Krag Collectors Association Forum

I’m a newbie here and I thought I’d show a pic of a recent acquisition. This thing was a complete mess, as you can see. My goal is to clean her up so that she has at least a little dignity left for the rest of her life. She was born in 1901 and has had a very hard life.

This was the end of that day

I have one with a similar stock. I'm reasonably sure that mine is a Bannerman put-together piece. Mine does not have a Krag barrel. Maybe one intended for a 1917 Enfield and turned down. Does yours have holes in the barrel for the military rear sight?

After you cleaned the finish off I immediately noticed the cut ahead of the magazine gate. I wondered what it was and now see the S&K mount.

It looks like this was originally a rifle. They cut the barrel to 22” but did a lousy crown job. I chucked it in the lathe and cleaned it up. I put the roller-coaster type sight on it. They cut the original comb off and doweled a piece on it. I cut it back down to 1.25 drop. They cut 1/2” off the butt. I added 1/2” back to it. They cut a dovetail in the grip area and pressed-in a pistol grip. I cut that off too. I’m cleaning it up in the shop now. It has a decent bore. I removed that awful front sight.

The Bride of Frankenstein. Mock-up.
Should make a good pick-up truck gun.

madsenshooter wrote: ↑Mon Feb 06, 2023 10:02 pm After you cleaned the finish off I immediately noticed the cut ahead of the magazine gate. I wondered what it was and now see the S&K mount.

That is quite a gouge and quite unnecessary. the groove can be cut in the inner stock with out disturbing the the exterior. But it is done now. The wood looks ok stripped and should turn out to be nice sporter

and sadly the stock appears to have started life as a carbine version. Our fathers sporter was a similar set up with added pistol grip but original shaped butt and is a handy hunting rig. We also added an S&K mout for him.

Serial 297272. 1901?

Actually, the serial number calculations of Bill Mook and Joe Poyer give a different likely manufacture date for OP's Krag, serial number 297272.
Mook's tables estimate assembly around November 1900. Poyer's tables estimate December 1900.

"Grunt221", on what source did you base your 1901 date?

Dating the manufacture of a U.S. Krag is tricky. The rifles and carbines were not built in numeric order. The manufactured - numbered receivers went into parts bins and could be pulled out rather randomly during assembly of arms. A receiver might linger in the bottom of a bin, with later numbered ones being dumped on top.

Exact dating is probably not possible, but estimates can be in the 'ballpark'.