Dave,

Welcome to the KCA.  I am sorry to hear of your loss of Mr. DeChrisopher even if it is a little belated.

I doubt there is any enthusiasm for someone building Krag receivers or rifles.  There is a group over on the CMP Forums who were building a line of forged M14 receivers to sell on the market.  They stopped production after a year or so.  Another gentleman associated with that group wants to retart the line under a different name but so far they are circling the airfield until demand returns.

Additionally, there too many dirty rotten #$^*(%#$$*ers stripping and parting out good rifles and carbines and leaving empty receivers.  Then there are us fools who buy those parts to rebuild or replace cut down barrels, M1903 front sights, missing bands, missing hand guards, and the list goes on and on to complete the cycle of distruction.

There are some of us unstable types who would like to see every Krag brought back to life and shoot Xs every time the trigger is pulled but then there is reality.

I was down in Fayetteville and infamous and notorious Krag parts seller had an expensive carbine stock for sale.  Big $$.  I told him I already owned six.  Then he perked up and said, "Want to sell them?!"  Umm no.

I would think it better to encourage the rebuilding of Krags like the CMP does with new criterion barrels for the M1s.

Sorry for being long.

Hi Dave!  Let me add my welcome too!

I guess I'm of the same mindset as the others.  Although a replica would be a reasonable idea, from a collector's standpoint, it would not be original.  From a competitive standpoint, it would be great to shoot in an NRA High Power match with a modern equivalent of the venerable Krag, but the demand would be very small indeed.  I shoot my 1898 rifle in Vintage matches all year, but replicas (as far as I know) are not allowed per CMP rules.  So I agree there would be a tiny market for a replica, and the cost would far exceed demand.

I truly appreciate you keeping Joe's legacy alive!  It's comforting to know that if I happen to crack a bolt, or break a striker or gate spring, there would be a place I can turn to get a legitimate replacement.  God bless you for that, and for remaining faithful to our beloved Krags!

Paul

I could see an investment casting in 17-4 stainless and heat treated at 900 F maybe with a little work you could mottle the tint to look like a case hardened receiver. It could be made to headspace on 2 points on the bolt and make a stronger assembly than the original Krags. I would buy a couple, about half the active members here would buy one or two, that would be about 100 pcs. I like the idea of a carbine length sporter with a composite stock and rubber butt plate also.
I am still in the business of making machined parts and assemblies but no way could I switch the mental gears and do the paper work needed to produce a commercial firearm today.

A little off on this thread: Did Savage or Stevens make a gun that was somewhat based on a Krag? Kind of like Remington using their 1917 Enfield tooling and design to make their Model 30. I made a part for a friends rifle about 30 years ago and I thought it was very similar to the Krag but had the magazine on the bottom I think.
Back on subject, I doubt any of the original US Krag tooling still exists. Two world wars since when all available scrap was melted down. A couple of old photos have been posted here showing some of the machine work being done, that style of set up is no longer used in any machine shop I have been in. Also there would be a need for function gauges to measure relationships between feature on opposite sides of the receiver, that stuff will all be gone now.
The Krag receiver would be hard to digitize with all the strange angles. To make them today investment casting would be the only way to go.
Never made stocks but a wood krag stock can not be easy, so thin under the magazine, it would not be hard to scrap half of a 50 piece run. Look at how many poorly fit repo stocks have been made. Composite sporter stocks maybe would be easier.
   Stuff like this is fun to dream about, I would like to have a Krag receiver and bolt made out of L-6 tool steel treated to 52 RC, with the guide rib also making contact, you could safely chamber it for Weatherby rounds.

Very interesting discussion. I have two thoughts.

1) I think there are enough stripped original receivers around that could benefit from a complete parts kit. Any thought to offering a parts kit priced lower than ordering individual parts one at a time to build a complete Krag? Better to sell the parts at a point that is affordable, than to keep a large inventory that never sells and goes down in valve every year until demand diminished so far that the inventory is sold at scrap price. That has happened in many related military collector hobbies.

2) I like .22 training rifles. An original Krag gallery trainer or field conversion is out of reach for 98% of Krag shooters. A reproduction cast Krag .30 Cal receiver with all the many required machining operations would be complex. But what about a simplified cast receiver (lower production cost) built as a Krag look alike as a single shot .22 rifle? Compatible with low pressure caliber. Popular lower cost ammunition. Utilize the original parts including center fire bolts with an offset rimfire trainer chamber?

It would never be a smooth as the the original case hardened receivers but at the right price point it could be an attractive option.

Just some ideas for a ways to make the Krag popular and utilize to wonderful parts inventory that is available, thanks to JDeC.

CAT man

I've had a stripped receiver & barrel combination sitting in the basement for years.  Due to shooting in a local match I decided it was finally time to put it back into action.  Basically it needs everything as the attached barrel has a rough bore and looks like it could possibly be a turned down '03 barrel.

I bought one of Dave's parts kits off of eBay (he also sells them on his own website).  They are listed as a "BUDGET Parts Set".  They come covered in grease and are not museum quality.  They are in decent shootable shape and are definitely useable though.  While they don't include every part you'll need they're a good start and it's cheaper than chasing down every single part.

As mentioned above, the wood was hard to find (I was looking for a new stock/ handguard).  I'm be putting a new Criterion carbine barrel on it.  Since it'll be a parts gun (no collectors value) and a casual shooter I plan on having the rifle parkerized.  So for my purpose of making this action into a shooter Dave's parts kits are perfect.

Matt