Describing the condition is not always easy, and that one would not grade very high on the standardized NRA scale (somewhere between "Good" and "Very Good" I'd think) but, they ARE "rare". Someone has cleaned part of the wood. Steel wool and solvent would improve the metal some, but not enough to make it smooth, and you'd remove a lot of color in the process. I don't think I'd want to pay more than about $2500 for it.

Dick Hosmer wrote on Nov 27^th, 2019 at 2:23pm:



Thank you very much.

I have messed around with both Gallery Practice Rifles (GPR) and with Stevens-Popes (SP) for a few years now.  Here's how I look at them:

The SP was made as a barrel only (and maybe it came with a front sight), And was D&T for the Krag rear sight of any type.  When you buy (big bucks) a complete SP Krag, you are buying a SP barrel and it better be at least shootable.  The rest of the rifle really has no more value than a complete collection of parts.

To me, if you can't get an original SP barrel to shoot (and they are worth a lot of bronze brush & JB work), then you have something that is probably worth a lot less than you just paid. 

I would be very skeptical about lining, simply because the exterior of the barrel is NOT concentric with the bore.  To me, that is a job for a skilled machinist who knows what the problem is BEFORE he puts the barrel on his lathe.   John Taylor is the first guy I would call. 

If a SP Krag that had been relined came around, I don't think I'd chance more than 60 % of the value of a good one.  They just ain't the same.

The GPRs were made about 1908-09.  The two I have handled were not as smooth in operation as a regular Krag.  Maybe they were not heat-treated, since they were .22 rimfires only, not .30-40s.  The first production run were chambered for .22 Extra Long and have groove diameters of about 0.226" and 18" twist rifling.  They will shoot .22 Long Rifles safely, but accuracy is minimal.  IMHO, this bunch are over-priced curios.

The later production GPRs were fitted with barrels that were correct for .22 Long Rifle cartridges.  They shoot pretty well, but a real slick Krag they ain't.  Others think they are worth as much as a good SP Krag.  I don't.

The reference books (reference to Brophy) tell us that the twist was 1:28.  Ballistically, that twist simply does not work. 

In Pope's Barrels, Ray Smith has a photo & description of an unfired barrel #836, 30" long, chambered for .22 Short and fitted to an 1896 carbine.  That barrel would have a 1:25" twist.  For 3 years, I used a Stevens-Pope 44 1/2 offhand rifle in .22 Short.  It had gain twist and the fastest (at the muzzle) was 1:24".  I have another Pope barrel in .22 Short (dated May, 1910) on a Winchester 52.  It has a 1:25" twist. 

A 28" twist would be pretty marginal for a 29-grain bullet.  And would not stabilize a 40-grain Long Rifle bullet, not even on a 25-yard indoor range.

My guess (never having slugged or measured one) is that a SP .22 cal Krag barrel would have 8 lands & grooves and a 1:16" twist.  That twist was standardized for the .22 Long Rifle cartridge back in the late 1880s.

Much is written about Peters "Stevens-Pope" Armory cartridges.  They were just ordinary .22 Long Rifle cartridges, 40 grain bullets, loaded with a case full of King's Semi-smokeless powder, giving BP velocities. The difference was that the bullet in the Armory load was crimped into the case. 

Back then, ordinary (and even match grade) Long Rifle ammunition was not crimped.  The bullet simply sat in the case.  All the rifles that used Long Rifle target cartridges were single shots, so uncrimped ammo was not a big deal.  Plus there was considerable argument among serious target shooters that crimping destroyed accuracy.

But the National Guard officers (guys like Charles Winder) recognized that uncrimped ammo was a problem with a military training rifle.  If you had to remove an unfired cartridge from the chamber of your SP Krag, the bullet was likely to stay in the chamber and the powder would spill all over the inside of your Krag's action.  So Peters "SP Armory" cartridges were crimped. 

With revolvers & repeaters like the Marlin, all .22s were crimped.