3 piece cleaning rod - how to use?

[banjopete]

Hello all,

I am very blessed to be the caretaker of a full length M1898 Krag which, according to SRS, was issued to a member of the 1st Oklahoma Territorial Volunteers in July of 1898.

The bore appears very good although I have not had a chance to fire the weapon yet.

Anyhow, I picked up a 3 piece cleaning rod and oiler kit on Ebay for 50 bucks, which seems these days to be a decent deal. However, with all 3 parts screwed together the unit is still about a good 3-4 inches too short to clean the whole length of the barrel from either end.

The rods appear to be full length and when placed in their little homes in the stock there doesn't appear to be a lot of extra room to accommodate anything longer under the butt plate hatch.

We're these meant to be only an emergency use item? Is this just a nifty "stock"-ing stuffer toy or am I missing out on something?

Best,
Pete

[butlersrangers]

'banjopete' - Three section rod was intended for use (cleaning or clearing) in the field. Soldiers would 'pair up' to have a 4th rod section, apparently.

BTW- Many rifles, like Mausers, have cleaning/clearing rods that required 'pairing up'.

[banjopete]

Ah, thank you, Butlersrangers. Mystery solved! Like carrying half of a shelter tent. ;)

[psteinmayer]

Welcome to the forum, and to the wonderful world of Krags! (Be careful, Krags tend to multiply!)

It sounds like you really hit the bullseye with your Krag. It's great when you can document the history of your Krag... it makes it that much sweeter. Hows about posting some pictures so we can all share in the joy?

Yes, cleaning rods are a mystery to most of us at first. You might think of stuffing a couple patches or a piece of paper towel under the trap with your tools, as this will keep them from rattling around when you handle your weapon.

[banjopete]

Thanks, Mr. Steinmayer for the advice and support!

I have a picture on my phone of my small 19th century arsenal (M1861 rifle musket, M1873 Trapdoor Springfield and Krag) but can't load it. The pic seems to be too big to load.

I think I paid a bit of a premium for the Krag because of the SRS history but in the end am very pleased!

The soldier to whom it was issued, Private Ross R. Way signed up in July of 1898 in Kingfisher Oklahoma. He spent most of his service time on sick leave and his unit never made it farther than Florida.

The paperwork shows that he was issued a (presumably) Trapdoor Springfield rifle and then my Krag Jorgensen. They were very specific about the nomenclature. The juiciest part I found though was that after he was well enough to rejoin his unit he lost a mess kit spoon during his catch up train ride and was billed 3 cents for it :)

Thanks again. Wish I could post pic but didn't want your comments to go until noticed.

Pete

[reincarnated]

I think it is absolutely amazing that you have found records linking a Krag (or any other rifle) not only to a unit but to a specific soldier.

How many Krags can be tracked to the unit? And how many to the issued soldier? Where do such records reside?