Here are more pictures

Barrel- Welcome to the Krag Collector's Association. You have found a friendly place to learn about Krags and anything else we might pretend to know about!

You have a very nice looking Model 1898 Krag rifle there. Thanks for the good pictures you posted. It looks like your rifle has its full length military stock that may or may not be original to this rifle but is correct for this Krag. It has been refinished at some point and the "cartouche" on the left side below the receiver has been worn away with the refinishing. It is a stamping of the date of approval of the rifle it was made for originally with the initials JSA which stand for the assistant armory foreman of that time John Sumner Adams. Many Krag stocks have this totally missing so you have a remnant of it at least. It's hard to read the original date from the picture you posted.

The Model 1898 serial number 200920, if I'm reading it correctly, was possibly made in late 1899, but I don't have the exact dates. Other posters may give a better estimate than me.

These rifles were made at Springfield Armory, as marked on the receiver. The "P" is a proof marking. The other marks I am unfamiliar with and have been debated here before. Some may represent simply production marks.

You have a Model 1901 rear sight which may have been original for your rifle also. The front sight looks correct. The barrel bands look correct. Is there anything in the butt trap under the metal cover? This is where the three piece cleaning rods and oiler are stored.

You may have an original sling on your rifle. That's a great thing because that adds about $100 to the value and it makes it much more appropriate for a military collectible to have a period sling. I can't see it all but it looks good.

The rifle takes 30-40 Krag ammunition which is still available but a little pricey. Many of us shoot factory loads and keep the brass to reload. Reloading is a great hobby with shooting and collecting the Krags.

Thanks for sharing!!

These might be better quality pictures of the markings.

'BarrelBaggins' - Welcome to the KCA Forum ... Nice looking Krag!

Your Krag, #200999, was originally assembled around May, 1899.

It is likely your Krag was refurbished at some point of time at Springfield Armory or at a U.S. Arsenal.

Stocks were skillfully scraped to remove minor blemishes and Linseed Oil applied. This might explain faintness of the markings.

When taken apart to restore appearance of serviceable parts, Krags were reassembled from a mixture of good parts, not likely the same parts they first wore.

As 'Whig' reported, the initials in the "Acceptance Cartouche" are J.S.A. in a fancy script; this actually stands for Joseph Sumner Adams.

The mark in front of your trigger-guard appears to be an 'eagle head' with letters under it, which I think is likely an inspection stamp from the WW1 period.

Attached is your photo, a similar mark on an Eddystone Model of 1917 rifle (Enfield), and a similar mark over 'JG' on another Krag.

You don't see that 'Eagle Stamp' very often on Krags and I don't believe its significance is exactly known.

(It or a variation is found often on Model 1917 rifles, both wood and receiver. It is considered an inspection & proof stamp).

Your rifle was likely - inspected and repaired as needed - sometime between 1904 and 1917, (maybe multiple times).

Krags were in use by some regular troops until around 1907-08. The national guard used them until around 1913-14.

During WW1, Krags were widely used as training rifles.

The US Navy had Krags on some ships maybe into WW2.

Krags were seeing some VFW use into the 1960's.

Paul, were original period Krag slings 64 inches in length? I have some slings I got on my Krags but don't know much about original ones and subsequent issued slings. If you are using your 50 inch sling for competition, are you wrapping it around your left fore arm? I would think 50 inches would be too short for that.

Thanks for the correction about JSA. Shows what a quick answer when there are distractions at the office will do!

Here are pictures of the sling. The sling is 70in long.