'Bulldog42' - Welcome to the KCA Forum.

Your U.S. model 1896 Krag, #69261, is certainly in the heart of a 'block' of 1896 carbine numbers.

It was likely assembled around July, 1897.

The number is not documented in Springfield Research Services Data ("SRS"), but, most Krags are not.
Only a small percentage of Krag serial numbers were found mentioned in official documents that were researched.

As 'Whig' suggested, we love to see Krag photographs and sometimes this produces interesting observations and discussions.