Hello, new guy here.  I have an 1898 that was sporterized sometime back in the 40's or 50's.  My dad became the owner of the gun in the 60's, and hunted with it most of his life.  It was then passed to me, and I have done the same.  I love this rifle for hunting (despite the cost of ammo), and want to continue to use it for that purpose and to be able to pass it on to my kids.  Problem is, the front site has broken off. 

When the rifle was sporterized, I believe that the barrel was shortened (if someone can tell me the original length, I can measure for sure).  The sight was then moved to the new location at the end of the shortened barrel.  Whoever sporterized the gun did a clean job on everything except this sight.  Or, the site was broken sometime after it was sporterized, and this is how it was fixed.  I don't know.  My dad says that's the way it was when he got the gun back in the 60's.  Anyway, it appear the site was soldered with some sort of lead onto a band that goes around the barrel.  This has lasted fine on the gun for some 50+ years of hunting and target shooting - until this last weekend.  The sight finally broke off.  The inside of the sight rusted away, and the lead solder just wasn't strong enough to hold it. 

My question for you all is, where can I get a new sight?  I'd like to keep the original style sight since it is correct for the gun (regardless of the fact that it was sporterized), and is the sight that I am familiar with after almost 15 years of shooting this gun.  I'll probably have a gunsmith do the work of putting the new site on, I just want to find one.

I will be happy to post some pictures if it will help you all to see what sight it had, how it was moved, and how it is broken.

Thanks.

I'll post up some pics as soon as I get a chance.  Thanks.
I also found a link in another post for a place to buy replacement from sights.

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From the pictures I would say you could only improve on your previous front sight set up. Since it really amounts to gaining a functional front sight and no real collector value is at stake, you might browse through Brownells for a replacement that might suit your needs and then consult with a good gunsmith for the installation. Just out of curiosity, is the barrel free floated or fully bedded?

I agree they are good hunting rifles for most anything encountered. Kinda figured it was bedded in but thought I'd ask. i have ran across several Krags, as well as 1903's and Mausers, that were sporterized in that era and all were glass bedded in.
Since you have experience with the height of the front sight and it is really a matter of affixing a proper replacement a gunsmith should be able to fix it up nicely without much trouble.

Good luck

Looks like that sight was held on using that two part putty type epoxy, something you can obtain at Menards or Home Depot. Plumbing Dept probably? It's like a Tootsie Roll and it actually contains both parts A & B. You just tear off a section and nead the parts togther and the putty will then set up pretty hard. I would think you could clean up the sight and reapply it if you wanted.

I actually created a taller sigh for my Trapdoor carbine so I could hunt with it. The carbine shoots very high with the sight all the way down. I just added some putty epoxy to the sight and shaped it a little. After it hardened I then filed it into a taller blade sight and filed it down until it shot to point of aim at 50 yards. Worked great. After the season I just grabbed the putty sight and wiggled it a little to break it off the original.

Now, personally, I would see if a gun smith could install a 1903 Springfield type front sight. That will look more period and a lot of sporterized Krags are set up that way.

I'm fairly certain the site was lead soldered on, not epoxy.  The small round dab of solder on the tip is actually my doing because I wanted to be able to see it a little easier and quicker.  I did it that way so I could do exactly what you said, quickly take it back off if i wanted to.  It worked so good though, I never took it off.  But after I put that tiny bit there, it appeared to perfectly match all the rest of the solder that was down on the lower part, so I'm pretty certain that's what that stuff was too, just older.

I believe you are right about the sling.  I carried that rifle with that sling throughout elk and deer season this year (and many years prior) with no issues, but I was planning to retire it this year after I got to thinking just how old that leather might actually be.  Thanks for the reminder. 

I'll take a closer look at it to see if it is marked.  Would that make it original to the rifle, or just WWI era?

Thanks.