Hi everyone, Im new to the forum and I'm here to ask of an oddity I've noticed on the receiver. To my untrained eye, it looks like the last digit was changed from a 1895-1896.
This is a carbine with a very interesting history that has always appealed to me. Bureaucratics at its best..... LOL

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Serial #

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overhead view

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Mrdakota - Welcome to the KCA forum.

FWIW - Your serial number, 90090, is surrounded by rifles and not in a carbine serial number range.

Your "Model 1896." stamp looks normal and your rear-sight is a rifle version.

Can we see a picture of your front sight/muzzle area?

It is likely you have a 'cut-down' rifle.

The fact that the word Model is stamped on the receiver would rule out an 1895 date as that was added post 1896.Sorry I don't have references with me to quote exact date.

This is a known anomaly of which I have never heard of a good reason for. It is not contained to the 1896/1895 dates as in your example.

I have one of these also. Mine (below) is an 1899 over 1898 strike. This is on my PC Krag rifle. It has been referred to as "rare" or "uncommon" in previous posts. I am out of town and don't have my references to look at to see if Joe Farmer has written about it in his well researched Krag book.

Thanks for the post and question. If it has been discovered why and how, I hope your post will scare up the best answer. I have never seen anything anywhere previously, though, that would put anything of a premium on the value of an over strike like this. I am a coin collector from way back and can pass on the knowledge that over struck coins usually carry a significant premium dependent on number of over strikes that are suspected to have been made from their original creation at the mint. Over strikes in coinage is known to have been done by reusing the mint die from one year and simply re-carving the newer date over the previous date to use in the new year. The "re-carving" (or re-engraving- whichever took place) was done poorly and not proof read until after some coins were struck and put into circulation. The quicker the error was corrected, the fewer coins that were made and available for people to find.

A well populated database of Krag rifles and carbines could help to clarify how many of these exist which could help in determining the how and why.

Welcome to the KCA and enjoy your visit!

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The serial # is way beyond the usual 1895 range, but it sure looks like an overstrike of some sort, like there was once a 5 there.  Certainly an oddity.

madsenshooter wrote on Sep 1^st, 2019 at 2:56pm:

The serial # is way beyond the usual 1895 range, but it sure looks like an overstrike of some sort, like there was once a 5 there.  Certainly an oddity.

NOT possible! Presence of "Model" (as stated above) TOTALLY precludes any possibility of "1895". Sometimes, the "1896" is very poorly stamped, almost resembling "1898". Unfortunately, the specimen presented by the OP is almost certainly a cut-down rifle, or at the very best a put-together.

I do not mean to be disagreeable, but, I do not believe the O.P.'s "Model 1896" stamp is a 'restrike'.
FWIW - I believe it to be caused by a New Die or harder strike on the Die. Maybe a Die became damaged or flawed?

(I think, throwing in the Model 1899 carbine 'restrike', just confuses the issue).

It is always a surprise to me how much variation there is in the clarity and depth of U.S. Krag markings.

Some serial numbers are quite clear and others are easily misread, (especially 3's and 8's & 8's and 6's).

Many gentlemen, new to Krag rifles, have read "Model 1896", as "Model 1898". (Quite frankly, that can be what it looks like, a totally understandable mistake).

I have seen other "Model 1896" receivers that look just like the O.P.'s

Attached is a photo of a Model 1896 rifle receiver, in the 64K serial # range, that is lightly struck and quite clear.

Also, attached is a photo of a Model 1896 rifle receiver, in the 81K serial # range, that is deeply struck and more vague. I believe this looks like the O.P.'s.

Possibly, the difference in my two pictured receivers, was caused by either a 'New Die', damage and wear to a Die, or a 'double strike'?

(I don't think this mark is unusual or rare. Likely, it is a typical Krag variation in the course of production).

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If nothing else, it would be nice to see a few more photos to see if there is more that meets the eye at this point. Including a full length. Maybe a month/year of manufacture and a possible SRS hit could be obtained based on the serial number. In its' original state it may have seen Spanish American War use and other possibilities there after. Then came the demise of many Krags. Still worth having in your possession.

As I have had to do many times with coins, I have needed to use a magnifying glass to determine the difference between an overstrike and a die or stamping error. Deep stamps can be confusing as we know with the "3" and "8" stamps on Krags. A small piece of metal in the die upon stamping can marr or alter a clean stamp as can damage to the die where there is wear or a piece broken which can cause a mis-strike.

Fascinating post with many potential variables.

I would love to see some more pictures that represent some of these variations. Some of them need more magnification to determine exactly what is being viewed, I believe.

During the entire era of the Krag, the only digit that needed to be changed was the 4th.  Perhaps just the nature of that position was related to any number of potential flaws, flukes or failures that could occur.  Maybe it should be a surprise that there aren't even more to be found out of, what, over four hundred thousand pieces produced.  Probably there are even more to be found.

The fact that the word MODEL is on the receiver should eliminate any question as that was added well into 1896 (sorry I am away from reference material and cannot give an exact time frame) so there would be no reason to stamp it with 1895. Probably just an extra hard hit or maybe a little crooked

These discussions are one of the reasons that this is such a great forum - interesting and informative!

Welcome to the forum Mr Dakota!

If they organized their dies anything like a typecase, a 5 getting into the 6 bin and not being noticed until post strike might be conceivable.  You'd think there would be test strike though.

Since the anomaly (if there is one, and I don't think there is) occurs in the date, which was struck over and over again, I doubt that individual dies were involved to the extent that they would get mixed up. Just my .02.