A local shop has an 1892 Krag long rifle for sale that appears very nice.  Could someone give me a briefing of what to look for in an original as opposed to those updated? 

'kolhoznik' - Welcome to the KCA Forum!

Springfield Armory began manufacturing the U.S. model 1892 rifle in 1894. Early U.S. Krags will be marked "1894 Springfield Armory" (or 1895) and have a serial number below 26,117.

An early unaltered Krag will not have the small 'notch' on the right rear receiver-wall or the bolt 'hold-open' pin on the long extractor.

Model 1892 Krags had a thin solid 'flat' Butt-plate with no trap.

The stock wrist was long and slender. The stock was grooved for a cleaning-rod. The front barrel-band/bayonet-lug is distinctive and accommodates the cleaning rod.

If you go down this page, approximately 13 'threads', you will find a post by 'boomer', titled: "This old Krag is new to me". There are 6 pages of photographs and relevant discussion of 'boomers' model 1892 Krag. This will show you much. Study it.

If your local shop will allow you to take close-up photos, post them here (also the serial number), and useful feedback will result.

Thank you for the feedback.  I will try to get the pictures.  I remember the rifle is in the 5000-6000 serial number range.

Study 'boomers' photos.

1892 bolt, bolt/collar and safety, extractor, hand-guard, butt-plate, stock and front barrel-band, are distinctly different from model 1896 and 1898 rifles.

A lot of the early rifles were updated in late 1890's and early 1900's to make them more like the model 1896 rifle. These will often have later bolt bodies (1896 or 1898) and a 'hold-open' pin on the extractor. The receivers were annealed and machined for the 'hold-open' notch.

The stocks were altered to take a later style butt-plate with 'trap' and three-section cleaning rod & oil bottle storage. The old style one-piece cleaning rod was dispensed with and the stock's cleaning-rod channel was filled.