gunnut wrote on Apr 17^th, 2012 at 7:05pm:

To Dick Hosmer: I'm curious what your hunch was that didn't pan out.

Since the serial number is SO close to the breakpoint, and sometimes the "6" and "8" have been misread, I wanted to see if the bolt seat actually was of 1896 configuration, which, of course, it is.

I should have realized from your initial comment that, even though you are new to Krags, you were at least aware of the difference, and, more importantly, that it was close to the edge. 5MF and I are very interested in establishing the boundaries, to the extent that it can be done. Overlaps have been reported, but I am quite skeptical, especially in the case of a major profile change on the numbered part itself, where vagaries of assembly cannot blur the issue.

My 37045 has stood as the highest known "1896" (lacking the "Model" prefix) for nearly 35 years now. I never expected that would hold up, back when I started collecting in the early 1970s.