Good find on the 1896 carbine rear sight. It always pays to look close for gems!

Not to my 'Tastes', but I have seen infinitely uglier Stocks. With the 'Germanic Acorns', 'psteinmayer' will probably lust for it!

No listing for Krag, #388396, in Mallory's "The Krag Rifle Story".

I hope it is a 'tack-driver' in its 'Running Deer' Stock, so you are put in a dilemma about re-stocking it! (I am a mean little man).

Maybe your new gun was modified by several people with different skill levels. I do not care for the carving, but it looks like it was nicely done, if it had been checkered instead the seller would have probably gotten a lot more money. That front sight does look terrible. Try scraping off a piece of the excess solder with a knife and determining the melting point. If it is low, the sight could be removed with no further damage to the barrel by heating it with care not to damage the bore. One could probably cut it off at 24 inches and recrown it as another solution. One more way to fix it would be to turn, mill, and reshape what is on there now. Either fix would be easy for me as I have a fairly well equipped machine shop, but I could do a fairly decent job of fixing what is there with only a couple of files and a bench grinder.
If you do not have the skills yourself, a good gunsmith could clean up that sight in a couple of hours assuming the bore was not damaged in attaching it.

Does the barrel have a proper crown, or was it cut off "square". Picture isn't very clear, but it looks like the latter. The front sight is not original, so it strongly suggests that the barrel was whacked by Bubba, since, if the gun already had a 26" barrel with correct crown and proper front sight, it would have been left alone.

Reason for my asking is that, in 1902, 100 rifles were made up by SA, for trial, under the auspices of the Board of Ordnance and Fortifications, with 26" barrels. They are quite rare, as you might expect, and your serial number is very close to one of the small clusters of known numbers, totaling 21 at present. I own 388786.

Wow, I hate to say it, but that looks like it could possibly be an original SA crown - certainly isn't a hacksaw job, and the surface shows age. If so, it was a very unfortunate and/or unlucky choice by the party who modified it. Check out the home page to see the current list of known 26" barreled rifle numbers.

I actually have found two of the BoOF rifles.

My first (388786) came with a 1902C sight, in an un-marked M1899-length carbine stock. This is not the classic/original "book" configuration, but does match the one in the SA Museum. I do not find it completely unreasonable to speculate that - while under test to see if one arm would be acceptable to all branches - some may have been fitted with carbine stocks.

My second (389182) came in a properly dated (JSA/1902) rifle stock - which I'm sure is the original - but sadly was chopped just ahead of the band. BUT, it did still have the special sights (an M1901 hand-graduated to 2100 yds, and front blade with a VERY slightly different height/curvature). The original stocks were made new for the test guns and lacked the final lightening slot.

'MPF' - It appears there is lead solder holding the 1903 Springfield front-sight on your 26" barrel. If it were my rifle, I would remove the band-pin, screw and front blade unit, heat the solder with a propane torch and knock the banded front-sight base forward off the barrel . Then, I would look for any evidence on the exposed barrel area for the remains of a brazed Krag front-sight dovetail.

BTW - Here is a photo of the special BoO&F rear sight Dick mentions.

How?

Well, you'd need to properly remount the front sight - but ONLY if the original slot IS there. If it is not, then it IS Bubba's work and just happens to have a decent crown. And, if the barrel is NOT right, then the points below would cross the line from (heavy) restoration to outright fraud.

Next, you need to find a stock with a JSA/1902 stamp. Buy a junker with a cut stock because you are going to have to work on the front anyway. Buy and fit a stretcher piece for $45. Get an upper band, which will need to be thinned a bit so as to fit the larger barrel. Emery cloth and elbow grease.

I wouldn't worry about the front sight - get the tall 1898 blade - as no one knows the difference anyway. For the rear sight, find a junker 1901 base and file/stone off the platforms at the front of the ramps. Use a carbine leaf if you can find one, as it will look more correct.

Voila - a "five-footer" restoration, at minimal cost and very little collateral damage.

I never say never, but the chance of finding a proper rear sight is virtually NIL.

Well that was fun!

I am sorry to report no slot on the barrel. There is a nasty groove on the top that will have to be covered somehow.   Dicks post has me thinking about making an homage BoOF rifle, doing all the things he mentioned EXCEPT put on a 1903 front sight.  It wouldn't fool anyone but it would be something different in the collection.  Thoughts?

Mitch