Hand me down Krag

[RELambert]

Hello to all,
I received a model 1899 Krag carbine, number 355212 from my grandfather many years ago. It's in fairly decent shape, with the exception of some missing parts. The blade for the front sight is missing, there is no cleaning kit, and the piece of wood the covers the front section of the barrel is gone. The only part I'm really interested in replacing at the moment is the piece of wood, ( what is the proper name for this by the way?). Is there any place to get this part from?
One other thing, I still have the rear sight, but I can only see the letter "C" on it. It has no numbers with the exeption of the range numbers. It should be the sight that came with this weapon, but I'm not real sure.
Thanks for any info.

[Dick Hosmer]

The proper name for the "wood part" is the handguard. The only markings on the rear sight WOULD be a "C" (in one or more locations, depending on model) and the range graduations.

Original handguards do show up occasionally on Ebay and at gun shows, and repros are available as well, but some of the latter do not fit properly. There are at least 3 possible styles of rear sight which COULD be on your gun. I believe the CORRECT one would be the Model 1901. You must check out the "photos" section of this website to see which one you have, before you go hunting for a handguard. Originals could go for $150 or so - repros somewhat less.

ALL Krag sights use the same screw hole locations on the barrel, but the handguard cutout varies (quite a bit - you HAVE to get it right) with the model of sight.

A word of caution - the ONLY safe way to install/remove a handguard is to dismount the arm and remove the rear sight, then SLIDE the handguard on or off. MANY handguards have been cracked by attempting to "snap" them on over the sight!!

[billdavidmoore]

The 1899 Carbine was fitted with a number of rear sights and each required a particular handguard. Check the Photo section on this site and identify your rear sight. It could have been an 1896c, a 1901c or a 1902c and the handguards as varied. I have no knowledge of the 1896c sight and handguard. The 1901c could have had a rifle handguard or a humped carbine hand guard, while the 1902c handguard was fitted with an 1898 rifle handguard. The 1899 carbine was issued with one sight, maybe upgraded to another, and perhaps changed again. My 1899 carbine came with an 1901c rear sight and had no hand guard when I acquired it. Original handguards appear from time to time on this site, on E-Bay, and on Gun Brokers. You might also check ssfirearms.com. They have reproduction handguards.
You might also check out the photos of the barrel band.
HTH