I have 6 Krags, all in full military livery, original finishes, with all side cartouches, "circled-P", etc. All were acquired from local gun stores within the last 20 years or so. (not directly from a collector)

My question pertains to the bolts in my M1892/96 (serial 7177) and the M1896 (serial 37247)

Both bolts have  early/first style bolt bodies, with both sides of the guide rib long and parallel.

Is this ok ?

Thanks for any help.

Ok?  Can you shoot the gun without it having any kind of malfunction or Ok from a parts purity point of view?  Reading Joe Farmer's book told me to expect all sorts of combinations of parts on rifles.

Just a question.  Does it read 1896 or Model 1896 on 37247?

I am more interested in the "correctness" aspect of the bolt/rifle question. For instance, would Springfield Armory have utilized this earlier bolt in a 1892/96 conversion or a re-build of an M1896 ?

My m1896 is stamped "MODEL 1896"

BTW, (My 1898s all have the later type bolt body with the 1898 handle "flat" on the underside)

your bolts are fine.

Culpeper wrote on Oct 9^th, 2019 at 4:56am:

Ok?  Can you shoot the gun without it having any kind of malfunction or Ok from a parts purity point of view?  Reading Joe Farmer's book told me to expect all sorts of combinations of parts on rifles. Just a question.  Does it read 1896 or Model 1896 on 37247?

Still looking (sort of, but "records are made to be broken") for a higher "1896" than my 37045, but, so far so good.

37247 is not the lowest "Model 1896"; from other arms presented it appears that the change must have occurred around 37100, though I'd be surprised if it were a round number - to them they were just tools.

one thing needs to be added: the 1896 bolt did not have the solid guide rib.