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1901 Carbine vs Rifle Sight Differences (Read 1278 times)
Whig
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1901 Carbine vs Rifle Sight Differences
Dec 1st, 2018 at 1:55am
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I just learned something I have been searching for a while to learn and it is from an old post from butlersrangers from March 2013 in an old Krag forum post.

I recently was fortunate to find an authentic 1898 Krag carbine that appears to be all correct as an 1899 rebuild. It is wearing a nice 1901 carbine sight that shows excellent matching patina to the rest of the carbine. I was concerned that the slide did not have the tiny "c" marking on the left side, but the two other "c"s are clear and correct. I have been searching for a replacement slide with the "c" mark to make my carbine essentially 100% correct. I have not had any luck in doing so yet.

But, the 2013 post and pictures (copied from the post below- credit and thanks given) from butlersrangers shows that the 1901 carbine slide ladder has parallel sides and that the slide is NOT interchangeable with the 1901 rifle slide.

I pulled out my carbine and a Krag with a 1901 rifle sight and examined and compared them closely. The rifle slide has non-parallel ladder sides that allow the slide to shift as you adjust it to correct for drift with elevation changes. My carbine sight has a ladder that has parallel sides that do not adjust or shift for drift correction.  I did not know this or ever notice the difference in the slides or ladders.

I believe that the differences in shooting distances and the bullet weight often used for the carbines did not need the drift adjustment as the rifles did.

So, the fact that my slide does not have the "c" mark probably means that it has just worn off the slide because it was small and that part of the slide does get a lot of wear.

I feel better now that I probably do not need to replace the slide on my 1901 Carbine sight for my 1898 carbine.

Does this sound correct? I would like to know if the experts would agree with this conclusion or do I need to keep looking?

Again, I give credit and thanks to butlersrangers for the great educational post and picture that I copied.
  
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butlersrangers
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Re: 1901 Carbine vs Rifle Sight Differences
Reply #1 - Dec 1st, 2018 at 3:11am
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I am not sure whether or not rifle and carbine slides can function on the wrong leaf.

A better clue might be the shape of the sight notches and size of the aperture hole.

The two sights in my photo, carbine and rifle, are different in this regard.

BTW - The carbine (20 inch) and Board of Ordnance rifle (26 inch) barrels did not show the extreme and peculiar drift pattern of the 30 inch rifle barrel.

Drift in the short barrels was less and predictably to the right.

The 30" Krag rifles angled bullets to the, left upon leaving the muzzle. (Harmonics)?
At about 1,000 yards, bullet drift to the right brought the rifle fired projectile back to the center-line. Bullet drift continued to the right, past 1,000 yards.

I don't understand the drift angle used on the 1901 rifle sight. It seems to me the drift compensation should have been like a 'banana curve' - moving the eye-piece to the right and then back to the center and then slowly to the left.

This whole phenomena had to be driving the smart guys at Springfield Nuts!
  
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Culpeper
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Re: 1901 Carbine vs Rifle Sight Differences
Reply #2 - Dec 1st, 2018 at 3:31am
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here is a paper on the M1905 sight.  It has a similiar build.

(You need to Login to view media files and links)

Also, I pulled my collection of rifle sights.  Using the magic mad scientist goggles I checked to make sure my memory was not faulty.  The slides are marked with a teeny tiny C.

See modified photo.  Perhaps your sight has remnats of the mark under a bright light?

You know, Whig.  I am over by Gettysburg so if you ever need a second Krag opinion or need someone to shoot up your ammo for you I'll be there for you.  Grin


  

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Whig
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Re: 1901 Carbine vs Rifle Sight Differences
Reply #3 - Dec 1st, 2018 at 1:21pm
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Thanks for the further thoughtful information. If consistent, the rifle sight seems to have a smaller aperture and a larger slide screw on the left. These are clues I'll look at.
I have looked at the slide under 10x mag and don't see any remnants of a "c". I'll look again just to triple check. But the two clues above, if consistent with these respective sights, should differentiate them.

Appreciate the info.

Culpeper- I'm in southern, Ohio now. Used to live in Ellicott City area and visit Frederick all the time with a friend. We have shot together in Frederick since college days in the early 80s. He doesn't have the land anymore so it's only on ranges in Frederick, now. We have lots of long distance shooting land where I live as well as historic firearm shooting at our member range. Krags are always welcome!
  
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butlersrangers
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Re: 1901 Carbine vs Rifle Sight Differences
Reply #4 - Dec 2nd, 2018 at 5:32am
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When I get home from traveling, I will look at several model 1901 rifle sights, that I have, and see if there is a consistent difference in the 'slides' from my one carbine example.
  
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