Just thought I'd post up my 1898 carbine. Serial number 128176. Somehow or the other, it ended up here in the UK where I eventually laid my hands on it.

Photos of it have been examined by some American Krag experts and their opinion is that it's probably genuine, albeit with the arsenal upgrades to stock and rear sights (and a Marble front blade).

The stock has a repair to it and there's no cleaning kit included (but it is 120 years old so I can forgive it that)

Hope you like it. Personally, she's my little pride and joy.

---

JDR
Nice looking carbine!  What a find and in the UK no less.  Good for you.  You've definitely come to the right Krag forum.  These guys are a tremendous wealth of knowledge and great resource.  A couple more pics will be of help.  The muzzle crown and sight area.  Closeup of the rear sight (looking for the "C").  Barrel length from the bolt face to muzzle.  You can use a cleaning rod down the barrel on a closed bolt, then mark and measure.
Vic

Ah, you beat me to it. I was in the middle of adding more photos and got stuck with a resizing issue and then interrupted for a few hours.

Let's see. The barrel length is exactly 22" and I seem to recall the front sight is the right distance from the muzzle end and dovetailed and brazed in place.

Hope I can post more images now, although it may have to be one at a time.

---

And a couple more:

---

I'm just about to complete a video about the carbine. The YouTube channel is JDR GUNS.

It's hard to know what to keep in and what to leave out of such a bottomless subject as the Krags, but this one focuses in purely on the one example I have in front of me.

Nice find! There was a US arsenal in California that began with a B, I wonder if that is their mark next to "MODEL". Not sure if I have ever seen that mark before.

FredC wrote on Nov 30^th, 2018 at 3:18pm:

Nice find! There was a US arsenal in California that began with a B, I wonder if that is their mark next to "MODEL". Not sure if I have ever seen that mark before.

Thank you. I was unbelievably lucky to get it as I had no idea how rare they were when I bought it.

I think the "BNP" is a Birmingham Proof House mark, from when it was imported. That's my best guess. Possibly brought over here in the latter half of the 20th Century?

JDR wrote on Nov 30^th, 2018 at 3:27pm:

FredC wrote on Nov 30th, 2018 at 3:18pm: Nice find! There was a US arsenal in California that began with a B, I wonder if that is their mark next to "MODEL". Not sure if I have ever seen that mark before. Thank you. I was unbelievably lucky to get it as I had no idea how rare they were when I bought it. I think the "BNP" is a Birmingham Proof House mark, from when it was imported. That's my best guess. Possibly brought over here in the latter half of the 20th Century?

Very possible on the Birmingham proof mark, or it might be on every Krag made, I have been known to miss the obvious.

The U.S. arsenal was at Benicia, just NE of San Francisco. They did not apply such marks to the receiver, so they must be a British import proof. Front sight blade is not original but base looks good.  Congratulations on a nice find.

Yeah BNP with a crown is Birmingham. I've got that on a few of my other guns.

One question I do have is, how does the safety catch act on the mechanism? Does it disconnect, block, disable or what?

I believe it stands for Birmingham Nitro Proof.  The BNP proof mark is required by British law before a rifle is released to the civilian market.

Nice carbine JDR!

No hit in the "Serial Numbers of Known U.S. Krags" located in the back of Mallory's book "the Krag Rifle Story".

Your serial number places it between two 1898 rifles, however, your carbine's serial number puts it in the range of serial numbers when 1898 carbines were manufactured!

It's generally accepted that 5000 1898 carbines were produced between serial numbers 113,000 to 139,000 (circa July-September1898) according to Joe Poyer's book "The American Krag Rifle and Carbine".

Your particular carbine appears to be manufactured in September 1898.

Cheers

Sept 1898 - that's really interesting to know - thank you!

Some very useful pieces of info already coming together on here. So glad to have put it up.

And thank you everyone for the kind words. I initially wanted a Krag as I have a personal connection with Norway (worked as a translator from Scandinavian langs to English for many years). Then my liking for carbines took over and I decided I'd like one of those. I bought this gun about 4 years ago, but had no idea what I was holding until I got it and started checking it out.

"JDR" - Welcome to the KCA Forum.

I see nothing that questions the 'validity' of your U. S. model 1898 .30 cal. magazine carbine. Your stock and hand-guard were an update to make your carbine identical to the model 1899 carbine.

There may be a 'circled script P' on the stock behind the trigger-guard. This indicates 'function and proof' at the armory. (There is probably no 'cartouche' on the left side of the stock wrist area).

Your wood was probably put on when your rear-sight was changed to a model 1901 'Buffington' style sight. Originally, your carbine would have had a model 1896 carbine sight.

(Initially, model 1899 carbines used the 'rifle style' hand-guard, like yours. Later, the hand-guard was changed to a style with a 'hump' to protect the rear-sight).

I have never seen a Krag before with a Birmingham Nitro Proof. I imagine your Krag may have been imported to G.B. after WW2 ... or maybe, it was an American Donation (of sporting arms and optics) during the desperate days post-Dunkirk, when Britain was fighting the Axis alone! (Maybe you're suppose to send it back  ;D).

The Marble's front sight blade was a popular addition to Krag rifles and carbines in the U. S. to better adapt them for Hunting. The Marble's company was located in Gladstone, Michigan, (Northern Peninsula of my State). They were famous for Knives, Axes, gun-sights, and other hunting gear.

Yes, I read somewhere that the proof mark was used post 1959, but don't quote me on that. One of the things I say in the forthcoming video is that I'd love to know where it's been and whether it saw action.

