Post by butlersrangers on Aug 27th, 2017 at 9:09pm
'coaspen' - Here is the good news:
1. You have a valuable and good looking model 1896 carbine stock with sling-bar & ring. (Don't mess with it, like sanding or refinishing).
2. You have a correct model 1902 carbine rear-sight. Only about 1,000 of these were made, so your rear-sight is worth at least about $200. (BTW - This sight was never intended to be matched with a model 1896 carbine stock).
The rest of the news is that your Krag is a mix-master of parts and the 18+ inch barrel is shorter than the 22" Krag carbine barrel. The markings show it is an original Krag barrel, probably a 30" rifle barrel, that has been cut-down. Your bolt handle appears to have been bent slightly to the rear.
If it were my Krag, I would clean out the 'plugged' sight hole (looks like lead) and reposition the rear-sight to the standard position. I would get another 1903 Springfield 'banded' front sight and have the barrel muzzle area 'stepped' for the '03 Springfield sight and re-crowned.
This would give you a nice shooter without too much expense.
(BTW - The 1896 carbine stock featured short forearm 'finger grooves' and a 'sight-protecting' barrel-band, that was positioned more rearward than on other Krag models. The '96 carbine stock utilized a peculiar short hand-guard. This carbine hand-guard can only work with model 1896 sights and the 1896 carbine barrel-band).
A couple of photos to show model 1896 stock and hand-guard:
GB_96_carb2_003.jpg (Attachment deleted) GB_96_carb4_003.jpg (Attachment deleted)
1. You have a valuable and good looking model 1896 carbine stock with sling-bar & ring. (Don't mess with it, like sanding or refinishing).
2. You have a correct model 1902 carbine rear-sight. Only about 1,000 of these were made, so your rear-sight is worth at least about $200. (BTW - This sight was never intended to be matched with a model 1896 carbine stock).
The rest of the news is that your Krag is a mix-master of parts and the 18+ inch barrel is shorter than the 22" Krag carbine barrel. The markings show it is an original Krag barrel, probably a 30" rifle barrel, that has been cut-down. Your bolt handle appears to have been bent slightly to the rear.
If it were my Krag, I would clean out the 'plugged' sight hole (looks like lead) and reposition the rear-sight to the standard position. I would get another 1903 Springfield 'banded' front sight and have the barrel muzzle area 'stepped' for the '03 Springfield sight and re-crowned.
This would give you a nice shooter without too much expense.
(BTW - The 1896 carbine stock featured short forearm 'finger grooves' and a 'sight-protecting' barrel-band, that was positioned more rearward than on other Krag models. The '96 carbine stock utilized a peculiar short hand-guard. This carbine hand-guard can only work with model 1896 sights and the 1896 carbine barrel-band).
A couple of photos to show model 1896 stock and hand-guard:
GB_96_carb2_003.jpg (Attachment deleted) GB_96_carb4_003.jpg (Attachment deleted)