Bingo!

Here's how I was trying to load the cartridges (just like every Springfield .30-06 or 8mm Mauser):

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Sliding them in from the front took some fiddling, but I figured it out.

Here are some more pics of the Krag. It's an 1898; side magazine replaced with a flat plate, which is completely covered by a birds-eye maple stock. Dad (an architect and sculptor) designed the stock -- note how the curves forward of the action match those above the trigger and below the cheek pad (also defined by the hand checkering). He went a little overboard on the engraving, but the project sort of left "serviceable rifle" and became "artistic statement" at some point.  :) 

There are some nice features you can't see -- the end of the stock is offset from the sight line, to get your eye in place quicker, and the toe is offset more than the heel, to follow the natural angle of your shoulder. The right side of the grip has a "ball" protrusion to fit right in the palm of your hand. The barrel and action are glass bedded.

The weakest point is the rear sight. That peep sight is not a particularly good one - it doesn't have "click" adjustments, you just loosen screws, move the aperture, and tighten them back down. Also, due to the way the bolt is removed from these guns requires moving the sight up (and loosing zero). I'm mulling over a better solution... but that's a topic for a future post!

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