Krag rifle marked 1894

[rustychip1959]

I have a rifle that I bought way back in 1982 or 83, cant remember. The receiver is stamp just "1894" not Model 1894. the stock cartouche is dated 1895. The serial number is 12147.

The odd thing is the armory did not do all of the 1896 upgrades. It looks like they installed a 1896 rear sight and the extractor has the hump with the pin in it but no notch cut in the receiver.

The butt stock has the flat face and the butt plate does not have the trap door.

The cleaning rod channel has not been filled in plus the nose cap/forward band has the hole in it.

And the muzzle does not have a crown, it is flat faced.

Also the cleaning rod was gone when I bought it. I looked online in multiple web sites, the cleaning rods seem rarer then unicorn gas.

I did find the proper rear sight and an extractor without the hump and pin.

Would I be creating a fake or forged 1894 if I swapped out the parts? or just leave like it is?

David

[Culpeper]

Welcome to the Greatest Krag Forum in the known universe. The smarter guys will be along in a bit.

First, much like the Hippocratic Oath, do no harm to the rifle. Pictures would be great for an accurate analysis.

You describe an unmolested rifle. The butt plate, stock, and the barrel are correct. Please don't dink with them. Do not cut a notch in the receiver, either.

I am fairly certain an eighteen ninety-four rear sight can be easily found. The guys here should be able to help you along with it.

I checked Mr. Mallory's The Krag Rifle Story, 2nd ed. and did not find the serial number reported during his research. That's okay. He was only able to find serial numbers for a small percentage of the total made at Springfield

All the best.

[rustychip1959]

Here are a few pictures of the various details, I need to get a sunny day so I can do the full rifle.

[rustychip1959]

Here are a few more pictures

[Culpeper]

Throw away any and all cheap steel or aluminium cleaning rods you may have and buy yourself a coated rod like a Dewey! Maybe my eyes are telling lies but it looks like the rifling is all the way to the end of the barrel. You don't want to bugger it up. Clean it only from the chamber.

How did it shoot the last time you had it to the range?

[rustychip1959]

I have to admit that I have never shot this, I bought 1 box of Remington 180gr. 30-40, 20 round box, I still have 20 rounds.

The end of the muzzle is cut flat and square and they did not even chamfer the bore.

I also checked the barrel length and it is 30" right on the money

[Whig]

David,

You actually have a somewhat scarce and valuable Model 1892 Krag rifle. Yes, the authentic cleaning rod, called a RamRod, is very difficult to find. ebay occasionally has a reproduction for sale. The bolt you have is a Model 1892 bolt and the uncut receiver is good. The parts you need are available to return this to a more "correct" Model 1892 rifle. You are doing no harm to replace parts. You are correct that Springfield Armory did not do the Model 1896 upgrades to this rifle. Someone just switched some parts, that's all. Very few unaltered Model 1892 Krag rifles still exist. It is nice to see you have one of them. I would search for replacement parts, as you have already started to do, and just try to make this more correct as it was originally made. Having the 1895 cartouche is great! Most of these older Krags do not have the cartouche as nice as yours.

Great start to a Krag collection!

[rustychip1959]

Culpeper and Whig, thank you very much for all the information. I thought I might have a cobbled rifle. As I surf the web I find very scarce info on the 1892 original models. Most everything I find has had the 1896 mods. done or they have been cut down or modified.

[Culpeper]

The question is when are you going to show some range pics? Hmmmmmmm?

Ammo, Old Bean! It is just coming back to the market after a Biden drought and you need five more boxes if you are going to hang with the big dogs. Just kidding.

https://ammoseek.com/ammo/30-40-krag

Are you a reloader of the sacred brass? The brass which is holy in the eyes of Kek through the prophet Pepe and pleasing the holy Krag rifle.

[Dick Hosmer]

Correct rear sights are relatively easy to find, as they were all replaced by the 1896 version, and never used on anything else. You should have no trouble finding an exact patina match to the rest of the rifle. An extractor will be a little tougher. Original rods are basically non-existent; you will likely have to go repro as hundreds have before you. Other than those two things, you look to be good to go. Great find. The stock may have been swapped in overhaul, as 1895 shows up more in the 23/24k range. An 1895 RIFLE stock is a scarce bird in its' own right. Just for grins, is there, by any chance, a filled band-spring cut at the lower band, or just the little pin?