1898 Krag Rifle

Bittermansbro

Bittermansbro

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Well, I was going to post a prayer in the forum yesterday to the Milsurp God asking for forgiveness for not purchasing a good milsurp in over a month. Instead he has struck me down with the usual irony which can befall any shooter/collector when they least expect it.

Went into the shop today and just dicking about when the proprietor handed me a sweet 1898 Krag Rifle, with the majority of its original blueing, original replacement stock with 'P' mark but no inspectors and a 1902 Krag bayonet in a leather 'picket spike' or cavalry holster. Smooth action, bolt and parts look good and bore is absolutely smashing. Wouldn't say it was mint unfired, but not abused, and although its not clean-clean, I think it will turn out pretty nice when cleaned up.

Didn't take me long to hum and haw over the decision, the only reason it took so long was the fallout at home when I add another member to the family.

So I bought it. But alas, the Milsurp God had yet more irony in store. The rifle, although having supposedly been previously registered, did not show up as being registered anywhere in the system, so I wasn't able to bring the rifle home today and have no pics....yet.

But I did get to bring home the bayo to tide me over until I get the rifle.

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Now all I need for my US martial arms collection is a nice Model of 1917 rifle.
 
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The rifle I would say is in better condition, it even came with a brass nose cap protector thing that fits over the barrel and cups the front sight. Quite neat!
 
Does anyone have a Krag of their own (for four or five :p ) And for those who do, what do you think of them, how are they, what are they like shooting. Any issues or problems encountered etc etc.

Thanks
 
Claven2 said:
Talk to BadgerDog - he's got a soft spot for Krags...
Click to expand...

I haven't had the chance to start building the U.S. Service Rifles section of our MKB (Milsurp Knowledge Base), but once I do, the Krags will be amongst the first entries.

They are a bit difficult to find in Canada, yet the pricing on them here seems to be much lower than in the U.S. where there's more of them. Pricing is highly dependent upon condition, the correctness of parts for a given model and type, plus the year of manufacture. Carbines seem to attract higher prices than rifles, but you have to make sure you're getting a legitimate carbine and not a cut-down rifle, which seems to be a common occurrence. It's almost impossible for anyone to give you a reasonable price estimate without getting a whole lot of information about your new Krag, plus some reasonably good photos to determine it's correctness.

Model 1899 Krag (Caliber 30-40) Carbine
(Mfg by Springfield in 1901)

(Click PIC to Enlarge)

Model 1899 Krag Carbine (33 picture virtual tour ... click here)http://imageevent.com/badgerdog/unitedstatesservicerifles/1899krag3040carbine


Model 1898 Krag (Caliber 30-40) Rifle
(Mfg by Springfield in 1899)
Regimental Marking "5th 24 D"

(Click PIC to Enlarge)

Model 1898 Krag Rifle (94 picture virtual tour ... click here)http://imageevent.com/badgerdog/unitedstatesservicerifles/1898krag3040rifle224970


Model 1898 Krag (Caliber 30-40) Rifle
(Mfg by Springfield in 1902)

(Click PIC to Enlarge)

Model 1898 Krag Rifle (37 picture virtual tour ... click here)http://imageevent.com/badgerdog/unitedstatesservicerifles/1898krag3040rifle


One Handed Krag Bolt Removal !!!
(Picture courtesy of Parashooter)

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Why you have to be careful collecting Krags!!
(available on eBay) :eek: :eek: :eek:


(Click PIC to Enlarge)

I've found these two sites very useful in learning more about Krags and finding some real experts to help me out.

Krag Collectors Association (click here)http://www.kragcollectorsassociation.org/

Popular Krag Messaging Forum (click here)http://www.jouster.com/cgi-bin/krag/krag.pl

Regards,
Badger
 
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Thanks Badger, thats good info, I would like if possible to contribute some of my US stuff to the MKB when you get it up.

In looking at your Krags (real nice treasures BTW), I question now the year of manufacture of the one I purchased. Its number is 2 something something 205 (can't remember the second and third nums) Is it 1898 or '99 do you think?

Secondly, the stock doesn't have an inspector stamp, but it does have the fancy 'P' behind the trigger, a replacement stock perhaps?
 
Bittermansbro said:
..........In looking at your Krags (real nice treasures BTW), I question now the year of manufacture of the one I purchased. Its number is 2 something something 205 (can't remember the second and third nums) Is it 1898 or '99 do you think?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure about your stock, however, it sure sounds like a legitimate replacement stock given the "P" in a circle inspector's mark, which means that the rifle has successfully undergone proof firing. Are there any other marks on the wood anywhere?

In reference to the serial number, if you look in our MKB (Milsurp Knowledge Base) under the Links to Milsurp Collector Web Sites and Discussion Forums (click here)http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=77737, you'll find a section dedicated to the Krag Rfiles. I've reproduced it here. Note the bottom link. Go there and type in your serial number and you should get back the manufacturing date based upon Springfield's records and The Krag Rifle Story by Franklin B. Mallory.

Krag Rifles Collector Web Sites & Forums

Jouster's Krag Rifles Collectors Forumhttp://www.jouster.com/cgi-bin/krag/krag.pl

Krag Collectors Association Main Web Sitehttp://www.kragcollectorsassociation.org/

Surplusrifleforum.com - Krag Rifles Forum (requires registration)http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/viewforum.php?f=24

Krag Collectors Association Forumhttp://schlafe.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl

Fr. Frog's Krag Rifles Web Sitehttp://www.frfrogspad.com/kragrifl.htm

Wikipedia's Krag-Jørgensen Rifles Pagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krag-Jørgensen

U.S. Military Krag Serial # LOOK-UP - Model 1892 to 1899 covering #'s: 1 - 484000http://oldguns.net/sn_php/mildateslookup.php?file=us_krag.dat
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So, for sake of argument, if you typed in 222205, you get back the following:

The year of manufacture for serial number 222205 is 1899.

Krag Model Production Summary:

1892 Rifle - 24562
1892 Carbine - 2
1896 Rifle - 61897
1896 Carbine - 22493
1898 Rifle - 324283
1898 Carbine - 5002
1899 Carbine - 36051
1896 Cadet Rifle - 404
Parkhurst Rifles & Carbines (included in 1898 rifle and 1899 carbine totals above) - 200
Sniper Rifle - 6
Board Ordnance & Fortification Rifle (26) - 100
Cal. 22 Gallery Practice - 465

Reference: Franklin B. Mallory & Ludwig E. Olson, The Krag Rifle Story, (Second Edition), Silver Spring, MD, 2001.
Click to expand...

Regards,
Badger
 
Thank you for the links, info is good.

Firstly, I screwed up my serial, its 127205 which puts it in the Springfield records as being between:

127195 - 98R - 98 - CO K 4TH TENN VOL INF -
127229 - 98R - 121798 - CO L 3RD KY VOL INF -

So could have gone to either regiment I guess?

The stock doesn't have any other marks other than the P, I haven't taken it apart yet, although I recall some small stamp(s) above the P closer to the trigger guard, just can't remember what it or they are. The blue is a bit worn on the mag plate and at the muzzle from either the bayonet or the brass muzzle protector, but the remainder is good throughout, the extractor being fire blued.
 
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