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Here is the rifle with the 1900 cartouche
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 12:52 am
by GUTS
Re: Here is the rifle with the 1901 cartouche
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 1:15 am
by mjanway
Very nice indeed!
Re: Here is the rifle with the 1901 cartouche
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 5:19 am
by Dick Hosmer
Yes, very nice, AND confirms that the headless cocking piece is NOT exclusive to carbines! Hate to say this, but the cartouche looks like "1900" to me! :-)
Re: Here is the rifle with the 1901 cartouche
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 11:13 am
by GUTS
Sorry about that, long days at work and my brain is fading(I corrected it!).
Re: Here is the rifle with the 1901 cartouche
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 11:45 pm
by 5MadFarmers
Yes, very nice, AND confirms that the headless cocking piece is NOT exclusive to carbines! Hate to say this, but the cartouche looks like "1900" to me! :-)
Mystified by how that would be so on an arsenal refinished rifle.
Re: Here is the rifle with the 1900 cartouche
Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 12:20 am
by GUTS
What makes you say it's arsenal refinished, were they all? I thought US Military rifles that were arsenal refinished were stamped with the mark from the arsenal they were refinished at, unless Krags weren't marked like later rifles are.
Re: Here is the rifle with the 1900 cartouche
Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 12:34 am
by 5MadFarmers
Re: Here is the rifle with the 1900 cartouche
Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 1:23 am
by butlersrangers
Guts: You have a very nice rifle with interesting features like the "headless" cocking piece and an 1898 rear sight modified to 1902 configuration. I believe your serial number dates from November, 1900. The condition of your rifle appears very good. Your stock appears to have a very nice grain. I wonder if it is one of the stock blanks obtained from Italy? (I have a cut down rifle stock with a "1900" cartouche that is definitely a European Walnut).
Re: Here is the rifle with the 1900 cartouche
Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 3:00 am
by GUTS
I guess I don't understand the browned vs not browned reference you highlighted in the photo, can you explain it some for me, thanks.
Re: Here is the rifle with the 1900 cartouche
Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 10:34 pm
by 5MadFarmers
The "shelf" is browned for almost all of its distance. Except the very front. That's in the white. As made that "shelf" on that rifle had a consistent finish on the entire shelf. Imagine masking off a flat surface and finishing it. Then removing the masking tape. The bit under the tape wouldn't be finished. Which is what we're seeing there. The front of the shelf is in the white whereas most of it is browned. When originally made it was all the same finish. That is "browned" during rebuild with them missing the front of that shelf.
The receiver wasn't browned at SA. It was browned during rebuild and they missed the front of the shelf. The guide lip also has that inconsistent finish. Ergo, the gun was arsenal refinished.
The reality is most were. Far too many people assume the gun is "original" when that is in fact almost never so.
Very few guns are "original." That doesn't move your rifle into the "junk pile" as most were refinished whether people realize it or not. It's a nice rifle. It was arsenal refinished as were most from that time.
They went to parkerizing on '03s for a reason. They couldn't keep the browning from wearing off. Quickly. The guns were carried in the rain, sun, etc. They lost their finish quickly. When returned from the units they were refinished as a matter of procedure. RIA's inventory reports only have two columns: new and refinished. It was either one or the other. SA, RIA, Benicia, and Manilla all had browning facilities and they all used them. Heavily.