YouTube vid of the carbine as promised:

  (You need to Login

EXCELLENT!!!!!! Bloody good show!!!!!!

There was also the Boxer Rebellion in 1900 fought in China by an 8-Nation Delegation (Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America). The UK had the Lee-Speed (I believe) and the U.S had the Krag Jorgensen. I had a Great Grandfather that was in this delegation (14th Infantry Regiment). There was much competition and showing off among the nations. Russia appeared to be the biggest bully and France was a bit snobbish. The Yanks were just a bit cocky.  ;D

Below is a photo of soldiers from the delegation. Russia is not represented in this photo. Note that the UK had overall command. In this photo there was some competition going on. The US sent one of the tallest soldiers it had. The UK soldier is stretching his neck the best he can. In order: UK, US, Australia (UK), India (UK), Germany, France, Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Japan.

  (You need to Login

Here is another photo. UK on the left in the back row. US on the right in the front row.

  (You need to Login

Knute1 wrote on Dec 2^nd, 2018 at 12:23pm:

EXCELLENT!!!!!! Bloody good show!!!!!!

Oh thank you very much. Most kind of you to say that. I'd hoped it might be pleasing to the guys on here.

Great photos as well! Especially that Brit soldier standing with the proverbial rod up his... back. I wouldn't have spotted that unless you'd pointed it out.

:)

Well done video, I love the British terminology. (My, how it differs from U.S. nomenclature). How fun!

It should be noted that the U.S. Marines serving during the 'Boxer Rebellion' were armed with the "6 millimetre" Winchester-Lee straight-pull.

I need to add that your portion of the video showing taking down of the bolt was most informative for me. I feel confident to do this with my two Krags and know that I will be able to get it back together again.

butlersrangers wrote on Dec 2^nd, 2018 at 1:07pm:

Well done video, I love the British terminology. (My, how it differs from U.S. nomenclature). How fun!

Oh that's interesting. I'm an editor (of texts, theses and so on) as well as a firearms dealer, so linguistic things always intrigue me. What was different?

This tread has been/is a great topic!  The video was very well done.  It's quite obvious that you have done those before. 
The pics are always interesting in this forum.
Vic

JDR- I'd like to add my thanks to you also on a nice video that entertains as well as educates. I was viewer number 20. I hope many more Krag lovers as well as want-to-be Krag lovers will watch it soon.

Keep the blasting going with your 1898 Krag carbine and let us know when you put another video together.

Thanks!

Very nice find!  I saw the video on FB... and it was a very nice and well done video!  Original sight blades can be found if you want to replace the Marbles. 

Well Done JDR!!!

The video was wonderfully made and very informative.

JDR - I started my collecting as a youth and fixed on British Military Arms because they were fascinating, once inexpensive, and came to Michigan, via Ontario, Canada (collectors).

My 1st car was a Morris Minor!

I'm kind of bi-lingual. I'll replay the video, soon, and note the nomenclature differences.   :D

Thanks again, yes I will keep you all posted when another video goes up. Are you interested in all the stuff on the channel, or just Krag-related items?

JDR GUNS LTD is my company over here. We're based in the rural part of a largeish (by UK standards) county called Norfolk. It's a good shooting county because, even with our very strict gun laws, the police are as helpful as you could wish for. I specialise in long revolvers and pistols (the only kind of handguns we can have nowadays), ML revolvers, carbines and classic stuff. I'd dearly love to get my hands on some more Krags. We've got an open import licence so it's not beyond the bounds, just a bit expensive to ship them. Any Krag dealers over there with an FFL, PM me and I'll see if we can't get something started.

Good to make your acquaintance, everyone. Thank you for the kind words.

butlersrangers wrote on Dec 2^nd, 2018 at 4:55pm:

My 1st car was a Morris Minor!

Mine too! Only I never got my licence (sorry - license :-D) before I ended up selling it. It was dark green.

I've shared the video over on the CMP forum.  There will be many enthusiast that appreciate it as much as us.
Vic

Paul Steinmayer - Please continue to aim steady holding a correct sight picture, squeeze the trigger, follow through and call your shots.

Don't be picking up bad habits like catching fired cartridge cases in the air, as they eject!

It breaks the "cheek weld", distracts, and slows a guy down.

We all know how precious our 30-40 Krag Brass is, but, there is time to pick it up, after the relay.

Focus ... Prioritize ... No showman stunts ... !

There are no style points given at Camp Perry for fancy Brass retrieval!

On second thought, you would look stylish in a "Norfolk Shooting Jacket".

Kerz wrote on Dec 2^nd, 2018 at 10:09pm:

I've shared the video over on the CMP forum.  There will be many enthusiast that appreciate it as much as us. Vic

Thanks for that Vic ;-)

Jon

butlersrangers wrote on Dec 3^rd, 2018 at 2:12am:

Paul Steinmayer - ... you would look stylish in a "Norfolk Shooting Jacket".

The guy at the start was my pal, Lee. I'm at the end of the video.

Cost of brass - yeah it's 2-3 times what you pay for it in the States, but alas, no amount of cheek weld could make up for the dismal results we were getting from that old barrel.

butlersrangers wrote on Dec 3^rd, 2018 at 2:12am:

Paul Steinmayer - Please continue to aim steady holding a correct sight picture, squeeze the trigger, follow through and call your shots.

Huh???  Did I miss something Chuck?

Yes Paul, the first shooter in JDR's video, catching his ejected cases in the air with his right. I didn't want you picking up bad habits.

Oh...  LOL
:D