Finally found my Krag

[ssgross]

This was a VFW turn in that came through CMP in 2012.
My guess is it was refinished at some point. The bluing under the wood looks 100%, whereas the magazine door and side plate are more like 10%. The barrel is 80% or better. I think it was refinished as there are places that clearly used to have slight surface rust, like the side of the rear sight, that appear dark.
Stock is a little grimy by all the market are deep and noticeable and should clean up nice.

I have it fully disassembled right now except for the barrel. Every came apart easy - except the trigger pin needed a soak to get the dried caked grease off it. All the screws had what smelled to be motor oil on them and no trouble anywhere getting it apart. It was well preserved.

Bore is a bit rough, but hopefully it shoots. More pics coming from my borescope after a good scrub.

It didn't have a front sight blade, and no pin. But, whoever removed it thoughtfully plugged the holes with very tiny/short pins. weird.

I wanted a shooter - and already decided if I got a real sewer pipe I would put a new criterion barrel on it. This in mind long term, I'm leaning towards touching up the bluing around the visible parts of the action.

So, my first question as I clean this up is whether there is any way to tell if this was a parts gun loaned out to VFW, or if it's parts are original. The only notable marking, other than the 1902 stock, is under the bolt handle. Bolt is in the white except for the extractor claw which I read is how they were. I have no problems cleaning it up, bluing, and eventually putting a new barrel on. I want a shooter in good serviceable condition as it would have been in it's day, and I plan to shoot it often. If it's an intact original, I'll keep as is and sell to a collector that appreciates such things hanging on the wall or forgotten in the back of the safe.

Pics below. I'll update as I clean it up and reassemble. I also landed a 3.32million serial M1903 in a CMP stock with pristine bore...but that will be another thread when I get to it.
Attachment 110403Attachment 110404Attachment 110405Attachment 110406Attachment 110407

Information

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[mmppres]

Nice looking rifle. An don't be supprized that bore doesn't shoot good.

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

Nice one. Don't be surprised if it gets lonely and need a companion. Very interesting rifles.

[ssgross]

Here is a picture of the chamber...it's wet and soaking at the moment, but the shoulder is visible. Other posts have got me worried that it may have been reamed out. Pic shows a second step, instead of a nice smooth transition.
I have one of those Hornady depth gauges, and a tap to make a modified 30-40 case to use with it. But the mail is slow in getting my lot of brass to the door. I'll let you know when gets here.
The magazine door and cover plate are the only things that seem to have a lot less finish remaining. Any info on the markings on the underside of the bolt? Are they steel lot codes like on the 1903 bolts?
Attachment 110412
I'm very surprised by the simplicity of the parts assembly. All the complexity appears to be in the milling of the receiver inside and out.

[King carp]

Hello: nice looking Krag. I do not think you can date your rifle from the bolt markings. The "Krag collectors association" is a great web site with a lot of friendly, knowledgable folks who can help you out. Unfortunatly the site is under reconstruction. Hopefully it will be back up and running soon. There are some books on the Krag rifle. The Joe Poyer book is still in circulation. It is helpful and reasonably priced. As far as the chamber on your rifle I would have it checked. Some VFW rifles were rechambered to fire 30-06 blanks if I recall correctly.

[browningautorifle]

Nice looking rifle, from what we can see. Sight blades can be had, maybe even from here if you place a WTB... I had one each over time...one rifle, one carbine and one school gun. The carbine had nothing left in the barrel but the other two were OK and shot fine. I still have dies but the guns are gone. Here's two of them...

[butlersrangers]

'ssgross' - I agree with King Carp; your chamber appears 'augured out'. Some Veteran Organization Krags show this 'Alteration'. It was done either to deactivate a 'drill rifle' or adapt the Krag to some type of available blank (not a .30-40 blank).

If your chamber is so altered and you fire a .30-40 cartridge in it, the fired case will be shredded! (Photo attached).

Attachment 110418

If you find that your chamber has been altered, your Krag becomes a good candidate for re-barreling. Options are a decent 'used' barrel, (they show up on Ebay and GunBroker), or a CMP/Criterion barrel install.

Besides the chamber, your Krag looks rather nice. The U.S. Krag did not receive a homogeneous "blue" on its metal parts, that we see on a lot of more modern arms.

The Krag barrel, front nose-cap, and trigger-guard were 'rust blued'. (Springfield Armory called this 'browning').

The bolt-body was polished 'in the white'. The extractor was 'flame blue'.

Most of the other parts were case-hardened. The action, safety, bolt-sleeve, side-plate, butt-plate and magazine-gate had mottled case-colors, when new, but, in time turned silvery.

Some small parts and screws were 'blackened'.

Once you get familiar with the original finish of the U.S. Krag's parts and how the various metal finishes age, you will likely come to like it.

(p.s. - The hieroglyphics on the Krag bolt likely identify production runs or steel lots. The exact meaning seems lost in time).

[Daan Kemp]

The barrel looks like a good cleaning followed by shooting followed by cleaning will make it look good again.

[butlersrangers]

The bore is irrelevant if the chamber is ruined.

Front sight blades and pin show up on Ebay. Reproproduction blade and pin can be purchased from S&S Firearms (Glendale, N.Y.).

[rcathey]

Krags are super simple to change barrels on.
I had one Krag that the chamber was drilled out of to “deactivate” it.

I removed that barrel and put on another used one that indexed perfectly. I went cheap and after a couple years decided I didn’t like the bore. Bought another barrel and it too indexed perfectly.

They were made for such a short period of time and by true masters that part interchangeability is truly amazing.