Kraig carbine with interesting question about it

An impulse purchase has made me the owner of an altered carbine. I paid 500 dollars versus the 350 I thought it was worth but it looked so nice I "had to have it". Now I am trying to figure out what I have. It's my first Kraig. Briefly, the receiver is a model 1898 SA with a SN of 132620. The stock looks all correct, butt plate, saddle ring, cartouches bottom and side. The date on the side cartouche either 1898 or 1896. Since reading on this forum that the 1898 one is almost does not exist I assume it must the the 1896? Now the strange part. The barrel sports an 1896 rifle sight on the rear and a 1903 type slip on sight on the front. The barrel is marked right behind the front sight is marked like a 1903 Springfield. S A, bomb below it, and 1 08 below that. The top side has a P. The gun chambers a 30-40 round but not a 30-06. Were Kraig barrels marked like this or is it possible someone has fit an altered 1903 barrel on the gun? Oh, almost forgot, the barrel length is 22.5 inches. Why would someone do this instead of making it the standard 22 inches?

I would greatly appreciate comments of any kind about this carbine. I understand what I bought for 500 dollars. I know pictures would help but I am barely camera literate at this time.

I am far from an expert, but it sounds like someone installed an '03 barrel on your Krag and chambered it for .30-40. Pretty sure that Krag barrels were not being made in '08.

The '96 sight is not uncommon on a '98 rifle.

daveboy

It does sound like it's a mix and match. There'll be someone else along shortly that will give you a for sure answer here.

FWIW, I have seen a few Krag carbines around that were rebarreled or made up using 1903/'03a3 barrels. A friend has one with '03 bbl. and modified '03 stock. According to him the work was done at Bannermans Island Arsenal but so far I have'nt found any information to support the claim.

Using a 1903 barrel to re-barrel a Krag was fairly common practice when '03 and 03A3 barrels were relatively cheap. The DCM still had brand new 2 groove barrels available for $1.00 in the early 1980's. And many of the early re-barreled Krag sporters appear to have been done with used barrels.. I have had several old deer dogs put back into service this way for myself and others. If you cut off just the threaded portion of the breech, then re-thread with the smaller Krag thread, you will wind up with a barrel just about 22 1/2" long. The Krag reamer will then clean up the .30-06 chamber and remove 1 1/2" of wear in the throat of a used '03 barrel. Excellent results, the contour of the barrels is about the same. Sadly, the price of a good 1903 barrel (usable for a 1903 restoration) is now about $200.

we all start somewhere , enjoy your rifle , 'research and learn' , a real krag carbine would have been much more and it sounds you have a lot of valuable parts should you choose that route ,

I believe what you have is an original 98 krag reciever manufactured in Sept of 98. The barrel is common for a bannermans weapon. Might be a good shooter just as it is. Having the carbine reciever gives you a leg up on building a correct carbine. A good buy In my opinion.

The comments above could explain why there is a Krag "original" carbine for a sale at a local shop for $600 but the true carbines I have seen are around $2400. I will take a light and a magnifying glass and go check it out close.

good idea , the carbine is the area of krag-dom that is the problem when it comes to buying/spending , if its not a 99 there are no guarantees , they are the only krags that are strictly carbines , and there are so many deer rifles made from krag rifles that it is neccessary to do the research and be certain if you are spending big bucks ,

if its a cheap buy - have at it , the parts can bring big bucks

A common parctice was to cut rifles to carbines.
MANY ARE VERY GOOD.
Some, SOME, were actually arsenel works.

With no documentation.......no provonance.

The nice ones--like mine!--are nice.

Paul
Houston, Texas