I recently came into possession of my grandfather's Krag 30-40 that he bought in the 50s to hunt with.  It was largely unused for 50 years.

More photos available.

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I left out the part of where I was looking for advice on what is original and what is modified (sporterized)

some full length photos.

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Howdy Thelfter, and welcome to the forum... and to the wonderful world of Krags!

Looks like an 1898 rifle that has been sporterized.  You have an 1896 rear sight, although the leaf has been flipped all the way back, and should be flipped back towards the muzzle.  The stock has been cut down and sanded to make it more manageable for hunting.  Likewise, the barrel appears to have been cut down from the original 30 inch length.  Can't see the front sight post well enough to see if it's the Krag post that's been reattached, or an aftermarket post.  The handguard is missing.  How does the bore look?  Hopefully, it's not full of rust and pitting after sitting for 50 years.  If the bore is ok, then it should be a fun shooter!

Thanks for the feedback.

The bore is in good condition and the rifle shoots wonderfully.   I cleaned and oiled it real well before I took it to the range.   Action is smooth,  seems to be quite accurate.

Sight seems to be brazed on.

Finding ammunition was the real challenge.   Eventually found a couple boxes.

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'thelfter' - Welcome to the KCA Forum. I'm glad you inherited the 'Family Krag'.

Clear detailed pictures of your Krag's front-sight and barrel muzzle would be helpful in determining your Krag's 'origin'.

Serial #127280 is in a 'block' of numbers that were used by both model 1898 rifles and carbines.

A picture of the 'numbered side' of your rear-sight's leaf and the tip of your wood forearm would also be helpful.

Your Stock has been much sanded, but, the length of the 'finger grooves' and the far rear position of the barrel-band, suggest, it could be a type of model 1898 carbine stock. (From the period when the carbine sling-bar & ring were eliminated).

Such a stock would show an area, on the right-side of the tip, where a band-spring use to reside.

Your Krag now has a rifle barrel-band that clamps into place. The "U" on the barrel-band should be on the right side of the Arm.

Your Krag also has a rifle Butt-Swivel, which normally is not found on a carbine.

Your latest picture looks like a carbine barrel. The front-sight base and muzzle crown look correct.

Krag carbine barrels measure exactly 22 inches from the muzzle to the closed bolt-face, when measured with a cleaning-rod.

A carbine stock would have had a flat spring in the area I have marked.

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Good information all,   Sorry the pictures are blurry -- I had to drastically reduce them in order to hit this sites file size limits.

Grabbing photos of the stock and rear sights.

rear sight.

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No Flat Spring on the stock

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The U on the barrel band is on the left side of the rifle.

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Your rear-sight is the Rifle version of the model 1896 sight.

Your barrel-band is on backwards.

Your stock is perplexing, because the 'finger grooves' do not appear to be the length found on Krag rifle stocks.

When you take your Krag apart, please photograph the stock barrel-channel.

I am curious about your barrel's length.

Please measure the length of your stock's 'finger grooves'.

On Krag rifle stocks, the grooves are about 6 and 1/2 inches long.

Barrel is 22" from the tip to the edge of the receiver.
Finger grooves on the stock are 5" long.

I've never removed the stock -- as I didn't want to do any damage.  So no photos of the disassembled stock at this time.

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'thelfter' - I can't tell what your Krag was altered from with just the pictures supplied.

A real carbine barrel would only measure 21 and 1/4 inches at the points you have used (not 22").

Your stock has been thinned and reshaped in some areas. The finger grooves are shorter than those of a Krag rifle stock and the later (model 1899) carbine stock.

IMHO - It would take an experienced Krag person, examining subtle details first hand, to figure if there is part of a model 1898 carbine contained in your 'sporter'.

'butlersrangers'  my appreciation for the information.
This is already way more than I knew before.

It's a family heirloom that just happens to work :)
I will pass it on to my sons and take it out for a spin every once in a while.

The story is that my grandfather purchased it in the 40's/50's to hunt deer with his cousin.   He took it out once -- shot it once and got one deer.    I still have the box of ammunition with 19 rounds left.    Once he got home, the kids cried about Bambi so much he gave it up and it was kept in the closet until 1990.

It's family stories like this that make this so much more fun to hold and shoot.    And that fact that anything 118 years old still works is amazing in it's own right. :D

You have a great family story and your Grandfather's Krag to go with it. (Hey, he batted 1000, as a Deer Hunter)!

My 'Grampa' hunted Deer, Partridge and rabbits, in Northern Michigan, into his 80s.

After his death, I found this license in the cabinet, where he kept his gun cleaning supplies.

I don't know what gun he used in 1916. He only had one gun, for All types of Hunting, in my memory, a 20 gauge Ithaca 'Featherlight'.

But, in the cabinet, I also found a .30 cal. Marble's cleaning rod with his initials stamped on it. I can only wonder what he cleaned with it?

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You have a much better trained eye than me Chuck.  I just assumed that it was a cutdown rifle based on the obvious sanded stock that had no sign of a band spring, as well as no carbine sight.  I knew it was within the carbine range, but I thought the barrel looked a little long, so I leapt to a conclusion.  That's why I'm always glad that there are people here who are wayyyyyyyy more knowledgeable than I!

Incidentally, my grandfather (mother's side) hunted pheasant. partridge, geese, etc.  Not sure if he hunted deer or rodents, but he sure fished a heck of a lot!  I have his gun: a 1949 Ithica Model 37 Featherweight!  I shot a half ton of pheasants and partridges, as well as my first (and only) deer with it.  I no longer hunt though.