There's a lot to learn about Krags! Heavy on pics

Well, I was really happy when we first found this buried in the back of my wife's mom's closet. Thought it was a beauty, had been there for decades. Started looking around at other Krags and thought mine had been sporterized (disappointed). Now I see there are carbines (happy). After reading lots of posts and checking the other forums, mine started looking better (happier yet!). Time to get your collective opinions. You are all knowledgeable (spell check!) and I value your experience. There is a groove for the oiler behind butplate too. thanks for your input.
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Hi, Does your mother in law have any other closets that need cleaning? Really great example of a late 1899 Carbine that was manufactured in 1901with 1901 rear sight and 1902 HG. I can't see in the photo, but the ladder should be graduated up to 23. There also should be a C on the slide and on the right side of the front sight. Cartouche is clean and not worn. When you measure the barrel, use a cleaning rod from muzzle to face of bolt. Should be 22" on the nose. Serial number is not listed in SRS. Congratulations on a very nice find. John

Thanks John, you called it: ladder sight goes to 23, there is a 3rd "c" on the rear sight slider, there is also a c on the right side of the front site and a cleaning rod measures 22" exactly from muzzle to bolt face.

Rancho, Rancho, RAANCHO! All I can say is holy crap!!! Most collectors only dream of finding such a nice Krag carbine. That is like winning the lottery! Congrats!! Salt Flat

Damn I like it lots

Mark, Sounds like you need books. regarding Krag: "The American Krag Rifle and Carbine" by Joe Poyer, relatively inexpensive, but not all info 100% ; "The Krag Rifle Story" by Franklin Mallory. very good, but expensive; "The Krag Rifle" by Lt.Col. William Brophy, very good, but expensive. Keep an eye on the auction sites. The first one runs about $22 and the other two hardcover expect to pay well over $100 each. Food for thought. Anyway since you already made out like a bandit, look for books. John

John, yea I saw those authors go by in some of the posts that I read. G/B has a real nice copy of Brophy's book for 140. I'll keep an eye out, but until I decide to expand in to more Krags there's not an immediate need... Like you guys said, enjoy the lottery when you can. Thanks again.

Rancho,

That is an unusually nice '99. You did good!
The carbine tells a story. It took the Army about 35 years to realize that cavalry charges were a thing of the past and that most cav fighting since the middle of the CW had been done dismounted. So they finally lost the "saddle ring" on the '99 carbines. The lanyard attachment was replaced by a scabbard, the trooper could draw the weapon as he dismounted.. The hump on the handguard is so the rear sight doesn't snag in the scabbard. Earlier carbines got the later updates, mostly. Some of them got sling swivels and a rifle-style handguard - supposedly they were issued to engineer and artillery units.

jn

Shooting it at 200 yards while testing some hand loads

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What it with the right loads. The group at 6 o'clock is using the Speer 180 grain JRN (.312") over 42 grains of IMR 4350

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What it looks like in detail

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This is my 1898 Krag Target rifle built by an unknown gunsmith in the early 50's. She shoots like she looks.

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Her best performance at 200 yards

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Wow! Two nice rifles! The 98 looks to be all original finish. Extremely nice condition. I really like the crisp finger grooves and unworn cartouches. The gunsmithing work on the target riflle is high quality. Do you have plans for a vintage scope on it ? Salt Flat

I looked into a vintage scope but after a while decided to stick with iron sights. I removed the originals and put them away for safe keeping and mounted a set of Redfield Palma sights. Have not shot the gun with them yet but will on my April range date. Going to do some serious ammo testing to see what it will actually do at range. The original Krag is being rebarreled right now. The previous owner had completely neglected the bore and while the gun shot OK it didn't shoot well enough for me to use it in competition. Fortunately, I can rebarrel and use it and then put the original back on to sell it if I ever decide to. I'm not modifying anything else on the gun except to have the trigger polished so it has a smoother letoff.
Keith

Shouldn't the cocking piece on a '99 carbine manufactured in 1901 have a knurled end less the knob? Mine does and I am wondering now?

The headless cocking piece was used on 99 carbines and 98 rifles from serial # 202000 to # 285000. Any others were likely switched sometime over the years.

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Originally Posted by andiarisaka

The headless cocking piece was used on 99 carbines and 98 rifles from serial # 202000 to # 285000. Any others were likely switched sometime over the years.

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Another lesson learned here,,,thank you so much

Beautiful! Love the original rifle. They both look like a lot of fun to shoot too. Very nice pics.

Interesting that the gunsmith added a forward action screw on the sporter. They were standard on Norwegian and Dane Krags but omitted on the US version