butlersrangers
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Krag Enthusiast!
Posts: 6330 Location: Michigan Bi-Peninsular&Proud Joined: Oct 7 th, 2009
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Re: New Member, New (to me) Krag.
Reply #6 - Mar 11th, 2017 at 5:58pm
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Standard Finishes and Treatment Applied to U. S. Model 1898 Service Rifle at End of Production:
Buttplate cap - case-hardened, like Safety lock, Side-plate, Gate.
Buttplate - 'Browned' (period arsenal term for blued), like Barrel.
IMHO - Krag Butt Plate finish must have been rather thin. They commonly have lightened up with age and use. I think it best to leave them that way. They have developed a nice look, character, and patina.
You have a nice Krag. Don't mess it up by refinishing metal or sanding the stock.
I don't know what your experience is with antique guns and preserving originality for nice presentation.
A lot of people have turned $800 to $1,000 Krag rifles into $400 guns.
BTW - Your stock will likely lighten up in color, if the 'varnish' is removed. '1903' is a bit late, but, there is a chance it is an Italian Walnut stock and hand-guard.
The Italian stocks are lighter and yellower than American Black Walnut ones. However, most of the Italian stocks, I have seen, have 1899, 1900, and 1901 'cartouche' dates, IIRC.
Apparently, some military units stained or darkened their Italian stocks to better fit in with the bulk of their rifles.
Caution - When you take your Krag apart, the 'varnish' may have 'glued' some of the metal to the wood.
To remove the hand-guard: remove the stock and rear-sight first, then slide the hand-guard up the tapered barrel, where it can easily be taken off.
The front-sight blade, if left in place, will prevent the front barrel-band from being taken completely off the barrel. The stock can be taken off with the front band just pushed forward.
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