1898 Krag rifle - pending restoration

[RickyG]

Thank you butlers... i should have thought of that. Mr Hosmer, Let me chew on that. I am always reluctant to say deliberate deception.... below is our string of texts regarding this from when I got the rifle to now.. i will refer to him as BL for now

Me
Received the rifle.... a firearms guy went over this?

BL
He looked at the bore. You see a problem?
I asked him to see. If the rifling was ok.

ME
A few unfortunately.

ME
There is an very unstable crack break in the wood left side forward of the reciever plate , i think i can stabilize it, it will not feed from the magazine whatsoever. Trying to see whats going on but the magazine does not appear to be functional otherwise so far just some unexpected cosmetic issues

BL
I was not aware of that. The only thing I asked him to check was the bore at the suggestion of the Krag club contact.
Please keep me posted of what you find out.
Can you send a photo of the crack in the wood?

ME
This is a link to with all photos including the ones on the add
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/cmvqtqedtveo ... E6WSa?dl=0

BL
From this pic I took, though I did not notice it then, looks like the crack may have gotten worse in shipping.

ME
Dont know
I know unfortunately, if i had seen it in pe4don at a gun show and NOT knowing it wouldn't feed i likely wouldn't have gone over 400 and likely would have made a 300 offer on it on it as it sits. It may be restorable as a shooter but it wont ever be over a 3-400 rifle


ME
I have been mulling this over.
Are you willing to do a partial refund? Say 450 which would have dropped the price closer to what the value is likely to be? I will eat eat the other 400. That would in the end leave you with 450 and i eat the 100 the shipping cost?
Would that be a reasonable end result to you? With a lot of work I may be able to twist it into a shooter but its not going to have any more value than the 450 maximum I am thinking.
Anyhow let me know what you think.

[RickyG]

Update

BL
I'm more inclined to have it sent back to me and refund your $800.

ME
I can understand that.

Would you wish to start a 900$mo (cost+shipping) this way? Ill handle the shipping and the ffl transfer fee to get it sent back your way on my end if you want to let me know where it should go. I have a gunstore here I can work with on that.

BL
Let me get back with you Friday. We are about to leave for the evening for a dinner. I'll be in the doctor's office till lunch tomorrow.

ME
Non worries i hope all is well





Will continue to update as to result

[Whig]

Thanks for the update. I am for returning and refunding. You'll find one that is better and won't give you headaches. We want you to have a great Krag treasure that you can go out and blast with and not have any worries.

[butlersrangers]

What Whig says!

Ship it back to the seller for a refund.

The photos used in the classifieds post showed what appeared to be a solid rifle.

[RickyG]

It may come to that. Will see if he follows through. I dont hold much hope as it, to me, was an easy decision. "The let me get back to you", to me isn't a good sign but we will see

[RickyG]

Today

BL
When you said the mag would not feed, do you mean the bolt is not picking up the round? Also, are you familiar with the magazine disengagement tab?

ME
Yes. It enables single load or load from the magazine which was intended for emergency defensive fire.

Either the follower or the magazine spring needs repair or replacement. I will not know until i take the gun apart and did not want to begin attempts at restore until we decide what route to take.

I am willing to take a chance on being able to restore it at least to shooting status and work on the end price with you if you want. Which was why i suggested a change in purchase price.

Restoring it to shooting status isnt going to be cheap. A magazine spring alone is around 30-50 depending on finding it. Normally can find on ebay for around 30 plus shipping. Thats just the spring. If it turns out to be the follower, cam or rotary side plate it will change.

At this point what I am looking at are stock repairs, the one I sent and one which is less worrisome at in the middle of the stock covered by the butt plate. That one is less worrisome as it is protected by the buttplate and less likely to move and then the magazine repairs. The rear sight is loose, shouldnt be hard to correct, but to fix the big crack the gun has to come apart. That alone risks the upper handguard but should work ok. I have rubbed most of the rusty with oil to stabilize it but to protect the metal it needs a good buff and polish to get rid of the rust eating it and then MAYBE a reblue, maybe leave bare. Wont know until its is clear for examination.

If we adjust the value as I was thinking you walk away with your money and i take the risk and attempt the repair restoration out of my end. Whichever you prefer I understand. I am not trying to rip you off. Even if restored to shooting condition it will not ever be a high dollar rifle unfortunately.

[butlersrangers]

I think you have summarized the situation accurately and politely.
The 'seller' would be wise to work out a mutually agreeable price with you.
IMO - If you have a total of less than $600, (counting gun, replacement parts, transfer fees, and shipping), invested in this Krag, you will probably enjoy it as a learning project and shooter.

The magazine feed problem is very likely due to a broken or missing spring. Your video appears to show that the magazine-gate opens with hardly any effort.
A normal operating U.S. Krag requires a significant effort to open the gate. There is nothing currently powering the carrier-follower arm.

The attached photo shows a variation of the Krag 1902 rear-sight and the correct mounting screws.
Krag rear-sight screws have (a now unusual) .156" X 30 tpi thread.

You mentioned that this rifle's rear-sight is "loose". It would be prudent to remove the present screws and see if they match the screws in my picture.
Don't force incorrect screws into original threaded-holes. (Good reproduction screws are available from S&S Firearms, Glendale, N.Y.)

I am curious if the 'sling' came with your rifle purchase?
Some pics of the sling would be of interest.
BTW - Original Krag slings have become rather pricey.

[RickyG]

He has agreed to refund 450 of the cost. This would put me in an area where I am willing to take it on as a project.

I have spoken with him and gotten the go ahead to dig into it. Ill be either changing the title of this thread to project or starting a new one to share progress and also get input from the knowledge base here

[butlersrangers]

That sounds like a fair deal.

A 'fresh' thread would be easier to follow.
If you post your photos directly on the KCA Forum, they won't 'time-out'.
The story of your project will be more useful to current and future members, down the road.

The Sling shown in the 'Classifieds' photo appears to be a model 1907. An original military 1907 sling can have surprising value.

[RickyG]

The sling fell into pieces when it came out of the box. It was original but was dry rotted and pulled in half when pressure was on it. I have some 1903 slings but that one was a wash.