butlersrangers wrote on Jun 2^nd, 2020 at 11:07pm:

Most U.S. Krag rifles and carbines were rebuilt/refurbished during the course of their service. This work was done at Springfield Armory, U.S. Arsenals and Depots. During reconditioning work, wood and metal parts were skillfully refinished as needed and reused. Some parts were updated/replaced. There were also new replacement stocks available. Since disassembly was necessary to process and refinish parts, a rebuilt Krag would be a new combination of parts. When a Krag was inspected and refurbished at Springfield  Armory, at an arsenal, or depot, it is believed it was function tested and test fired. A circled "P" was stamped on the stock, behind the trigger-guard. (If a stock was being re-used, it may have multiple circled "P" stamps). From my understanding: No 'acceptance cartouche' was needed on a replacement stock, since the Krag had already been accepted previously. (A Krag that received a new replacement stock in the 'field' will not have a 'cartouche' or circle "P" mark). Krags continued in the hands of many U.S. military units until 1907-1908. The U.S. Military Academies and National Guard units had Krags until 1914. Krags were used as training rifles and by U.S. Engineers during WW1. The U.S. Navy had Krags aboard some ships, maybe going into WW2. Nick: FWIW - Your Krag may have been reconditioned at some time. The presence of 1896 front and rear sights suggest this happened early, rather than during later rebuilds.

The mystery deepens!! After looking in Bill mooks book and inspecting my rifle. I have found that the magazine cutoff has been reversed to the model 1898 and later versions despite clearly being a model 1896. I was under the impression that in order to reverse the magazine cutoff alot of work needed to be done? Would they go through the trouble of modifying a 1896 to 1898 spec without changing the sights?