I have an opportunity to purchase an 1894 Krag. The rifle does not have a bolt, but looks complete otherwise. Can I use bolts from other models? Where can I find a bolt for this one? I do know of sporterized rifles that I can purchase just for the bolt, if they are interchangeable.

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The bolts are basically interchangeable, though there is a difference in the root of the handle. You want an 1896 bolt, which has a very short flat on the bottom, as opposed to an 1898 which has a longer flat. An original 1892 bolt (with solid guide rib) would work as well - root is like the 1896. I can see the extractor pin notch on the receiver, so your rifle has been through the 1896 modification process, saving you the expense of a very early bolt. Source for parts: Gunbroker, or Ebay.

Thank you for the information. I bought the rifle a few hours ago and just got home. It doesn't look too bad, although somebody put shiny coat on it which has runs. Also, a noticeable stock repair. The bore is in pretty good shape though, although I probably won't shoot it too often.

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Bill:  It looks like the ejector is missing and possibly the magazine follower.  (a basic schematic to help).

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Yes, the ejector is missing. The follower is there. That would be parts "R" and "S" for the ejector. I'd like to strip this shiny finish and just put some coats of BLO on the stock...but I don't want to get myself in over my head trying. Acetone didn't work. I have mineral spirits, denatured alcohol, and turpentine to try out.

"M" is the ejector.  It hinges in the floor of the bolt opening of the receiver, where it lies flat.
  A lobe on the tail of the ejector is acted upon by the Bolt as it is drawn back.  At the end of bolt travel, the ejector rises.
  The tip of the ejector makes contact with the fired cartridge case, which is held against the Bolt face by the extractor.  The fired case flips out of the action when its base contacts the ejector.

Part "S" is a flat spring that powers the follower arm and puts spring pressure on the Magazine gate.

(Here's a more complete schematic from the KCA Photos page).

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Thanks.  I meant to say that S and R are parts for the magazine follower...must have been half asleep when I called them parts for the ejector.

Bill:  You did a very nice job of cleaning up your 'VFW Krag' recently, so you have some experience.  You might temporarily borrow the bolt and ejector from your VFW gun and put them in your Model-1896 (1892 updated) Krag and take it out for a Range Session.  You may find it to be a very fine shooter.

If your new, 1894 marked, Krag were mine, I would strip off the shiny stock re-finish using little squares of green 'Scotchbrite' pad saturated with Formby's 'Stripper/refinisher'.  Use light pressure and discard the 2"X2" squares as they load up with gunk.

  Once you are down to original wood, evaluate the 'wood repair' and wood color.  You may want to improve the repair.  You may want to darken the stripped wood with stain.  When you are ready, apply multiple coats of heated 50/50 mix of Linseed oil & turpentine.  You can finish with carnauba based 'Trewax', Howard's 'Feed & Wax', or Pledge.

You got your 'VFW gun' looking quite nice, so that gives you a target to aim for with 'stock appearance'.  The missing parts you can acquire at gun shows, ebay, Gunbroker, or from parts sellers listed in KCA 'Classifieds'.  Take your time, don't pay too much, and correctness is optional and up to you, since later parts will work (and were so designed to function in earlier Krag models).

Thanks.  I thought you helped me on the VFW rifle.  I have found ejectors for sale, and possibly a complete 189 bolt. I'm going to try to find a bolt at a decent price. Do I have to use an ejector for a specific model, or are they interchangeable? Also, this one has a really nice bore on it...it's not pitted like the VFW rifle, so I'm sure it should be a nice shooter. I almost like the coating on the rifle...if it were done better, it might no look too bad. I'd prefer to not stain it, but I'm sure a dark stain would conceal the repair job a little better.

Bill - FWIW:  I have prejudices.  I don't like glossy finishes on gun stocks.  I don't like light walnut stocks on U.S. Military Arms.  (Except for the Italian walnut stocks that were used on some 1899-1901 vintage Krags).  To me a Black walnut stock, that is light in color, screams 're-finished'!
  I believe, with the exception of the first 300 Krags, the ejector remained unchanged.  Typically, unless the bolt is worked vigorously, the Krag ejector is pretty lackadaisical.
  There seem to be three styles of ejector pins.  Your's probably has a simple notch, or possibly is the later style, with a groove all the way around it.

BTW - Ejectors are not too rare and seem to sell for $15 to $25, with pin.  A nice complete bolt can be got for under $100.  Always give careful scrutiny to the locking lug.  (Look for cracks).

Have fun with your 'new' Krag.

Thank you again for the information.  I like the original look as well. I have to say though, I have refinished a few stocks. I figured the previous owner already took away it's chance of being "original", so I'm not going to be able to reverse that. I probably will take the shiny stuff off. I don't know about dying the stock though. I don't want to make matters  worse if it doesn't turn out well. We'll see. I don't think I could replicate the original dark walnut color, and I'd hate to have uneven color, or a stock with a bad dye job.

Hi Bill,

If the stock is not dark to your liking after you get rid of the shiny stuff, I would recommend Fiebings dark brown Leather dye. (can be sourced at Tandy Leather craft) Get the alcohol based dye, not the water base.  This dye goes on and wipes off easily and I think provides excellent results. It is virtually a dead ringer for the color of old Springfield stocks that were dyed with logwood stain and has the reddish tint that all old riles made by Springfield exhibit.  I just stained a 1889 Danish Krag stock (made in 1910) with this dye that had been stripped, sanded and refinished with probably tru oil by a prior owner.  Now it looks like a 104 year old rifle stock should look, not like a leg on a coffee table. Before and after pics. I have not put any BLO on the stock yet.

