'Just_Joe': Welcome to the KCA Forum. Please post some pictures of your model 1896 Krag carbine for our enjoyment and to get better quality feedback.

I would be very leery of the advice you were given by your "gunsmith". Replacing the barrel on your carbine will destroy its collector value.

I have a hard time understanding how "the last 3 inches of the barrel have no twist left". (Is this at the chamber end or muzzle end of the barrel)?

From my experience, a Krag barrel can be pretty worn and eroded from firing corrosive primed ammunition and still perform well at 50 and 100 yards.

The test of a rifle's accuracy is shooting it. I would give the barrel a good cleaning and try shooting it.

An experienced shooter/collector can probably give you better feedback and guidance on a Krag than a lot of 'Today's Gun Smiths'.

FWIW - A new Criterion Krag carbine barrel will cost around $200, plus installation & final chambering, front sight mounting, and it will have to have a finish applied.
(In the process, you will likely be turning a '$1,200 - plus' collectible carbine into a $600 'shooter').

I'd also check the serial number. A badly worn but all original Krag carbine could have unsuspected value - in the 60s, nobody had published any research data. I would NOT replace the barrel without a good deal of further thought.

If the goal is just to "go shooting" as a family bonding experience - my suggestion would be to put the money that would have been spent on the Krag into another rifle of some sort which has no issues.

Joe,

If you are interested in a good shooter instead of destroying the originality and value of this family heirloom, I have an 1898 carbine that I could give you a good deal on.  I know it is a good shooter, as I had gotten it sighted in for deer hunting this fall.

Best regards,
Tom

I thought about that. I am currently seeking a second opinion. I don't really understand how the value of it is assessed.

The serial number is 81472.

Thank you for checking that for me. I can't post pictures until it comes back from the gun smith. I promise I will post some so

If it is a cut-down rifle, we'd need to see close-ups of the muzzle and front sight base attachment - also a good close-up of the face of the rear sight leaf, including the slide. The stock is unquestionably from a genuine carbine. but the receiver has been buffed and re-blued.

That's good advice.  Slug the bore and see what it sizes out to.  Many Krags have worn bores that do just fine with cast bullets sized .310 or larger (I shoot .311 out of my cutoff sporter). 

If you want an original to have that is relatively accurate, as others have stated - there are rifles are out there, and usually reasonably priced too.