butlersrangers wrote on Oct 24^th, 2017 at 12:19am:

"DK" - You did a fine job on the family heirloom. It looks far nicer than 99 & 44/100 % of the Krags converted for 'Hunting' that one sees on GunBroker. I like the matt blue finish on the metal and the re-shaping and satin finish of the gun stock. It continues to add to your family's hunting saga!

Thank you for the compliments

It is without a doubt one of the best "carrying" woods rifles I've ever handled. The slender profile makes the 7 1/4# weight seem like far less and one handed carry is very comfortable.

What sets this one apart I think, is the addition of the threaded lug under the barrel that allows a fore-end screw making the splinter fore-end practical.

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As for the matte blue? Thus is what it looked like several days ago.

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The finish on the wood is Birchwood Casey water based stain. A mixture of "Walnut" & "Rusty Walnut" topped with several coats of full strength Minwax Antique Oil Finish wet sanded with turpentine & 320 grit to fill the grain. After that dries it is wiped across the pores and then allowed to harden. That is followed by several hand rubbed coats of 1 part Boiled Linseed oil and 2 parts Minwax Antique Oil Finish, hand rubbed vigorously, then wiped off after about 30  minutes. The final coat is rubbed with 0000 steel wool and then a thin coat of boiled linseed oil rubbed on & wiped off immediately.