Krag Collectors Association Forum

I got a 1898 Krag recently, serial number 330195, which has a stock cartouche showing 1901 (hard to make out the initials, perhaps JSA? -- I'm certain someone here will immediately identify them). The bore looks clean with good rifling. The stock was a gummy mess and I had to remove some rust but -- overall, it appears to be in good shape. The sling is a repro. Thoughts on this (see attached pictures)? Now to the issue I'm having....

It appears to have the model 1896 sights and they appear to be original to my eye with the correct wood hand guard installed. I went out and shot it several times with Winchester 180 grain SP bullets. The poi vs the poa at 30 yards was 6 inches high. At 50 yards I was off the target. I was stable and shooting from a rest and the azimuth was good but the elevation was bad. I'm guessing I'd have to adjust 2 feet low at 100 yards. How do I adjust this? Is it a weight of the bullet issue (not shooting 220 grain). Is it a someone Bubba'd the front sight and hacked it up (I show it roughly 9/16" above the top of the barrel). Is it the rear sight? Can I some how lower the rear sight to correct the elevation (I have the sight pushed all the way back and at furthest rear position). It would appear the locking nut on the slide has been bent slightly perhaps that is inducing a slight error, but since the sight being utilized is all the way forward and hitting the base of the metal ramp below, I wouldn't think so. Sooo -- that's a lot for an initial post. Let me know what you all think.

V/r,
William

Some more images

last batch.

A mystery, so far. Your front sight pic won't come up for me, so I cannot tell anything from that, but, that M1896 rear sight would normally have the lower style blade, so, there may be some help (simply by installing a M1898 blade) there, but you shouldn't have to do that.

Slightly bent barrel?

Of course, the modern 180gr. load WILL shoot differently than the lumbering low-pressure 220gr. original, but I wouldn't expect the huge discrepancy you seem to be getting. Need some input from shooters...

I doubt the bent barrel theory. Could be, but the poi is somewhat stable -- just high. My initial thought was someone filed the front blade, but it doesn't look like it. And the screws attaching the rear sight seem to be proud -- so maybe it simply isn't screwed in fully. I was kind of hesitant on messing with it until I got some input from others that know this weapon. I'll see if I can't repost the front sight pic and the stock side cartouche.
I am new to the Krag thing so I'm out of my depth totally -- any advice or observations are appreciated.

side cartouche and front sight:

I think you need a higher front sight blade. Perhaps you could make one from a penny. Or buy one from S&S.

Pilotallen,

Welcome to KCA! You have joined the club and now are an official owner of the famous Krag rifle. Your Krag rifle SN 330195 was made at Springfield Armory around June 1901. Your cartouche is indeed JSA for Joseph Sumner Adams who inspected the Krag before it was put into service.

Your Model 1896 rear sight is an OK sight for your rifle. It doesn't have windage correction like later Krag sights have but it can be used fine overall. The front sight blade for the rear Model 1896 sight should be 0.286 inches tall. Your 30 inch barrel with the Model 1896 rear sight and a 0.286 inch front sight blade should shoot close to poa for you. The sight was certainly designed for, and calibrated for, a 220 grain round nose bullet with 40 grains of powder. Any deviation from design standards will cause poor shooting.

Maybe you could measure the front sight blade and see if it is close to what I have stated. The rear sight unscrews and lifts out of its bed without trouble if you want to check seating. Don't remove the hand guard. Sometimes barrel harmonics are off if trigger guard or barrel band screws are not correctly seated and torqued. Check those to make sure they are snug and not too tight.

Hope this helps as a start. Good luck. Your pictures are good but the front sight picture is needed. Welcome again!

"Pilotallen' - Welcome to the KCA Forum. You have a rather nice looking and interesting Krag rifle!
Your U.S. Model 1898 rifle, serial number 330195, was assembled around June, 1901.
The acceptance 'cartouche' is [J.S.A. - 1901]; the initials of Joseph Sumner Adams, Asst. Foreman - Springfield Armory assembly room.

Your rifle appears to be from an interesting period, when they abandoned the model 1898 rear-sight and were having difficulty getting the new model 1901 rear-sight, produced in adequate numbers.
As a stop-gap, they went back to using the model 1896 rear-sight on some model 1898 rifles.

Although a bit archaic because the 1896 sight lacks windage-adjustment, it appears the Armory never got around to updating the sight and hand-guard on rifle #330195.
(It was the intent of the Ordnance Department, to eventually fit all U.S. Krags for service with a model 1901 or model 1902 sight. Your rifle appears to have avoided the process)!

Pilotallen - Greetings and welcome to the KCA Forum!

You have a beautiful Krag rifle that IMHO appears to be as-issued.

As for a logical sequence of events, I agree with Waterman in that a taller front blade should bring the POI down. However, I also agree with Whig that maybe you should first shoot 220 grain bullets to find out if that corrects the problem before dinking with anything.

Additionally, have you tried shooting targets at longer ranges such as 100 or more yards using your 180 grain SP bullets?

If you have access to a large steel plate you can paint the plate white and place the target at 100 (or greater) yards. Have someone spot for you as you shoot taking note of where your 180 grain bullets impact.