I haven't fired it yet, wanted to make sure this Remington Core-Lokt 180gr psp is safe to fire in it first?

[rjc324]

Welcome to the forum. Very nice looking rifle. Your Remington or Winchester ammo will be fine. My 1898 "Sportster" kicked like a .22 with the Winchester 180 Gr PSP bullets. Of course it wouldn't hurt to have a good competent gunsmith give it a once over before you took it out to shoot.
Graf and Sons has (had) WW 30-40 Krag brass in 50 count bags on sale last week for $19.99 plus $5.95 shipping. Scan thru the posts and see what the others are using for reloads. Same down here in NC with the panic buying of ammo and components. Good luck and let us know how it shoots for you.

[Thomassen]

Welcome to the forum! You'll find lots of good onformation here and plenty of folks to help you out. You scored a very nice looking Krag. Very sweet!

[butlersrangers]

true_w: It is likely you Krag was arsenal refurbished at some point, or possibly, a collector switched stocks. This would explain the presence of a stock from an arm inspected and passed in 1901 being on a barreled action produced in 1903. This is pretty common on Krags because they saw service and maintenance in the National Guard and limited use during WW1. This does not detract from the appeal of your Krag. Most of the Italian walnut stocks do seem to have 1900 and 1901 cartouche stamps. There are lots of Krag Lovers in Michigan.

[RPRNY]

How is it that a Norwegian design adopted by a stodgy fin-de -siecle War Dept and manufactured in my home town of Springfield can have the looks of an Italian Supermodel?

That's a gorgeous rifle.

[true_w]

Thanks for the welcome guys. If a collector swapped stocks, I think it was done a while ago. I don't believe the stock has been off the rifle in a very long time. Speaking of which, I disassembled and cleaned the bolt last night. This morning I tried to disassemble and clean the rifle, but I actually got stuck on step 7 of surplusrifle.com's disassembly instructions for the Krag. Simply put, the forward band will not come off unless I drift the front sight blade off the base, which I'm not too keen on doing. There just isn't enough clearance to remove that band off the barrel. Anything I'm missing here? I did remove and clean the rear sight and it needed it, because it was filthy. I reinstalled with no issues. I didn't touch the handguard. I don't want to crack it. Did find some old cosmoline or dirt under the sight on top of the barrel though. This is why I would like to remove the barrel from the stock like I do on all my milsurps for an initial clean. I don't want to screw up a 110 year old rifle due to my OCD qualities though. Any advice?

[98src]

The stock will come off without removing the front band from the barrel. Just remove the band screw and move the band as far forward as possible. This will allow the stock to drop down and be separated from the barreled receiver. You of course will also have to loosen and slide the sling band forward over the front band also. If you remove the handguard, remove the sight first and just slide the handguard forward until you can lift it off the barrel.