Good morning to all,

Well, I done did it!! I got not just one, but TWO 1898's in one deal! One is a Bubba'd "sporterized" one, the other looks like it has a carbine length stock on a 30" bbl model.

A little about me: Navy veteran, currently a Police Officer and Paramedic out here in the Government controlled paradise that is the Democratic People's Republic of California(  :P ). Been reloading precision rifle stuff for many moons, so my Grafs brass is going to get a workout when it arrives. Now I just need to choose a bullet for one of my assortment of gunpowders which include Alliant Reloder 16, 17, and 23 as well as Hodgdon 4350, Retumbo as well as some surplus WC857 for my 7mm RemMag stuff.

Let the fun begin!!

Attached is a pic of the 30" barrel version, all identifying marks were Polished off when it was re-blued at some point in its life. It's got a 1901 rear sight.  That peep hole is small!!

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That stock used to look like this a few days and some elbow grease ago..... When I accidentally made a clean spot with some lab grade 200 Proof ethanol.

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Well, officer 1911, welcome to the KCA! You are among a group of avid Krag lovers and we can help answer questions and get you on track to enjoying the hobby of collecting and shooting Krags to your heart's delight!

You will find a wealth of information in the forums by looking back in each category and finding what you need about collecting and shooting and reloading. We can help answer questions you have along the way.

It would help to have some more detailed and close up pictures of different areas of your Krag rifle.

It does indeed have a cut down stock that appears to have been cut down from a rifle- not a carbine stock. But, the two pictures aren't enough to be more specific. That sure is some strong 200 proof alcohol! Just think of what is would do to yer innards!

But, the finish looks to have been exposed to some high heat or chemical that caused it to blister. You probably are best to remove all of the finish and start from scratch to refinish it yourself. You are not damaging anything because it is not an original condition stock and has no collector's value. We would need to see more pictures of the rifle to tell you more about it. It looks to have an unissued front sight but I can't see enough. If there are any markings on the stock on the left side below the receiver, get a picture and show us that, also.

Having said the above, these rifles can be great shooters even if they are not original as issued by Springfield Armory. They are fun to reload for and shoot and the Krags are extremely accurate at longer distances with open sights. (Even the, yes, small peep sight!)

So, show us more. We'd love to see what you have!

Receiver: there are no real stamps or obvious cartouche markings on the stock.  I will photo more when I have it disassembled next time.

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Stock behind rear action screw:

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Front sight:

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Rear sight:

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Receiver: Letters "A" and "Y" somewhat visible...

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I appreciate your kind words and there is definitely a TON of information on this site I am absorbing like a dry sponge. As far as collector value, yeah, these rifles are just for fun. They have been modified from their original state quite a bit and I am just going to shoot them and make them pretty. I'm resizing photos to get them up here for everyone to see.

One of my personal contributions I am going to do for everybody on here is to do a few rounds of load development with different powders and projectiles with assorted velocity statistical data, atmospheric condition data, and downrange performance in group size for posterity. I'm pretty meticulous when it comes to load development and data logging as a side effect of trying to make little bullets fly far and hit little things out there. :)


Take care and be safe!

Wow! That receiver really has been polished down. Can you read the entire serial number? I've never seen a Krag receiver completed polished clean of the Model date and Springfield Armory Marking.

The front sight does look original, so that's good. It is brazed into a dove tail in the front of the barrel quite nice by Springfield Armory. Many have been replaced with 1903 A3 sights.

How does the bore look? I think you can check the bolt and chamber out and if it looks good, get some reloads made and shoot away! Your experience with reloading and long distance shooting will be great working with a Krag rifle.

Maybe you'll get the fever and buy another Krag in full military condition. They do have a tendency to multiply in our houses, especially when the wife is not looking!

Check out the reloading pages and see what we have been doing with reloads. Anything you can add to our knowledge base with reloading and different powder experiments will be highly appreciated. We all tend to have our pet loads but that doesn't mean we don't ever want to try something new. Thanks!

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'Clcustom1911' - Welcome to the KCA Forum.

Enjoy reloading .30-40 cartridges and shooting your Krag. Keep within the pressure limitations of the Krag. It is a grand and versatile cartridge. It should not be 'Hot-Rodded' into something it isn't.

Your front-sight is correct and your rear-sight is the model 1901 sight.

Your 'cut-down' stock appears to be one of the Italian walnut ones.

Your Krag would be a good candidate for restoration of the stock (length) by splicing a new forearm under the rear barrel-band.

How is the condition of the bore?

