a friend of mine called me today he works a a gun store. a guy sold them a 1896 carbine that he got from his grandfather. I went in to look at it. the cartouch was worn off and most of the finish was gone. It looked like a gun that has been knocked around for 100 + years. Everything is correct by the books except the rear sight is a 1896 rifle sight it goes out to 18. I measured the barrel with the hand guard on it and it appears correct.  The front sight does not look messed with. the gun looks right. But I do not want to end up with a cut down rifle! He wants 1200 which I think is a good price for i.t Would a rifle sight on a carbine very uncommon and a big red flag? I wish I would have asked to take pics

I wish I would have taken pics The serial was in the 77000 range I did not write it down because I did not think you could identify carbines by serial range. I probably just call the store and tell him I do not want it

Yes, Krag carbines occur in large blocks - we should be able to say yes or no with probably 95% accuracy. Measure the stock, if 30", it is more likely to be good, if 32", somewhat less so, but number will still tell an awful lot.

M1896C sights have been hard to find for many years. If the arm is well-used, someone might have taken the sight to complete a nicer looking specimen. While "wrong" to a purist, a 96R sight looks just fine from two feet away. But, the problem should be pointed out to the dealer - perhaps a lower price can be negotiated? I'm guessing the dealer probably bought it for a low price and may be trying to capitalize on buyer ignorance.

I went back to the store and got the serial# I can not put the whole thing on the web because it is not my gun 769xx i

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