I recently picked up this Krag sporter at an estate auction.  I've put 40 rounds through it since I have it and it seems to be a good shooter.

The barrel has been fitted with a Lyman front sight and has a Pacific peep sight fitted into the magazine cutoff.  The hand guard has a crack, with poor repair, that runs from the rear to the cutout for the sight.  I am thinking about pulling the rear sight and hand guard, and giving it a new blank hand guard.

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It's a sporter. Why bother with a handguard at all?

Perhaps a supplier of replacement handguards would make up a blank one, no hole for the sight.

'boomer' - Welcome to the KCA Forum! That is a nice 'cut-down' model 1898 U.S. Krag to enjoy as a Range and Hunting rifle.

BTW - #113780 would have been built at Springfield Armory around July, 1898.

Replacement reproduction hand-guards can be purchased from East Taylor LLC for around $75.00. They are advertised in the KCA Classifieds and offer one with no sight cut.

I agree with 'Parashooter', though. - Why spend the money? (Use it for ammo and reloading supplies)!

You can simply remove your model 1902 rear-sight & screws and hand-guard. This will give you a lighter and cleaner looking sporting rifle.

Just make sure you keep and safely store the original parts you put aside.

p.s. You might enjoy recent KCA posts I made (above) in 'Chit-Chat' concerning The Pacific Gunsight Company - "Neat Time Capsule".

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Why a handguard on a sporter? Because on that bitter cold morning in the deep woods stalking that trophy buck you don't want your fingers to freeze to the barrel!!!!!!!

Ned - For cold weather hunting, you can always wear Mittens!

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You got to have standards.  Krags have handguards.  The barrel/receiver interface should be covered

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oops wrong picture

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butlersrangers wrote on Jul 9^th, 2018 at 10:50pm:

....   You might enjoy recent KCA posts I made (above) in 'Chit-Chat' concerning The Pacific Gunsight Company - "Neat Time Capsule".

Fascinating stuff.  This rifle was the first I had come across 'Pacific'.  I did some quick research but didn't learn anything approaching this level of detail.  Thanks for sharing.

I did the handguard fashion show yesterday.  The handguard wins, order placed.

When you go to remove the original hand guard take off the rear sight first.  Next slide your cracked handguard down the barrel to the front sight.  Then very carefully remove hand guard so it does not become a two piece hand guard.

Don't ask me how I know.  I will start to cry and rant like a lunatic. :(

Wrap the hand guard in bubble wrap enough to fill an oatmeal box and place in same.

A good way to store Krag hand-guards is by twisting a Quarter and a Nickel inside the springs.

A Quarter and a Penny also works, if you don't have 30 Cents.

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I have no cents. Can I roll up some dollar bills? ::)

The new 'blank' handguard replacement came in today.  I haven't had a chance to fit test fit it yet, but I'm sure it's fine.

As to finish, I assume linseed oil is the thing to use.  In addition to the outside, should the inside and end grains be given a good dose?

It is OK to use a wood stain to match the new hand-guard's color to your old stock, before applying linseed oil. Otherwise, it is unlikely the wood components will look good together.

Springfield Armory stained stocks and hand-guards with a "Log Wood" stain mixture well into the 1920's. The practice was discontinued as an economy move. The stain gave the Springfield American black walnut stocks their nice reddish-brown color.

butlersrangers wrote on Aug 23^rd, 2018 at 1:35am:

It is OK to use a wood stain to match the new hand-guard's color to your old stock, before applying linseed oil. Otherwise, it is unlikely the wood components will look good together. Springfield Armory stained stocks and hand-guards with a "Log Wood" stain mixture well into the 1920's. The practice was discontinued as an economy move. The stain gave the Springfield American black walnut stocks their nice reddish-brown color.

Thanks for that info.  I wasn't aware that Springfield had used stain.

I've had some house renovations going on, which my other half insists is more important than the hand-guard, so I couldn't get to it as soon as I wanted.  I finally got to it today, and managed to get a fairly close match on the finish - much closer than the hand-guard that came off.

[Edit/Add] I thought about trying log-wood just to be 'authentic' but decided to take the easy way out.  A few of the stains that I wanted to try were out of stock/no longer available.  I wound up using 'Military Stock Stain' (with a hint of red) from Chestnut Ridge Supply. I will continue feeding it Flaxseed oil until it stops taking it.

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Handy rifle - Looking nice!

nice riffle ... I think it would be fun to shoot with that pacific sight ... also you do fantastic photos !!!

It is fun to shoot - even my wife likes shooting this one.

Whenever possible, I try to post decent photo's --- it's much easier for me than coming up with a thousand words.