Krag Collectors Association Forum

I came across another "carbine" at a local shop. The pictures will show one with a darker stock that I had asked about on here previously. The proprietor is telling me that this was either an NRA or officer's carbine.
SN is 226931 I did buy some reference books but still not sure what I am looking for. I need assistance in figuring out if this something worthwhile or run away from it! He is asking $699 USD for the lighter wood and $599 USD for the darker.
I have permission to buy from the better half so if these are trash and you know where I could pick one up for less than exorbitant price, please let me know.
Thank you again for your time.

Sorry, having issues attaching pics...

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The one with the lighter wood has had many of the metal parts blued. The front sight is not original. The consensus here is sporters are worth $300.00, whether there are valuable parts on it that could increase its value, I will let others comment. I was looking for some "C"s on the rear sight and did not see any. One of these days inflation is going to happen and sporters will be worth $301. That day may be coming sooner than later.

Turn and walk away. Proprietor has done little or no research which is "par for the course". No such animal as an "officers carbine" unless an officer of some sort owned a cut down Krag that is. As for NRA carbines the front sight is not correct and with out documentation, any one could have put those parts together.

Really depends on what you want it for. Neither are good examples of original Krags. If you're looking for a restoration project, on the plus side, both come with handguards, even though incorrect for the receivers. Handguards alone are around a couple hundred on auction if you can even find one.

SN 226931 in the lighter stock is probably a better bet. Model number is blurred but it looks like an 1899, which is an actual carbine receiver, and the stock is an 1899 carbine stock. Not a cut down rifle stock like the darker one. The rear sight is a model 1896 and the handguard is one of the 1896 carbine variations. Not correct for an 1899 but possibly good trading material.

The rear sight on the darker one is a 1902, which is correct for that receiver, but the handguard is for a Model 1892 rifle. Again, you could possibly trade or sell the handguard and find a correct one. The front sight is completely incorrect, even for a Bannerman or Stokes-Kirk and would need to be removed to see what's underneath. You might be able to have a dovetail cut and an actual Krag front sight base mounted. More likely you would need a band type front sight like from a 1903 Springfield, which is what the DCM-NRA sporters used. I'm not sure what you could do with that stock though.

Those prices may be high for some folks, but are not out of line from what I've seen selling on GunBroker. If you want to start with a correct or nearly correct rifle, GB is a good place to look.

Good luck!


ETA: found a source that says early 1899 carbines were issued with 1896 sights and handguards. So possibly only the front sight is incorrect on that carbine. And the sporter sling swivel studs which you can remove and fill in.

Thank you all for the input. I went back to have another look at the 99 and am definitely not getting either. When I opened the stock trap door, I realized that the stock wasn't just "damaged and repaired" as I had been told....it had been broken in two and repaired.

What would be the consensus of putting a repro stock on the carbine and having it as a shooter? If a bad idea, someone point me in the right direction to find these affordable! I can’t find them...

Unless you can get the '99 for $200-250 I woulden't think it would be worth it. A repro stock might cost between $200 & $300 and will probably require fitting to the barreled action and likely cosmetic work, sanding for correct look. In the end you will have a correct carbine actiuon in a repro stock with an aftermarket sight on what might be a questionable carbine barrel. If you can not get the price on that one down you can usually find cut down rifles in that range and do the same thing, and have a shooter carfile.