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Thanks for the info. I do have some of the dye, but it's medium brown. I tried a few things on the finish, and it must be a urethane finish...I think.  I tried denatured alcohol and acetone; neither of which removed any finish.

I just received the extractor and a hand guard band with a sling swivel. Also won a bolt on auction. A few problems so far. One. I have no ideas how to remove the pin for the extractor (my rifle has the pin installed with no extractor).  Also, the screw for the hand guard band does not fit through the sling swivel I just bought. And, the new hand guard band doesn't quite match the metal on the rifle (this new band is brownish and my rile is mainly just worn bluing). I guess the sling swivel saren't interchangeable.

Bill:  When you remove the side-plate from the left side of the Krag action, the tip of the ejector pin should be visible (projecting just below the hole for the side-plate screw) .  There is a notch or groove on the tip of this pin to assist pulling it out of its hole.  It usually comes out pretty easy and a small screwdriver can be used to 'lever' it out.

All U.S. Krag sling swivels are interchangeable.  If a correct screw will not fit through the hole on a swivel, it is not a U.S. Krag swivel.

  I am a bit confused by your 'swivel/band problem'.  I thought your "Model 1894" came with its front-band (bayonet/nosecap/stacking swivel) and rear-band (sling swivel).  Why are you replacing a band?

p.s.  It is not unusual for Krag rear barrel bands to have a 'brownish' cast.  The different component parts of the U.S. Krag received distinctive specified finishes.  A U.S. Krag is not a uniform 'blued' color on its metal.  The subtle coloring differences of the Krag's metal parts are something you study, get use to, and recognize for authenticity.

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Some pictures showing Krag barrel-bands and components.

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I bought the band to get the swivel. Figured I could just resell the band. Also, the magazine cover has some type of repro screw. Its not original. Not sure why the screw on my band won'tfit through the swivel. Its just a little too tight.

Bill:  Some Krag swivel screws were 'mushroomed' on the tip, after assembly, so that if they loosened up they would not fully unthread and be lost. - IMHO

(If it were mine, I would dress the threads at the tip of the screw with emery cloth or a small file.  Another option is to slightly enlarge the hole on the swivel.  These would be invisible adjustments).

Side-plate screws show up on ebay, often with a side plate, for around $15.  I believe S&S Firearms sells a reproduction screw for $5.

Not sure if the photo shows the difference very well, but I got most of the finish off of the hand guard, and the wood seems to still have the dark brown color to it (although it looks well sanded). I did remember to remove the rear sight so that I could slide the hand guard down the barrel. I'll have to clean some more of the flakes off, and can start on the stock.  Not looking forward to the long nights of scraping off old finish.  Glad that I disassembled. The hand guard retainers are rusting and started to rust the barrel.

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Bill:  Is that a bit of No.5 Mk1 Lee-Enfield 'Jungle Carbine' on the edge of your picture?

Yes it is.  I bought it as a project rifle last summer and finally got to take it out shooting today.

Got the bolt today. I'm guessing it is the 1896 style due to the flat part being shorter than the 1898 style. It looks to be in very good condition. I thought the seller tried to re-blue it, but I do see some light surface rust, so it might have a lot of the original bluing on it. I threw in a better photo of my No5 too. I bought it for $250 in June or July. It was missing a top hand guard, magazine, and sling swivel. Also had a lot of rust around the magazine area, but nothing that would make it dangerous to shoot. It took a while to clean it up, and to get the top hand guard (which doesn't fit correctly). Nice little rifle, but I'm not sure about the accuracy.  I have four more Enfields (2 No4's, a 1917 BSA No1MKIII* and a No1MKIII* Ishapore). Have a Long Branch on the way which I'm probably going to have to sell. I'm mainly into the old Russian and Finn rifles. Love the Springfields too--they're just a little more pricey. So, I'm lucky that I picked up the two I have at such good prices.

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Bill:  That looks like a nice model 1896 bolt.  Were you able to remove the ejector pin and install the ejector?

(p.s.  You better keep your Krags and Lee-Enfields apart, or, you could end up with some unwanted Model 1899 Remington-Lee rifles)!

Yes, I got the ejector in. Now, just waiting on the side plate w/screw. I'll try to sell the repro screw and the side plate on Ebay. Same with the hand guard band--after I figure out how I want to proceed with the swivel.  Including the price of the rifle, I'll probably have a little over $370 in this if I'm able to sell the spare parts at cost.  I don't think that I'll need to dye the stock. Seems like the coating on it is making it look lighter.

There are a few older Enfields that I'd love to own. I'd like to get some from the mid 1800's through early 1900's...maybe I'll get lucky on a few of those...not likely, but you never know. I have a fantasy that I'll run into an unknowing person who wants to dump some old guns they found lying around.

Here's some Martini-Henry rifles 'lying around' that got 'dumped'!

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Yeah, I could use a few of those

Finally removing the shiny coating from this stock. I may try to darken it a little, I'm not sure. I'll try to get some pics up when I'm done...this might take a while as I have to try to remove the varnish that is in the grain.

Edited: I got most of the varnish and am trying to get the stock to look somewhat "normal" again.  Took some photos outside and was able to see some areas that need to be blended a little better.  The natural light exposed the flaws that I missed while working inside.

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More photos.  The rifle is almost finished.

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