New (for me) Krag

[King carp]

I looked at this Krag several years ago. I posted the GT 37 marking on the forum . It seems to have no special meaning according to forum members. The owner offered it to me so now i own it. Seems to be a nice original Krag carbine. Can someone check the serial no. please. Its 362073. Any other thoughts on it would be welcome. Thanks in advance, KC

[King carp]

more pics

[Whig]

KC,

Your Krag carbine, serial number 362073, made in November 1901, is not listed in any of the SRS manuals. It's a later model Krag made after most of the wars Krags were used in. Your new Krag looks great, has a nice Model 1902 carbine sight and even has a rare carbine front sight protector. Those sell for around $200 themselves. The cartouche is very strong. It is reasonable to expect the original stock for this carbine to have a 1902 cartouche. How is the bore? I like the G.T. 37 stamping. It adds to the historic mystique this Krag has. You have a very nice Model 1899 carbine Krag anyone would be proud to own. Your patience has paid off well. Congratulations!

[Culpeper]

That's a righteous carbine, King. It's good to see it wearing carbine sight and not a rfile sight.

[King carp]

Thanks whig for checking the SRS on the carbine. The bore looks pretty good, some light pitting but strong rifling. I will give it a good scrub and send a couple down range to see how it patterns. Maybe G.T. stands for "Glide Tarrow" Clyde Barrow's distant cousin, LOL.

[butlersrangers]

'King Carp' - That is a mighty nice U.S. model 1899 carbine.

(It might just be me, but 'judging by eye', your rear-sight base may be a model 1898 carbine sight base.
A quick look at the leaf spring will tell if it is a 1902 or 1898 base).

Your leaf and binding-knob are parts that were initially made for the 1903 'rod-bayonet' Springfield rifle.
Later, these surplus components appear to have been utilized for officially repairing some model 1902 sights.

G.T. ? (Georgia Tech., Georgetown University, Green Tree VFW post ???) Just thoughts, I haven't found any Krag connection.

[King carp]

Thanks Culpepper. I guess i was lucky to get a Krag that was not stripped of its parts. It even has its cleaning rod and oiler. Thanks butlers rangers. Does this pic of the sight help?

[butlersrangers]

'King Carp' - You have a model 1898 carbine rear-sight base, (a rare base).

The correct top for this base is an 1898 leaf (with no serrations on the side) and a three-notch eyepiece, stamped with a "C".

How tall is your front-sight blade?

(I did a search and found a series of posts from 2020. I believe you may already have a 'loose' model 1898 carbine rear-sight).

The 1898 carbine sight-base on your new Krag might be a nicer match with the 'top' of your 'loose' sight.
'
The serial number of your carbine places its manufacture after the model 1898 sight was abandoned.

It is likely that your carbine once officially wore a model 1901 or 1902 carbine rear-sight.

(But the 1898 sight would be fun to try)!

[Dick Hosmer]

Based solely on the ramp height I would have said that is a 1902 base - the 98C is even lower.

M1898C sight.jpg (194.93 KiB) Viewed 1124 times

[butlersrangers]

Dick - What got my attention was how low the base was.

The spring for the leaf confirms that it is a model 1898 carbine base.