Help with new krag

I just received two Krags from a relative. I believe they were used in a VFW. The blueing appears to have been done over with some kind of silver finnish. and the stock appears to have been varnished. From what I can tell it is still functioning, just missing a rear sight piece. I was wondering if anyone could tell me anymore on this, is this common from VFW? and if anyone has ever gotten one and reblued it and fired it. the serial number is 3869##. I'm going to try and attach a couple of pics. Any help is very much appreciated. thanks

Quite common. I have one that was parkerized, that came to me from a veteran's organization in the Carolinas. Be aware that the chambers were reamed out on many of these rifles. If the cartridge falls all the way in, that's probably been done, or if the brass comes out looking like a shotgun shell, that will also be the case. They were mostly not left full length like the one you have pictured. Serial # you've listed would have been made in March 1902. There's a good chance that underneath the barrel you'll find an orange colored wood, Italian Walnut used circa 1901, 1902. I think that removal of the chrome is an expensive proposition.

I appreciate all the help

Chrome removal can be done, but it is not easy. I stripped the chrome from one old VFW rifle, and finished it with zinc phosphate parkerizing. It was a very interesting project, but not really worth the effort unless you are interested in that sort of thing. If that's the case, there is plenty of good info at the Caswell plating forum: http://forum.caswellplating.com/. Many times the lettering was partially buffed off the receivers before the chrome plating process, and if you strip the chrome and refinish, the lettering will only get worse.

For rear sight parts you can try DeChristopher Militaria http://dechristophermilitaria.com/ and SS Firearms http://www.ssfirearms.com/

Dupage Trading and Springfield Sporters occasionally have Krag parts.

What kind of condition is the bore in?

I'd like to restore it if it is in a shootable condition. If after I bring it to a local smith and he tells me it's junk and not shootable then i'll just stop there. I cleaned the bore up this past weekend on both of them. Some light pitting in one both have very strong rifling still. The wording on the reciever is still very deep and readable. The stock needs to be redone as well, they put some kind of laquer on it. What is the original finnish on the metal, was it blueing or park? And does anyone know what was used for the stock, linseed or tung? Any and all help is much appreciated.

Originally, the receiver was grey case-hardened and the rest of the parts were blued. Krag extractors were case hardened and finished in a variety of ways according to what I've read - I have seen some extractors that were blue or purple. The bolt was left bright.

The original stock finish would have been raw linseed oil. They may have also used logwood stain on these, but I'm not sure. I know they used logwood on the early Model 1903s at Springfield.

If you look around you may be able to find some paint stripper that won't be too hard on the original finish, if there is any remaining underneath the varnish.

So the silvery shiny finnish my bolt is correct? I thought they had plated the bolt too. Thanks.

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Originally Posted by nc_leatherneck

I just received two Krags from a relative. I believe they were used in a VFW. The blueing appears to have been done over with some kind of silver finnish. and the stock appears to have been varnished. From what I can tell it is still functioning, just missing a rear sight piece. I was wondering if anyone could tell me anymore on this, is this common from VFW? and if anyone has ever gotten one and reblued it and fired it. the serial number is 3869##. I'm going to try and attach a couple of pics. Any help is very much appreciated. thanks

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Try soaking the end of the barrel in an inch or so of concentrated Simple Green cleaner in the jugs they sell at the Home Improvement (dont cut it...use it full strength). I once removed the thin chrome from a flash suppressor this way. If it works, you'll have to build a soak tank for the barreled action out of some pvc pipe from Lowes, and invest in a couple of gallons of SG concentrated cleaner. Sometimes real alkaline substances like oven cleaner (or anything with lye in it - use safety gloves and goggles if you do this) can strip thin chrome plateing as well. You wont be able to do much with the receiver though even if you do remove the chrome....krag receivers dont take cold blueing well at all. High nickel content perhaps?

I think if you strip the stock you'll find an orangeish wood underneath like I said. A lot of these stocks were stained to better match the American walnut stocked rifles already in service/ To get that stain out my stripper recommends an application of white vinegar after applying the stripper. Haven't tried it myself, I have one the Italian walnut stocks that has been stained, but I'm afraid to do much to it

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Originally Posted by Kragnut

You wont be able to do much with the receiver though even if you do remove the chrome....krag receivers dont take cold blueing well at all. High nickel content perhaps?

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I didn't know they were that hard to cold blue. I've seen blued Krag receivers before, but I never tried it myself (and I wouldn't personally do it unless it was a chrome rifle anyway). I think most of the Bannerman sporters from the 1920s were blued. Some of them look very nice, nice enough to pass for original if you didn't know better. I don't know if they were hot-blued or rust-blued.

According to Hatcher's notebook, Krag receivers were made from Springfield Armory Class C steel, the exact same as the low-number 1903s. The LN 1903 receivers were polished after case hardening and then rust-blued. I don't think Springfield Armory used any nickel steel parts at all before the 1920s. The good news is, that makes it safer to strip plating from.

If the Simple Green doesn't remove the chrome, you could try a dilute solution of Muriatic acid. It will definitely remove chrome if the part is fully degreased. The problem with soaking without any electrical current is that you won't have any control over which part of the surface is being etched. If you let it soak too long, it can start pitting base metal in some areas while other areas may still have intact plating. You will definitely want to plug the bore and fill the chamber with wax. If I had a rifle like this, I would remove the barrel from the receiver and strip them separately with 6 volt current in a very dilute solution.

Please let us know how it turns out!