96 Carbine Serial Number

[Ned Butts]

Hello Guy,
I was at a Gun Show to day where I ran into a fellow Krag collector who has done a fair amount of research and who I would consider a very reliable source. I told him about your carbine and passed on some intresting information. It seem that in 1901 Springfield Armory sort of cleaned house. They cartouched and sent out guns that had been in the armory for years. From what he tells me most were used for testing ammo, but some could have been "odd man out" when others where shipped out ,for unknown reasons. Actual numbers are unknown but he tells me that there are a few rifles out there similar to your carbine. From a collectors point of view I would call this an intresting wrinkle in the Krag life line and say that you picked up a unique piece of history. Whether this increases the monitary value I couldn't say, but the uniqueness makes it that much more intresting! Excellent find, congratulations!
Ned

[oldammoguy]

Ned,
Thanks for the information. I had not considered it, but I guess it would make sense that the armory would be cleaning out the remaining Krags in 1901, as they were well into the process of developing a replacement, having essentially settled on the cartridge that would be used.
To those who may be interested, I have a full shot of the carbine posted on my web page:
http://members.aol.com/mg64guy/1896krag.jpg