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SRS check on a 98 Krag (Read 1951 times)

Krag 1902 KCA Forum Member Offline Krag Enthusiast! Posts: 10 Joined: Apr 3^rd, 2015	SRS check on a 98 Krag Oct 16^th, 2015 at 1:06am	Print Post
	Recently bought a really nice Krag '98 cut down to convert to a cast bullet target rifle. It is a Model 1898 and bears the SN 174195. The number 195 in small letters appears on the underside of the barrel adjacent to the receiver. The stock is like new, but strangely has no cartouche or any evidence of ever having had one. There is no thinning anywhere in the wood when a stamp would have been removed. The barrel is 24 inches and has a Springfield band front sight. The hand guard in an 1898 guard. I would be interested in knowing what can be told from the SN, and wonder if anyone has ideas about the stock. I have considered that the stock might have been a surplus stock that never got inspected.


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butlersrangers KCA Forum Member Offline Krag Enthusiast! Posts: 6330 Location: Michigan Bi-Peninsular&Proud Joined: Oct 7^th, 2009	Re: SRS check on a 98 Krag Reply #1 - Oct 16^th, 2015 at 4:16am	Print Post
	'Krag 1902' - FWIW - Closest # to your's in Mallory's, "Krag Rifle Story", 2nd Edition, Appendix, is #174,200 (a model 1898 rifle issued 07/01/1918, to Co. B, 34 Engineers, Ft. Benjamin Harrison. (Close tells you Not Much). New replacement stocks will usually lack an Acceptance Cartouche, even if replaced at Springfield Armory, since the arm had already been accepted for service. If replaced in the Field, new stocks will also lack the 'circled Script P' (function proof). Of course new surplus stocks could have been used in the 'After-market' and would lack markings.


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Krag 1902 KCA Forum Member Offline Krag Enthusiast! Posts: 10 Joined: Apr 3^rd, 2015	Re: SRS check on a 98 Krag Reply #2 - Oct 17^th, 2015 at 7:28pm	Print Post
	Thanks for the help. Your explanation of the lack of stock markings seems to match my speculation about them. But if I had only one trip in a time machine, I would pick a different destination than the new stocking of this most recent Krag.


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butlersrangers KCA Forum Member Offline Krag Enthusiast! Posts: 6330 Location: Michigan Bi-Peninsular&Proud Joined: Oct 7^th, 2009	Re: SRS check on a 98 Krag Reply #3 - Oct 17^th, 2015 at 8:06pm	Print Post
	I think too much is made of the Stock Cartouche on model 1898 Krag rifles. Many 1898 Krags have a Cartouche date that doesn't coincide with likely manufacture & acceptance period of the receiver's serial number. The model 1898 Krag was in service for about 20 years (U.S. Army, National Guard, Navy, Marines, and WW1 Training Camps and Engineers). Many Krags went back to Springfield Armory for 'refurbishment'. In the rebuild/refinish process, Stocks and metal parts very likely got switched. Rifles were also repaired at other Armories and in the Field. IMHO - Arsenal Rebuilt rifles are interesting and have a story to tell.


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