Hi I just saw a listing in a paper for a "30-40 KRAG" for sale missing the sideplate. Before I go look at it are the sideplates the same on the 1896 & 1898 models?

pahoghunter:  The 1896 and 1898 U.S. Krags basically use the same sideplate.  Very early Krags had some minor differences and the plates were sometimes numbered to the action.  Joe Poyer's book describes the minute changes.  Sideplates are retained by one sideplate screw.  These parts are often available for reasonable cost on eBay and gunbroker.com.  S&S Firearms (Glendale, N.Y.) also probably has these parts (in their on-line catalog).  The sideplate also helps retain the ejector pin in its hole in the receiver.

butlersrangers wrote on Oct 3^rd, 2011 at 2:49am:

The 1896 and 1898 U.S. Krags basically use the same sideplate.

That isn't completely correct.  They changed the thickness of the tenon and the wrong plate will be a really tight fit, if you can get it in at all, if you attempt to install a thick tenon plate into a thin tenon receiver.

1896s are thin tenon.

My point is that these parts are not hard to find or very expensive.  Also, it helps to have Joe Poyer's Book.

butlersrangers wrote on Oct 6^th, 2011 at 12:42am:

Also, it helps to have Joe Poyer's Book.

There are two positions on that.  Given a choice between that book and "no book," I'd take the latter choice.  Having done my useful poking myself before I bought that book I gave it a once over and decided it wasn't useful.  Having purchased Mallory's and Brophy's books I found that the extra money they command was well worth it. 

Doesn't mean they're perfect either but they're the better idea.

MadFarmers:  Like yourself, I own Mallory's, Bropy's, and Poyer's books.  I enjoy all three (along with ordnance manuals and KCA Forum contributions).  I find that they complement each other.  IMHO, Poyer's Book supplies lots of useful photographs and parts details.  It helps me more fully enjoy the evolution, construction and functioning of the U.S. Krag.  I don't believe there is any one perfect source of information.  I have been a student of firearms and shooting for 57 years.  I still learn something new every day.  For an Arms Enthusiast without a Krag Library, the Poyer Book has a lot of useful information, is inexpensive, readily available and quite portable.  I would encourage any arms collector to build their library, build their knowledge base, and have a healthy skepticism and curiosity.

butlersrangers wrote on Oct 6^th, 2011 at 2:35am:

MadFarmers:  Like yourself, I own Mallory's, Bropy's, and Poyer's books.  I enjoy all three (along with ordnance manuals and KCA Forum contributions).  I find that they complement each other.  IMHO, Poyer's Book supplies lots of useful photographs and parts details.  It helps me more fully enjoy the evolution, construction and functioning of the U.S. Krag.  I don't believe there is any one perfect source of information.  I have been a student of firearms and shooting for 57 years.  I still learn something new every day.  For an Arms Enthusiast without a Krag Library, the Poyer Book has a lot of useful information, is inexpensive, readily available and quite portable.  I would encourage any arms collector to build their library, build their knowledge base, and have a healthy skepticism and curiosity.

I'll be very honest in my appraisals of the books.  Mallory and Brophy, when they don't know something, state exactly that.  Whereas .... makes it up.  Given a choice between incomplete versus wrong information I think the first bit is ok whereas the latter is unfortunate.

Poyer's '03 book has been panned to death.  Because there are enough people with more complete knowledge of '03s.  His Krag and trapdoor books didn't receive the same level of scrutiny.  Frankly the errors that riddle them aren't the part that I find surprising - it's the fact that repeated editions do not correct that which I find astonishing.  All of which leads me to believe that people, who know better, have purchased them but never bothered to read them.  I'm not talking about the deep errors - I'm talking about the patently obvious.

So, with respect, I'll stick with "no book" instead of Poyer's.

I'm glad to hear you have the other two.  They're both, in their own ways, very good.