Krag Collectors Association Forum

Not sure what this is I’m assuming it’s a fake or remodel.

It looks like an 1896 rifle that like so many other Krags was sporterized by its owner. Because of their low surplus price lots of hunters converted these rifles to fit their needs at a fraction of the cost of a new bolt action hunting rifle. Yours is not a fake or repro, just someones converted deer rifle. Not a bad looking one either.

'Joe1896' - Welcome to the KCA forum.

Your Krag, #57231, was assembled around February or March, 1897, as a Krag infantry rifle with a 30 inch barrel.

As 'King carp' stated, your Krag was altered to make it more useful for hunting.

The barrel was shortened, a new front-sight was mounted, a nice commercial stock was fitted, and a Redfield - model #102 ('no drill' peep sight) was installed.

You have a serviceable 'sportered' Krag that should be quite fun for use at the Range and for Hunting.

Thanks for the info I appreciate the help. Other than its poor maintained condition it is a nice rifle.

Do you know if there were any scopes that were commonly mounted to this rifle? There are two tapped holes on the top of the barrel I’m assuming that they are for a scope.

Those tapped holes if they are in front of the breach were probably for the original rear sight. Scopes were mounted on Krags but they are usually offset styles with the mounts tapped into the receiver.

The original rear-sight holes on the Krag barrel can be used for a 'long-eye relief' scope, mounted "Scout-Style".

A company called 'kraghaus' makes a mount that attaches to the Krag barrel and uses Weaver Rings.
Their contact information is in the KCA 'classifieds' section.

Several members have been happy with this rig and it avoids interfering with the Krag's safety-lever and ejection.

The Krag sight screws are a rare 30 t.p.i. thread. Reproduction screws can be bought from S&S Firearms, Glendale, N.Y.

BTW - Drilling and Tapping a Krag receiver for a scope mount is a poor and expensive choice with many downsides.

Your present Redfield 'peep' sight is a nice shooting option. The 'screw-in' aperture can be left out or changed to different sizes for different range and lighting conditions.

Your 1896 Krag looks very similar to my model 1898. Same peep sight and modified stock with pistol grip. Although your very good looking stock appears to be an aftermarket stock whereas mine is an original stock modified with the addition of a pistol grip and checkering.

I stripped the old finish off my stock, probably modified and finished sometime in the early 1920's with Krud Kutter, available at most hardware stores. Took all of about 10 or 20 minutes to remove all the old finish. After some light sanding and steaming out a few dents I finished it with 8 to 10 coats of Minwax Tung oil finish.

I also took a look down the barrel with my Teslong borescope camera and found the barrel to be in excellent condition with no rust pits and very little fire cracking. This Krag shoots very well, easily shooting to 1 moa or better.

Yours may be a real good shooter, have you had a chance to try it out?

A few years back I took my first deer with it 70 years after my father bought the Krag from a pawn shop while on leave from the Army. I've got a pic of him in his Army uniform standing with the Krag next to his brother and a nice buck taken over Christmas.

I forgot to mention that your Krag, being made before 1999 is not considered a firearm. Follows is a quote from Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antique_f ... %20(BATFE).

Under the United States Gun Control Act of 1968, any cartridge firearm made in or before 1898 ("pre-1899") is classified as an "antique", and is generally outside of Federal jurisdiction,[8] as administered and enforced by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE).

It appears that the stock was made by Peerless. Prices starting at $5.00 (Add $2.50 for French Walnut).

This posting has some great information from those days (whenever those days were)...LOL http://www.kragcollectorsassociation.co ... =11&t=5871

$24 to rework your Krag, put it in a new stock with new sights. Anybody know if that was the 1930's?