Helli to the forum: I recently picked up a krag bayonet dated 1896. It will not fit on either of my 1898 krag rifles.the catch goes on ok it is the ferrule that is too small to go on the barrel. Was there a difference in barrel diameter between rifles? I have a 1901 dated bayonet that fits both rifles. There is no rust or Mark's on the inside of the ferrule.  Were these bayonets used on any other rifles? Maybe with a larger barrel diameter. It is smaller by quite a bit. You would have to real twist it hard to get it on the krag barrel. Any ideas?

I measured the inside ferrule it is .612. I think it is a krag bayonet. I could be wrong on that. Were these used on any other rifles?  I cleaned the grime out with steel wool. You would really have to force this on the barrel to get it to fit.

I guess it's the lighting in the photo that looks like gunk or paint. The inner ring is clean with no obstructions. It still does not fit. I left the rest of the bayonet "as found". It seems to be about 8 thousands of an inch undersize.  I did not want to ream it out until I learned more about it. Thanks for the help.

This problem is often the result of the ring being "squooshed" at some time, making the opening oval instead of round. Did you try measuring the opening at several points? Any difference?