Clcustom1911...  Welcome to the forum and to the wonderful world of Krags!  Careful, they're very addicting!

Fellow US Navy Veteran here...  Where and when did you serve?  I served for 13 years total (until a medical condition forced my early retirement).  I did three deployments aboard USS Ranger, CV-61, including Desert Shield/Desert Storm!

We have a member, friend and fellow Camp Perry competitor here who is a US Navy LT and current F/A-18 Jock!

After doing just a basic cleaning of the bore which consists of pulling a .30 cal boresnake through a couple times to clean it the dust and such....  The bore actually looks pretty good with clean edge rifling and the throat looks good based on my naked eye. I used my micrometer to measure the bore diameter and they both measure out at .310".  Before I go buying bullets and whatnot I'm going do a real bore cleaning and slug the bore to see if that matches.

And reference "hot rodding" whilst reloading. Have no fear, I've  never been a believer in "faster is better".  In my precision shooting world, " consistent is better".  I tend to like my standard deviations to be under 10 fps and extreme spread to be under 30 if I can swing it with my assorted long range rifle loading.

My goal is to put a 10" steel plate at 200 yards, put my rear sight aperture at "2" and clean off a 5" center portion of that steel target. So, if that means I move a 220g round nose at 2000 FPS, cool. If that means I move a 175 Spitzer, which has a higher ballistic coefficient, at 1850 to get the same results, I'd prefer that because that would mean less recoil, less pressure (likely), and a longer time enjoying the rifle.

psteinmayer wrote on Jun 24^th, 2019 at 1:49am:

Clcustom1911...  Welcome to the forum and to the wonderful world of Krags!  Careful, they're very addicting! Fellow US Navy Veteran here...  Where and when did you serve?  I served for 13 years total (until a medical condition forced my early retirement).  I did three deployments aboard USS Ranger, CV-61, including Desert Shield/Desert Storm! We have a member, friend and fellow Camp Perry competitor here who is a US Navy LT and current F/A-18 Jock!

Thanks for your service!

Hospital Mate 3rd Class, HM3(FMF) 2003-2008. Was assigned to 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton (wanted to go green side and eat dirt). Eventually went with 1st Battalion, 11th Marines (Artillery), 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines (Infantry). Played around in the sands of North Africa and the Middle East in 2005/2006.  Unfortunately I was unable to make sand castles, but I did have some of the best and worst memories of my life there.

Aviation Support Equipment Technician, Second Class (AS2) 1980 to 1993 - After boot and A-School, NAS Meridian, USS Ranger CV-61, NASNI (North Island), and finally, NASU Christchurch, New Zealand (operation Deep Freeze in support of Antarctic Operations).

You saw my "classy" Krag...

Here's Bubba:

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Bubba left side:

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Bubba's receiver:

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Bubba's cut down barrel and front sight:

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One of the good things about a sportered rifle is that you can mount a scope on it without affecting it`s value . I have the US ,Norwegian and Danish versions all were sporterized years ago and all are scoped. These 68 year old eyes shoot a lot better that way. Kooler

Bubba has untapped, offcenter, boogered holes where a scope mount was attempted.

He may be a candidate for a Criterion Krag barrel, 22".

Bubba sure has been busy on 377994! There's definitely a Krag rifle deep in there, though!

See how she shoots!

Whig wrote on Jun 24^th, 2019 at 8:51am:

Bubba sure has been busy on 377994! There's definitely a Krag rifle deep in there, though! See how she shoots!

By the look of that muzzle crown... I'm thinking "Not Good!" :'(

A "flat side", is it a single shot or can you top load the mag?
Looks like the barrel cut might have been cleaned up/beveled/chamfered..... on the inside so maybe it will shoot OK

Good observation Ned!

Wow, a "Bottom Mag Krag" .... I wonder how it operates?

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Now that is a first for sure!!! Taking any material out of the bottom of the receiver has got to weaken it. Curiosity has got me now!!! will need to see pictures of the action out of the stock.
I am also moving this to sporters.

Ned Butts wrote on Jun 27^th, 2019 at 2:38pm:

A "flat side", is it a single shot or can you top load the mag? Looks like the barrel cut might have been cleaned up/beveled/chamfered..... on the inside so maybe it will shoot OK

It is a trap door magazine. I have no idea if I top load it, or if I load from the bottom...  once I get some ammo made, I'll figure it out and show everyone.

Oddly, you may have to "back cartridges in", base first, and push them down, through the interior opening of the left receiver wall.