Thanks for the responses! No insult was intended for the term purist. A purist has different goals than mine which is to put together a gun (or in this case save it) for shooting purposes. I caught flak in the past for restoring a M-1903A4 from being a deer rifle to turning it into a shooter as opposed to a "collector". As for the quesiton on why I started with the action. The action was in great shape and really cheap. I would hate to see it be made into a customized deer rifle. I do have a new repro barrel from the CMP. Thanks for the answer concerning the stock since I was wondering if they were different or not. If anyone knows who makes a repro 1899 stock I would appreciate it since original stocks (at least in my neck of the woods) are impossible to find in a condition I would even consider durable enough on the range. I will check out the company listed for the back sight and keep my eye out on the forum for the part. I had not considered glass bedding but it is an excellent idea that would not detract from how the Krag looked.