For the past 12 years I have thought about the possibility of replacing that nicked up barrel and adding permanent sights fore and aft so when my days with it are done I'll have something more presentable to leave my grandson and his future heirs to hopefully enjoy for another 100 years. As retirement approaches the window to do it was narrowing so I bit the bullet and sent it off for installation of a 22" Criterion barrel and an S&S repro front sight base. Haven't decided on the front sight blade yet and have a repro blade if I decide to go that route but these old eyes may need something more visible up front - the posting about a fluorescent front sight presented an interesting possibility. For the rear I obtained an E.L. Rice peep sight to make it Krag Sporter "authentic" at a reasonable cost and for the added simplicity that design offers. FWIW it came with a 1902 rear sight which is almost useless on a sporter in the woods. The screw and nut needed to replace the extractor rivet to attach the Rice sight was missing and a few minutes working with file reducing a screw head diameter to fit up into that recess made a suitable replacement.   

To further keep costs down and retain the old look closer to that of the original receiver finish I intended to cold blue the barrel figuring it would look old again before too long. But a series of events culminated in an "offer" to hot blue the barrel and I reluctantly decided to go with that which in hindsight was a blunder since the receiver ended up being blued by mistake as well. The bluing job was well done just not what I was intending for the receiver. Obviously it doesn't affect performance as a Sporter and guess I have the option to remove it and go with a forced older look of one type or another  but for now it is what it is and unfortunately was what it was...For better or for worse depending on viewer's perspective for now it's a modern looking Krag Sporter. 

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