1896 krag questions ?

OK , I've been out of the loop on Krags for some years. A buddy has an 1896 Krag rifle he's thinking of selling. Anyhow the stock is gorgeous with a prominent 1896 cartouche where it's supposed to be. Metal overall is plum/brownish with some fine pitting on the action area. Bore is perfect. It has a later issue rear sight on it if that affects value to any degree. So my question is what is the high and low end of value on such a rifle currently ?. I am considering buying or swapping for it if for nothing else to help him out. Any help greatly appreciated.

1896 rifles with correct and clear cartouches are much more scarce than most would think.

Gewehr,

That sounds like an A-list rifle to me. A '96 was almost certainly in a soldier's hands during the Spanish American War, and 60-40 saw service in Cuba or the Philipines. The Krag guys do the happy dance any time they get a decent rifle for under $1,000. From your description this one coould be woth a lot more. The guy is your friend, treat him right. If you can't come up with a fair price, help him sell it. If it's not worth $2K now, it will be soon enough. Five nice Mausers would be a good trade, or a decent Trapdoor. A Navajo squash bossom necklace, keeto (arm guard), bracelet, belt buckle and bolo, matching, would be pretty good. A signed first edition of "Old Man and the Sea" ... you get the picture.

Good luck!

jn

Thanks for the input guys. I shared the data with my friend and convinced him it's a keeper.So now he want's to find a right proper 1896 model rear sight assembly. Anone have one do tell !. I know he'd swap and add $$ with his rear sight for it. Oh and some fellas wondered about the serial...it's three digit.

G98,

the whole issue of "correct" sights, wood, etc. has been batted around on this list and the Culver site The consenus seems to be, "if it came from the Arsenal, it's correct." Most Krags got modified in-service. A rifle or carbine that made it all the way without losing its original configuration is rare, and an arsenal mod should be looked at as "information" rather than as a blemish. I would advise your friend to leave the gun alone. If he wants to spend $, buy some cases and dies, load up some shells and take it to the range. And get a good sling. You can buy repros that are pretty good for AROUND $40.

JN

1896 rifle with 3 digits?????

your thinking a 92/96 ? ill agree , my 92/96 is four digit , and dated to 1894 ,

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Originally Posted by gew98

Thanks for the input guys. I shared the data with my friend and convinced him it's a keeper.So now he want's to find a right proper 1896 model rear sight assembly. Anone have one do tell !. I know he'd swap and add $$ with his rear sight for it. Oh and some fellas wondered about the serial...it's three digit.

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There is no such thing as a 3 digit 1896.

1892/1896. An 1892 altered to 1896 format. Those exist of course.

Can't just swap the rear sight if it's a model later than the 1896 - the handguard matches the sight base and the 1898/1901/1902 have a different size base. He'd have to swap handguard and sight.

Pictures? Serial? Depending on the serial I'm going to ask for some specific pictures.....

---------- Post added at 11:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:17 PM ----------

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Originally Posted by jon_norstog

G98,

the whole issue of "correct" sights, wood, etc. has been batted around on this list and the Culver site The consenus seems to be, "if it came from the Arsenal, it's correct." Most Krags got modified in-service.
JN

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That is completely correct. It's even worse than that - they played musical chairs with rear sights on guns before they were even issued. Wander through storage pulling and installing different ones. Large numbers of rifles were finished without sights and had them added later.

On the 1898 rifles, the later ones, the only one who knows what the "original" sight is would be Cleo. Assuming she still has her crystal ball.