Hello all! Earlier this week I was finally able to add a Model 1898 Krag to my MilSurp collection. Bought from a buddy that had never shot it and it's been sitting in the back of his gun safe for far too long in need of some TLC.

While it's my first Krag, I have been doing my research and armed with Poyers book and what I learned from watching the excellent C&Rsenal video series on Youtube I know a few things about this one. It's sporting the 1902 sight and based on the serial it was made in I believe May of 1899 ( I looked this up last night but I can't recall the exact month now).

Her condition was not bad for a 119 year old rifle but some minor pitting had begun to set in along the stock line.  The stock itself has a lot of dings and rough spots but thankfully no cracks and the handguard is real nice shape.

The action is as smooth as I have always heard although the trigger was in need of some attention as it seemed to be rubbing and sticking a bit. I took the trigger group apart and lubed it up which fixed the sticking. It does seem like its a rather heavy trigger though. What should the approx lbs for the trigger to engage be? 

The stock was very dirty and essentially black with years of no maintenance. I won't sand an original stock but I did give her a nice bath using diluted denatured alcohol which got rid of all the grim and grit. Applied a fresh coat of BOL and finished off with some wax and the grain and true color of the wood came back to life.

The stock does sport the script letter "P" and numeric inspector stampings behind the trigger guard. The left side cartouche is extremely faint though and you have to look hard in order to just make out the outer outline. Sadly these eyes of mine couldn't make out the letters within.

Headspace checked out and I have some 30-40 Krag rounds on their way and can't wait to see what this beauty can do.

Here are some pics, before, during and after my cleaning.