Looking at an 1896 Krag, opinions welcome

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Originally Posted by Salt Flat

LJ, I like it. I can't pass these up if the price is right. Granted they aren't a big "collector" rifle, but I consider myself a collector and have collected several cut down Krag rifles. I think the 03 front sight is the way to go. Also the 1896 it is a little more rare than an 1898. I have one with the exact same scope mount. An old Weaver or Lyman Alaskan would make the whole package look a little more vintage. Salt Flat

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I'm liking this one more and more. I took it to the range today to see what she could do. I fired 9 rounds off the bench at 25 yards. It was right at point of aim and had several holes touching. I'm more than happy with that from a 117 year old rifle.

---------- Post added at 09:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:57 PM ----------

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Originally Posted by WarPig1976

Never heard of "srin ield Armory" before but, they sure do make a nice rifle.!!....;)

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Bubba picked the perfect spot for the holes, and didn't even bother to deburr them. Sheesh!

That looks pretty decent to me. All the Krags made before 1898 were issued to active-duty troops during the Spanish American War. I did the math once, and it seemed like 1/4 of the weapons in-service at that time would have gone to Cuba.

Cuban service was pretty tough. It was hot and rainy and the troops mostly bivouacked. They didn't have much in the way of supplies and they tended to use the grease from salt pork to keep their weapons from rusting completely. When the troops came back, a lot of their Krags were handed in for arsenal overhauls.

This process was repeated for weapons coming back from the Philippines - a lot of them were refurbed at Benicia Arsenal in California.

HTH

jn