Krag Collectors Association Forum

In the past year, I have repaired two model 1898 Krag follower-arm assemblies.

The first problem - Follower carrier-arm assembly was occasionally dragging and hanging-up on the floor of the magazine box, causing feed issues.
(I concluded that the carrier-arm and its pivot end were overly worn or bent, which caused a slight misalignment).

The second problem - An unusual effort was required to open the magazine-gate. The gate closed with a violent & loud 'snap'.
(Inspection revealed the cam on the follower carrier-arm and the tip of the spring showed wear and galling).

To 'improve' magazine function, I obtained a pair of model 1898 Follower Carrier-arms from "Grandpa's Gun Parts", (Priced at just over $11.00, each). I also bought a used follower-arm Spring off of eBay.

The follower carrier-arm assembly is taken apart by driving the small pin 'out', from the bottom.
To re-assemble, insert the pin by hand, taking care to align the polished contour of the top end of the pin with the radius of the follower. Drive the pin 'home' using a plastic or copper mallet.

A light Bicycle grease on the follower carrier-arm pivot & cam and the Spring's tip & contact surfaces, improves function and reduces wear and galling.

Both Krags function fine, now. Replacing just the follower carrier-arm was cheaper than buying a whole assembly.

(Photos showing cam & spring galling and pin removal):

More photos showing pin reassembly and cam lubrication:

I'll have to apply some light grease to mine. Thanks for the tip, after full dissasembly and cleaning of my rifles I was looking for wear points and was curious if any parts wear out in this magazine, with some grease applied to this it should reduce wear significantly. This magazine system is so unique it's likely often overlooked.

bump - Undue effort to open a Krag Magazine-Gate, and follower-arm 'weakness' & poor cartridge feed may be due to corrosion, crud, and hardened cosmoline.

Disassembly and cleaning the magazine-gate, hinge-pin, the long hinge-pin hole (through the gate), the curved flat spring (that tensions the gate and powers the follower-arm), and the follower-arm assembly, can solve a whole bunch of problems.

Galling on loading-gate spring 'tip' and follower-arm cam can make the Krag loading-gate operation difficult. This is easily checked when things are disassembled.

Lubricating contact surfaces, pivots and pins, with a light grease can smooth things up nicely.

Using the KCA search feature can bring up prior discussions and solutions to a problem you may be having.

When the Krag action is out of the stock, it is very easy to remove the left side-plate, which also removes some of the tension on the magazine-door/carrier-arm flat spring.

The hinge-pin can be rotated by lightly lifting the 'flange' that locks it in place and also serves as a cover.
The 'tip' of the flat spring and its engagement with the cam, on the follower-carrier arm, can be viewed.

BTW - KCA members have learned a lot of this stuff just by 'doing'.