Hello all,

I joined the forum back in May, but am finally getting around to posting up my 'hello' and a photo of my rifle.  My son got me interested in early military rifles after he purchased a Yugo Mauser.  I like unusual stuff with history, so the Krag-Jorgensen quickly piqued my interest.  I am fortunate that my boss at work is a long-time gun collector, and as we got to talking about his collection I learned that he had two Krag rifles.  Soon, one was mine.  It's a Pattern 1898 manufactured in 1903 (per the serial no.).  There are no proof marks or cartouches on the stock, but that doesn't bother me.  Overall it's in good-very good condition, though I had to refinish the stock to rid it of a nasty varnish job.  My boss sweetened the deal with a bayonet (dated 1902) in a picket pin pouch.  After refinishing the stock, replacing a broken ejector, and having the gun checked out by a local gunsmith, I had the immense pleasure of firing a box of Remington ammo through the gun for the first time.  What a blast!  I can definitely see why the Krag has such a following!

My son and I were at this month's Washington Arms Collector gun show today with our list of goodies we need to go along with our rifles.  I scored a box of Super X ammo for $25, then a full box of Peters "High Velocity" ammo for $15 (as seen in the attached photo).  The Peters ammo will display nicely.  Then we  came across a seller with 53 rounds of cleaned and de-primed, once-shot brass for $8 so I bought that, too.  I bought a set of Lee Pacesetter dies last month so a friend can reload for me.  Now I'm thinking about doing it myself.  I have a question about the brass, though, which I will post in the ammunition area.

I've been going through the various topics on this forum and have found a ton of great information.  My next step will be to formally join the Association.

Brian