Hello All, new guy here.
I recently acquired a Sporterized 1894 model, and it arrived with a broken stock, thanks to some mediocre packing, and lack of delicate handling by Fed Ex.

I do not know a whole lot about stock compatibility, so I'd appreciate a little help.

If my cursory searches are correct, it looks like 1892 & 1894 stocks are cross compatible, while 1896 & up are not (is this correct?)
Also, can I drop the action into any compatible year stock (full stock, carbine stock, sporterized).

Thank you!

---

You're not the first person that's happened to!  I received my parkerized 96/96 like that, but the PO paid me for the damages.  Yours looks fixable.  Find a good local gunsmith if you don't wish to mess with it yourself and bill Fed-Ex!  92(94) and 96 stocks interchange, 98s don't have a cut for the metal channel the bolt handle passes through.

That is repairable.  A good woodworker can put in a steel pin joining the pieces and then use a very strong glue to put things together. 

I had a Cogswell & Harrison Mauser in .404 do that when fired.  It went back together, could not even see the break.  I fired the Coggie again.  Worked fine.

I had Fed Ex crack a beautiful CZ 452 .22 caliber stock that was sent to me years ago. It was the most beautiful CZ stock I had seen and I bought it for the stock mainly. I contacted the CZ company and showed them pictures and a nice manager rep searched their manufacturer and they could not find a comparable stock. This had been made in Czechoslavakia years ago with wood that is not currently available. (I think it was walnut.) . So, I had the CZ manager send me a high estimate of the replacement value of the stock and I used that to get a full reimbursement from Fed Ex.

Then, I repaired the stock myself.

You have to have the sender contact Fed Ex and handle it because they are the ones who purchased the postage in the first place. You also have to be persistent and constantly keep after them to get the reimbursement. Make it worth your time.

Find any Krag stock that has sold on ebay, for like $450, and use that to show them what you'll have to pay for a replacement. You need to take lots of pictures of your broken stock and the box it was wrapped in to get a claim approved.

Then, after you get reimbursed, have someone repair your stock.

Good luck

Your stock is repairable. I would talk to Dennis Earl Smith.

  (You need to Login

I've seen his work, it's top notch.

Hi operavoice and welcome to the KCA forum!

Sorry about your damaged Krag. :'(

I agree with craigster in that your broken stock would be very repairable.

Here's a video concerning an extensive repair of a Gewehr 91's stock:

  (You need to Login

Don't let the video scare you...you may even want to attempt the repair yourself!

Thank you all for the information.

Going after FedEx is a non starter. The box that the seller used was not what I would consider as acceptable, and neither was the method of packing.
It has a low crush strength, and was unbraced.
I would not have shipped anything breakable in it.

He accepted his goof, and we are trying to iron out reasonable compensation.
If I can get it fixed, great, if I can get a reasonably priced stock, also just as good.
I don't buy display models or safe queens; I buy shooters.

Your advice so far has given me a great starting point!

Fed Ex might try to make an issue of the box but the evidence shows obvious mishandling. They are not to be exonerated. The box should not have been crushed or bent enough to break the contents. They are negligent more often than we know in handling our merchandise. They charge too much for shipping as it is. They should handle with more care. The fact that they accepted it for shipping makes them liable. They could have turned it down and not accepted the payment for the label!

But, it is up to you and the shipper what to do. I have recovered from UPS, Fed Ex and USPS for mis-handling even when the box was "inadequate".

But, it's your decision. Glad to hear the shipper is being fair. That's great!

Merry Christmas!

Even the skinny wrist stocks don't break easy.  It looked like the box my broken 92/96 came in was supported at each end, like between the wheel wells of a truck or trailer, then stepped on!  It wasn't the greatest of packing jobs either, but should have been sufficient, given reasonable handling.  I've used some of those pool noodles to pad mine with, but now it's in a padded inexpensive hardcase with a cardbox box built around it.  Even so I think each of the shipping services has a big guy whose job is to test the strength of such creative packaging.  The old Auction Arms seller was very good at keeping on the PO for me.

Hummm ??? What would I do ??? Well I would start looking for another stock that could take 1 to 5 years ... Meanwhile I would fix the one that's broken ... Some good quality epoxy and 2 wood screws ... Then refinish the stock some nice stain ... And you can hand rub where it's cracked and blend in the crack very well ... Then some nice finish .. true oil or linsead oil .. then more rubbing and polishing and maybe it would better then when it was new ... It would take me 3 or 4 weeks to refinish something like you got ... But then it would be very nice .....

Can we see more pictures showing the pieces and overall of the rifle? Maybe more advice can be had. Repairs are of priority at this point, but otherwise we can help with what you have despite the obvious aggravation you are dealing with.

I feel bad that this happened to "Operavoice". By all means, he should pursue resolution with the 'shipping' company.

On a more positive note, his Krag and Stock appear "altered/sportered or commercial".

(The story would be sadder, if this was a nice totally original military piece).

From the photo, it appears there is a heavy 'cheek piece' attached to the stock. The bolt-handle 'cut out area' does not appear to be standard model 1892/1896.

Since everything appears altered and refinished, it is likely a very nice, strong, near invisible repair can be done, with no real loss of value.

FWIW - A 'sportered' model 1898 stock can be altered in the 'bolt area' to accept model 1892 & model 1896 actions.

I agree that more pictures would foster constructive advice.

---

I have never repaired a stock so not much to offer personally. This discussion just finished on another forum about which glue to use, some may find something of value.

  (You need to Login

Gorilla Glue is mentioned in the link above.  I found it expands as it dries when trying to fix some cracks in an old clunker stock.

I've got two '98 Krag sporter stocks I'm not planning to use after getting a nice one from a member here. If you decide you want a replacement stock let me know. I'd let them go for what I have in them which is A LOT less than they're going for on eBay.

Both would need the bolt handle modification as depicted above to fit an early receiver / bolt. One would need a rubber butt pad added since it was shortened about 1"-2' to accommodate one. 

Stretch 

Gorilla Glue has its' place, but not in stock repair.

Pmd about the stocks. Definitely interested.

The more I dug into the old stock, the more it is not worth repairing.
At some point, a P.O. cut the wood behind and thusly eliminating the rear barrel band.

I'm not a gunsmith, but I do understand quite a bit about stress points.
Without that band, when the cartridge goes bang the entire action free-floats placing all of the stress on the wrist and the trigger screws.
Lucky that no one got impaled.

You are correct. The Krag trigger-guard screws are very close together. The barrel needs to be held in place in the stock, with some variety of barrel-band (or 'anchor' screw), to prevent the barrel from rising and putting tremendous torque and stress on the stock, (in an area that is compromised and essentially weak).

After getting one of those two stocks (Thank you again!!)
. . . Spent about 45 minutes going at the wood with various Dremel cutting and sanding bits, getting the action to plunk into the stock.
Made a nice little whoopdeedoo in the wood while doing it, but the action beds in perfectly.

Brass came in today, so, off to the reloading section to learn from other's experiences before I pick a powder and a bullet.

We'd love to see pictures of this ongoing project including the little "whoopdeedoo"! We all have made some mistakes in fixing Krags over the years. They are pretty resilient, though!

Don't forget some nice hand rub downs with boiled linseed oil to darker and give the stock that authentic military look.

Good luck on the choice of bullets and powder. There are lots of these to work with.

There were two whoopdeedoos.
You can see the little "triangle" whoops, when the Dremmel slipped out of the channel, and then a tiny little nick at the top.

---