Bill G wrote on Jul 28^th, 2012 at 12:32am:

(Maybe someone dropped an 1898 cut-down rifle action into the stock).

To me this is what opens a can of worms. Depending on the serial number you could be "faking" (I believe unintentionally) a very rare and valuable collectors piece, that somewhere down the line could sell for may times its actual value!! Unless it is a verified carbine leave it as is and shoot it for fun