Been looking for a Krag that has been sportered and found these and original Krags in general to be pretty far and few. Or rough sporters demanding fairly hefty price. Had krags been common back when milsurps were a dime a dozen or they always been rare birds?
Krag sporters
- Thread starter mctrigger
- Start date
They were never common or cheap from my knowledge.
The first time I saw a Krag, was just over 60 years ago
The Marshall Wells store in Vernon BC had twenty, well used but serviceable Carbines in their rifle section.
Likely came in by the retailer management.
They were $20 each, which was expensive, compared to the Mausers/Enfields/Lee Enfields beside them at $12 each and in pristine condition. Ammo was hard to find as well. The chain only imported the rifles, no ammunition, surplus or commercial.
Later, Alan Lever imported a couple of hundred carbines and rifles that ranged in condition from good to excellent. The cheapest were $35 and went up to $75 for exc grade rifles. Most of the carbines had been FTRed and cut back in the process. The carbines had the most use.
The Krags were never as numerous and were only in first line service for a couple of decades at most. They were relegated to rear echelon service until the end of WWII, maybe a bit longer as training rifles or parade rifles.
There was a time, when you could purchase them as complete barreled actions to make up your own sporter, which was the flavor of the day back then.
Especially in the US, the Krags had quite a following and gunsmiths, as well as bubbas bought them up in quantity just to sporterize.
The first time I saw a Krag, was just over 60 years ago
The Marshall Wells store in Vernon BC had twenty, well used but serviceable Carbines in their rifle section.
Likely came in by the retailer management.
They were $20 each, which was expensive, compared to the Mausers/Enfields/Lee Enfields beside them at $12 each and in pristine condition. Ammo was hard to find as well. The chain only imported the rifles, no ammunition, surplus or commercial.
Later, Alan Lever imported a couple of hundred carbines and rifles that ranged in condition from good to excellent. The cheapest were $35 and went up to $75 for exc grade rifles. Most of the carbines had been FTRed and cut back in the process. The carbines had the most use.
The Krags were never as numerous and were only in first line service for a couple of decades at most. They were relegated to rear echelon service until the end of WWII, maybe a bit longer as training rifles or parade rifles.
There was a time, when you could purchase them as complete barreled actions to make up your own sporter, which was the flavor of the day back then.
Especially in the US, the Krags had quite a following and gunsmiths, as well as bubbas bought them up in quantity just to sporterize.
Eaglelord17
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Sault Ste. Marie
Well my understanding of the Krag, specifically the US one is part of the reason they are so uncommon in military configuration is because most were converted to hunting rifles. They had a very short service life in the USA being the first smokeless powder rifle adopted by them and not even lasting 9 years as the primary weapon. Total US production was only about 500k of all variants which when you consider that say a M1903 Springfield had approximately 3 million built that's a 1:6 ratio just off the hop. Then many were also were surplused before WWII, which meant as it was still very early for smokeless powder rifles (much of the military surplus of that era was black powder service arms such as Trapdoors, Martini-Henrys, Vetterlis) it was one of the best surplus firearms to buy. You had a handy smokeless cartridge with a smooth bolt which would make a fantastic hunting rifle (the main reason to buy a rifle at that point, people didn't have the spare money to buy the novelties we do now).
Most are in the USA still, though there is some in Canada. But with the low numbers produced combined with a large number sporterized and the demand that comes with being a American service arm you don't see much of them around.
Most are in the USA still, though there is some in Canada. But with the low numbers produced combined with a large number sporterized and the demand that comes with being a American service arm you don't see much of them around.
turbo_bird
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Kamloops, BC
I've been looking for one for a while too, but they don't come up very often. I just missed out on a Norwegian boys carbine on the ee a few years ago, that would have been neat to have. The one I'd really love to have is a target rifle version. A couple of my uncle's in Norway used to have them, but nobody seems to really know what has happened to them over the years. Exporting guns out of Norway apparently isn't easy either, probably part of the reason why places like Tradex hardly ever have any Norwegian guns for sale.
Kristian
Kristian
That makes sense. With the short military life. They are such cool firearms. The true sporters that Westley Richards and others made are absolutely stunning. For a hunting or target rifle they seem fantastic. I suppose with a better understanding when one shows up in good shape I better not hesitate.
Last edited:
Hi mct. The U.S. Krag in 30-40 was a pleasant rifle to fire in full military configuration but like the '03 Springfield the foresight was thin. We made our own cases way back using .303 Brit. A U.S. Krag sported was uncommon because of the cost of the imported ammo. Much more common in a sporter was the M1894 Norwegian Krag in 6.5mm. In fact a Norwegian Krag in full military is pretty rare in Canada today. The
Danish Krag had a cooling tube similar to the GEW 88 and its 8mm round was pleasant to shoot as well. I have never seen one sported. All the Krags worked well. Bayonets were expensive to get. All in all a good system and well made. The odd sporter appears at gun shows. JOHN
Danish Krag had a cooling tube similar to the GEW 88 and its 8mm round was pleasant to shoot as well. I have never seen one sported. All the Krags worked well. Bayonets were expensive to get. All in all a good system and well made. The odd sporter appears at gun shows. JOHN
Thanks for the insight John. Much appreciated
