Finally found my Krag

[jon_norstog]

Jon - That is a nice looking Remington- Lee 'Hunting' rifle that you own.

Did someone improvise a recoil-lug & Stock 'cross-bolt' to protect the wood from splitting?

The numbers and survival rate of 'smokeless' Remington-Lee rifles is small. From observation, I find the design to have a fair number of vulnerable parts and weaknesses.

The Remington design never got the development and improvement that perfected arms made at National Armories, like the Lee-Enfield and Krag.

I am in the process of restoring a Michigan National Guard model 1899 Remington-Lee rifle with a rather nice stock, that is free of cracks and splits - (2nd picture).

The first attached photo is another 'cut-down' rifle with typical stock damage.

Attachment 111127Attachment 111128

There was no cross-bolt or recoil lug. The gun was probably fired very little. It had no serial number, just a 3-digit number stamped in the wood of the stock. Maybe it was part of an order that fell through.

Among design flaws, besides the unwieldy safety I would include the tiny little extractor which didn't always hold the shell rim so the ejector could do its work. When that happens the spent shell sits there and prevents you from loading a follow-up shot.

jn