I was perusing some recent auction listings for Krags and came across this Krag "saddle" carbine with a clearly stamped serial number on the receiver. I couldn't believe it! SN:9872687!! It's right there in black and white! Right out of Springfield Armory, none-the-less.

The listing is as below:

US SPRINGFIELD MODEL 1896 KRAG CAVALRY CARBINE | US Springfield model 1896 Krag Jorgenson Saddle Carbine. Inspectors cartouche indistinguishable. Circled "P" cartouche under grip, and "46" stamped under grip. Serial number, model number and "SPR" crudely stamped on receiver. Buttplate does not have cleaning rod compartment. Buttplate is inset on top and smooth. Not fitted with saddle ring, as most were. Saddle ring area in stock has wooden plug installed. Model 1896 rear ladder sight, and top foregrip. | Caliber / Gauge: .30-40 Krag | Barrel Length: 22" | Serial Number: 9872687 | Condition: Very good. Bright bore, strong rifling. Shows some wear and age. Rear ladder sight firm and functional. Action functions smoothly, with no play. | Estimate: 1200 - 1800

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A set of stamps is a dangerous thing!

Whig ... You gonna bid on it?

It must have been stamped during a rare east coast earthquake.

I'll put a high bid for it in the name of butlersrangers.

SRS hit on this one?

No?  Anything close?

Looks like a telephone number.

Hey Whig...why don't you give the number a ring and find out who answers?

edit

It will be very funny if we are all being 'snarky' and sarcastic while looking at a rare tool room prototype.

More pictures!

(I thought I already posted this once. Was it removed for some reason?)

US SPRINGFIELD MODEL 1896 KRAG CAVALRY CARBINE

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Lot#45415

Look at the low expected sale price- $1200-1800. Must really be valuable!

In three weeks, it'll be in butlers' collection!

.... and charged to Whig's "PayPal" account!


Well, honestly, I don't see anything desirable about this Krag except for its model 1898 carbine stock and the 'sight-protecting' carbine barrel-band.

The auction site is not showing us the "carbine's" model 1896 rear-sight from an angle that will allow identifying whether it is actually a carbine sight.

The front sight is a 1903 Springfield sight, which usually means 'cut-down' rifle.

The hand-guard has been re-contoured at the receiver end.

The 'hand stamped' receiver markings seem inexplicable.

I'm passing on it! Besides, I hate auctions.

IMHO - (This auction site appears pretty erratic in their valuing and pricing of items).

WOW…  just WOW!  Theories?  Perhaps a discarded unfinished receiver that someone got creative with?  Perhaps a ground and reblued receiver that someone got creative with?  The mind is swirling with possibilities!

Heck, I would only consider bidding on it if it were the last Krag in the country.

Besides, I don't like bidding against fellow KCA members!

It's hard to tell without a serial number but, if the original SN had been lost, defaced, removed, etc..., this is NOT an official Federal re-stamp of a new registry number to make it legal. Someone obviously just made up a random number and struck it with the other crooked numbers and letters.

Just amazing how many true, blue Bubbas are out there!

Looks like an unsed receiver because even in the crappy pictures you would be able to see where the original stamps would have been ground off.

It would be interesting to see how the grinding/polishing marks run out on the obstructions on the receiver. On the bolts the grinding/ polishing marks look like hey were put on with a cylindrical grinder then the areas around the obstructions (locking lug, bolt handle and guide) look like they were done on a surface grinder with a radius cut into the wheel to match the OD.
If the marks on the receiver are the same, it could have been some experimental armory project. If Bubba just ground and polished off the original stamping, he got through the case and the underlying metal is butter soft and easy to stamp. Maybe Bubba was afraid of holding "stolen government property" and wanted to the remove the evidence?

Just a funny anecdote, I had a customer that had restored a 30s model 1 ton Ford pick up and needed to sell it. To sell it so it could get a license plate to be street legal it needed a serial number even though as sold by Ford it had none. I lent them my set of stamps so they could put  a random number on it.

psteinmayer wrote on Oct 12^th, 2019 at 5:45pm:

WOW…  just WOW!  Theories?  Perhaps a discarded unfinished receiver that someone got creative with?  Perhaps a ground and reblued receiver that someone got creative with?  The mind is swirling with possibilities!

Anyone think of Johnny Cash's Cadylac made from parts carried out in his lunch box. Maybe a janitor spirited away parts from a scrap barrel.