Friend forwarded me his question. I told him I'd post it here and hope for the best. Sounds like a bubba smith got ahold of it.

Here it is.

I have an 1898 Krag rifle and it has a major head space issue, it splits the cases near the rim of the case, it even splits new cases on the first firing. Any way I have talked to several gun smiths and only two have showed an interest in working on it. One guy is a certified gun smith but he works out of his home so I really don't now about the quality of his work. I had one gun smith tell me it could be fixed but he won't attempt it because the receiver on the Krag is very soft and he is afraid he may damage it when removing the barrel, the only one who seems like he is capable of doing the job says he can do it for $275.00 but again he told me that he would have to use an aluminum block whatever that is and be careful with the receiver and not to damage it. Are there any Krag experts out there that can give me some advice on this issue, I really like to shoot my Krag but am also thinking about using it as a wall hanger, any advice or options on this issue is appreciated.

'Texas10' - Consider having the CMP at Camp Perry put a new Criterion barrel and re-install the sights on your Krag.

They do this work and it would not cost too much more than the $275 quoted by your local gunsmith for doing ???

It would be interesting to see photos of your damaged cartridge cases.

You might also consider Chuck Moline.  He has my Krag there currently for rebarrel.  CMP stated a 6 to 8 month lead time.
Note the following link:   (You need to Login
Vic

I enjoy working on my own.  My barrel vise is an old pipe vise , the action wrench came from ebay.  I use thick aluminum shims in both vise and wrench.

It sounds to me like you might have got a rifle that's had the chamber hogged out.  Some got rechambered to fire 30-06 blanks.  Some got really hogged out then bubba tried filling the hogged out area with an insert.  An AF Lt Col friend of mine bought one that was done that way. 

You have not said what you intend to do with the rifle, but a new Criterion barrel is what it would get if it were mine.  Surely there must be a competent person in or around Austin to do the installation.  It is not rocket science nor is it watch-making.  Or else make arrangements for CMP to do the job.

plus bluing the barrel.

I read elsewhere that Criterions from CMP are on backorder status now.

If your friend finds a competent local smith that has never worked on Krags. He could have him look at   (You need to Login;  to find ideas on fixtures and clamps to work on a Krag. The one Krag I have worked on was not horribly tight on the barrel, 6 foot long cheater wrenches probably will not be needed. Making a reproduction front sight would be the hardest thing, if required.

madsenshooter wrote on May 10^th, 2017 at 7:12pm:

I read elsewhere that Criterions from CMP are on backorder status now.

I got my Criterion from Dean's Restoration, shipped directly to Chuck in Denver.
Vic

Dean's is one of the approved distributer of Criterion Barrels (the CMP being the other).  I just became FB friends with one of the people from Criterion, and he said they are working to fill a full production run of Krag barrels so the backorder won't last very long.  He said they have no intention of ever stopping producing Krag barrels!

When I swapped barrels on my M1917, I called Criterion directly and ordered one 'in the white', so I could have it blued to match the receiver. 

If it were me, and this is just my opinion, I would locate a replacement front sight and have it mounted to the new barrel, leaving your original barrel intact.