Larry,

It would be nice to see pictures of the rest of your Krag so we could enjoy it with you.

You have a nice cartouche there. Many Krags no longer have a cartouche because the stock may have been sanded and had the cartouche removed or there was a field or Ordnance replacement of the original damaged stock which was not marked with a cartouche. When a Krag was first made at Springfield Armory, it was marked with a cartouche for the year made and a $1 royalty price was paid for that rifle to the German govt for the copy of the original Mauser rifle design that the Krag design used. Replacement stocks were not marked because the royalty was already paid on that original rifle when first assembled.

Your Krag may also have had a stock change or replacement by an individual owner for some unknown reason which may account for the cartouche mis-match. This may have been done after it was sold to an individual out of military and govt control.

Regardless, it is a nice cartouche to have.  Since it is obviously not original, some people would search for an 1899 cartouche marked stock and switch it onto your receiver to make it more "correct". This is not unacceptable but finding an unmolested stock with an 1899 cartouche that matches the wear and patina on your receiver and current hand guard (if you have one) to switch out would cost $300-400 at least. The history of your Krag, wearing its current stock, would be lost. Some of these altered Krags have been together for 100 or more because of armory changes made from military use as stated by butlers above.

So, I'd advise just keeping it together as is and shoot it or buy more to add to your Krag collection with this one.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing!