Ahoy, all! Stumbled on this site awhile back and have been trying to read up on the wealth of great info here. As long as I'm here, might as well share with you my puzzler.

I was recently bequeathed an 1898 Kragicon rifle by a long time, older amigo. Last time he took it out he and his partners bagged three deer with it in one weekend, but that was about 45 years ago. He knew I love old milsurp rifles, and when I asked him to show me his Krag a while back he was happy to oblige. When he saw how much I liked it he said "It's yours."

Brought it home and disassembled it to clean and evaluate it in detail, and the stock fell in two on me via a crack in the usual place. I've got a replacement stock from Boyd's I'm fitting and finishing, and am looking to return it to more or less the configuration (if not the condition) it would have been in when in service. But here's the puzzler: the stock that came to me had no cartouche, no pressure tests or inspector's marks of any kind, yet it is clearly quite old. Finish remaining is maybe 20% (receiver in the white), but the thing that has me puzzled is this -- the barrel is 29.5". It's not 30", it's 29.5. Serial number indicates probable mfg date ~1902.

The stock had been shortened, with the section forward of the lower barrel band removed. The lower barrel band is not a rifle band, though, but a carbine band, and the stock had been fitted with two screw-in carbine sling swivels (sling came with it, but I think it is a later Springfield 1903A3 sling). It wasn't chopped or bubbaed, but it doesn't look quite like an armory job, either. Attached pic shows a very similar rifle, though this isn't mine.

I suspect it may have been re-crowned (haven't shot it yet but it is reportedly very accurate) and I suspect the wood was reconfigured by somebody who knew what he was doing and had access to spare parts.

Anybody got any thoughts?

Thanks!!
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