Re: 1899 Krag and young buck
Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2023 9:02 pm
Hello Mark,
I'm the 'olpeddler" from central Massachusetts. I've been a Krag owner and member of this forum for 4 years. Mine is a model 1899 carbine. It is interesting that I have seen very little mention of the 1899 carbine on the forum. Maybe that's because out of the 350,000 Krags made at the SA, only about 10% of them were model 1899's. Mine was given to me by a friend who had a reclusive family member who, as a hobby, owned a gun shop in the 1950's - 60's. I'm told he had a Ph.D. in chemistry and taught at one of the local colleges. In his later years, he must have suffered from a mental disease because he did crazy things like tearing out walls in his home, stuffing in rifles and shotguns, and then rebuilding the wall board. After he died, his family recovered those long guns before having the house demolished. I was offed one the rifles, and I chose my Krag.
My gunsmith stripped down the rifle and had parts x-rayed to determine if the rifle was safe to fire. It was, so I bought a set of Lee reloading dies and have enjoyed shooting it. Guys on this forum have been very helpful to me. I am fascinated with the 1901 rear sight. Initially, at 75 yards my groups hit 24" inches above the 10 ring. I used the battle sight with the ladder lowered to its lowest point, and still the rifle was shooting 2' high. Forum members recommended that I install a lower front sight post which my gunsmith did. That pretty much solved the problem. i sill use the battle sight, and on a good day at the range I can shoot 3-4" groups at 75 yards, mostly in or near the 10 ring. Occasionally, while handling the rifle, i disturb the windage adjustment. I can not determine why the rear sight has a windage toggle adjustment rather than a knob dial as on my 1903 Springfield.
I'm the 'olpeddler" from central Massachusetts. I've been a Krag owner and member of this forum for 4 years. Mine is a model 1899 carbine. It is interesting that I have seen very little mention of the 1899 carbine on the forum. Maybe that's because out of the 350,000 Krags made at the SA, only about 10% of them were model 1899's. Mine was given to me by a friend who had a reclusive family member who, as a hobby, owned a gun shop in the 1950's - 60's. I'm told he had a Ph.D. in chemistry and taught at one of the local colleges. In his later years, he must have suffered from a mental disease because he did crazy things like tearing out walls in his home, stuffing in rifles and shotguns, and then rebuilding the wall board. After he died, his family recovered those long guns before having the house demolished. I was offed one the rifles, and I chose my Krag.
My gunsmith stripped down the rifle and had parts x-rayed to determine if the rifle was safe to fire. It was, so I bought a set of Lee reloading dies and have enjoyed shooting it. Guys on this forum have been very helpful to me. I am fascinated with the 1901 rear sight. Initially, at 75 yards my groups hit 24" inches above the 10 ring. I used the battle sight with the ladder lowered to its lowest point, and still the rifle was shooting 2' high. Forum members recommended that I install a lower front sight post which my gunsmith did. That pretty much solved the problem. i sill use the battle sight, and on a good day at the range I can shoot 3-4" groups at 75 yards, mostly in or near the 10 ring. Occasionally, while handling the rifle, i disturb the windage adjustment. I can not determine why the rear sight has a windage toggle adjustment rather than a knob dial as on my 1903 Springfield.