Hello everyone!

I am new to Krags, and had some questions.   I recently came across a bare receiver that I would like to build up into a carbine, using a mixture of parts (some of which are available from the CMP).   I am planning on re-bluing all the parts. The receiver has some pitting around the receiver ring.  Is there any way to remove these pits?  If i try to polish them out, will I ruin any surface/case hardening?  Can I fill the in with some low-melting solder, and re-blue over?  Thanks for your help!!

Everything depends on how deep the pits are.  I wouldn't worry about case hardening, but if you have to file/grind/polish deep enough you could weaken that very critical area of the rifle.

I know of no filler/solder/epoxy, etc... that bluing will take to.

A couple of things to consider:  A trick I saw once on an 03 with pits--gunsmith used a center punch and hammer to dimple the pitted receiver ring.  He put small dimples all over the ring and this effectively hid the pits and gave the rifle a very unique (and quite attractive) appearance once it was blued.  Another thought is--bluing was not the original finish on Krags, the receivers were a dull grey color caused by oil hardening.  You could always fill the pits with epoxy and paint the receiver.  Yes, I said paint. Paint on a rifle may sound like Bubba, but that is the finish that is applied on some rifles from the factory now.