I built some tools and rebarreled a Krag recently. I documented some of it in this thread. (You need to Login to view media files and links)
If you have a milling machine the clamp for the receiver is not hard to build. Mine is 3/4 thick aluminum, with a 1/8 pin to place up next to the receiver box to prevent slipping. On mine it would not have been necessary as the barrel was not very tight. I placed the barrel clamp in mill vice with the vice jaws assisting the clamp screws and turned the action clamp with the Crescent "auto" wrench in the foto. Butlers Rangers said the Krag barrels are remarkably interchangeable, that to me suggests that some will be tighter than others to make the sights line up.
If you do not have a mill and can not make the clamp, send me a private message and I can lend you mine.

The barrels are not that interchangable.  The 96 and earlier barrels are squared off at the breach end and the 98s are rounded over.  You can put a 98 barrel in a 94 or 96 receiver but not a early barrel in a later receiver.

Looks good. I have heard that some years had some lighter Italian walnut. Others will know the details better. I did just read that some process goes on with linseed soaked rags that cause spontaneous combustion. I can not remember if it was boiled or raw linseed oil. In any case it does not hurt to be careful.
How well did the sight and extractor cut line up? Did you have to fudge a little under or over tightening?
Also it would not hurt to check the relative head spacing. An  unfired case in the chamber without the firing pin removed will tell you a lot. Since you are pretty handy with tools, checking the difference in feeler gauges between the bolt rib and receiver, with the bolt pushed forward then backward, would tell you a lot.

'skeet1' - Your photo is not close-up enough to see your stock's wood grain. The color appears to be Italian walnut. Italian walnut stocks have a distinctive grain that is different than American black walnut. (Lots of them have burl and 'tiger stripe').
IIRC, 33,000 Italian walnut stock blanks were purchased in 1899. The Krags using these stocks will usually have 'cartouche dates' of 1899, 1900, and 1901. Some of these stocks were stained at some point. Probably so that they were more uniform with a unit's other Krags.

From what I have read, Krag and 1903 Springfield black walnut stocks (also 1873 Springfield stocks, I bet) were stained with 'logwood stain'.This was done until the late 1920s and gave the walnut issue stocks a reddish-brown color. This was done prior to the stocks being dipped into heated vats of raw linseed oil.

Staining with 'logwood' was discontinued as an armory economy move, in 1928.


You can use the KCA search box and enter "Italian stocks" to bring up prior postings on this subject.

'Skeet1' - Looks like you did a fine job with your Krag restoration.

We need a range report on the "new" barrel!

'Skeet1' - Much to my surprise and against my early assumptions, I have come to believe all of the manufacturing, proofing, and finish operations were performed on Krag barrels, (including extractor notch, sight holes, front sight base, and index mark), prior to the barrel being screwed on to the receiver.

This had to require very careful gauging of parts and 'timing' of the barrel and receiver threads.

A lot of the manufacturing process was documented by 'Scientific American' in April and May of 1899.

Franklin Mallory used a lot of the 'Scientific American' articles in the early chapters of "The Krag Rifle Story".

If you enter Sientific American in the KCA Forum 'search window', you may be able to pull up some posts with manufacturing content.

Well today was the day I shot my Krag at paper and for the first go round it grouped at about 3". With some practice I'm sure the group will come down at least another inch. What I am using is 47.0 gr. of WC872, Winchester brass and primers, and for a bullet the Lyman 314299 sized .311. With this load it shoots to point of aim at my 80 yd. range. The barrel I replaced would not hit the paper.