Hi John, Welcome. The date of birth would be 1897. The small marking is probably numbers of a sub inspector. You could try cleaning the wrist area a little to see if any cartouche is still left. Value is going to depend on condition. Is the hand guard without cracks? Does it have the correct sight? If you think you are hooked on Krags, you need to get some books. I'm sure more info will come your way. John

I happen to LIKE dark wood, so, if it were mine, and I cared about originality, the LAST thing I'd do is to rush into "stripping" the stock!!!  It will never be the same if you do.

I'd spend a LOT of time with some terrycloth rags and some turpentine, or lemon oil, perhaps a bit of 0000 steel wool, and see what that does for it.

IMHO (and I've been collecting Krags and .45-70 trapdoors for 40+ years) I've never seen a "from-the-ground-up" wood redo that really looked "right".  Just my $.02.

I think $550 is a fair price for a complete full-length Krag with a decent bore... Some Krags have splotchy oil stains that can only be masked by staining the stock to a very dark, nearly black color everywhere it was not stained by oil. If the color is uniform it may be best to work with it and do not strip. I routinely strip all my stocks because I usually deal with Krags which have been heavily handled.

My steps FYI:  AFTER all structural and cosmetic repairs are made (the old finish protects the surrounding areas), I strip the stock using the liquid type. I then thoroughly soak the stock in water, and shampoo it with full-strength soap (any soap works). I strong hose blast really cleans out the inletting and grain! The soap cuts the oils, neutralizes acids and raises the grain. Keeping it wet, I steam the dents with a small iron from Brownells. This process takes a few hours. I then let it dry for a few days and ‘whisker it’ with some fine steel wool, stain it once, and let it dry overnight.  I use a pint each of dark walnut and black oil-based stain. Mixed at 2 parts dark walnut and one part black I get the color I like (matches dad’s Krag). Next day I ‘whisker it’ again with some very fine synthetic steel wool (3M gray pad). And, hung from the muzzle end with a wire, apply one singular coat (never more or grain will start filling in!) of Birchwood Casey Tru-oil with by bare hands. Like putting on hand lotion, you rub it in until it starts getting slightly tacky and leave it alone except for checking for any drips forming at the reveals or inletting areas. After about a week, I polish the shine down with an old sock and some Birchwood Casey Stock Sheen. Beautiful grain, dark stain with a natural look that has held up wonderfully after many hours at the range.

P.S. I touch the cartouche areas as little as possible – when the stock is done they are crud-free and as easy to read (even with all that water soaking).  Done it at least a dozen times...