Fire Damaged Rough Rider Krag???

[Culpeper]

I have a guess on the 27892 serial number if that is not the right number. Suppose an unscrupulous rat and fiend had serial number 7892 and a list of the Riders' rifle assignments independent of Mallory's research and stamped a 2 ahead of 7892. While I usually think poorly of my typical fellow man and the shenanigans he can do it is not out of the realm of possibilities however slim.

[butlersrangers]

This photo does not make things easy, but the "1894" date reveals the passed down story to be fiction!

Some Hoppes and a bronze brush would likely reveal the actual serial number. It may be just a 4-digit number.

If fraud was intended, re-stamping the date to 95 or 96 would have confused things more!