1898 Krag Saddle Ring Carbine HELP

[astack18]

Hello!

I am new to this forum, but have been reading a lot about Krag rifles here and thought I would reach out for help.

I recently stumbled upon the opportunity to own the scarce 1898 Krag Saddle Ring Carbine, but I have my doubts about a couple of things. I have done lots of research the past week and learned as much as I can about the 1898 SRC.

What I believe to be correct:

The stock, short forend, saddle ring and cartouche “JSA 1898”

The top handguard with “hump”

The rear sight with stamped C. I know there should be a C on the base which is hidden by the handguard in the pictures. Might have to have the gentleman remove the sight to confirm

The front barrel band with sight protectors

What I believe is incorrect:

The big red flag is the serial number 134,317 which is just slightly out of the accepted range for the 1898 SRC of 118,894 to 134,256. I understand that there have been Springfield Research Service hits with higher serial number 1898 SRCs

The front sight blade which seems to be a bit shorter in height than compared known 1898 SRCs

Any additional information and opinions from the experts in the Krag realm! Thanks!

[butlersrangers]

astack18' - The parts all look good. This Krag will always be suspect, by some collectors, because the serial number is above the expected range.

The model 1896 & model 1898 front-sight blade is approximately .265" tall, when removed from base.

A small "C" is generally stamped 'low'on the left-side of the Blade, hidden by the sight-base.

[browningautorifle]

Sure nice looking. Good luck both that you get it and it's good. If you do get it maybe you can bring it round here...

[butlersrangers]

The OP has three threads going on this carbine; (two on Gunboards and one here). This makes for a lot of duplication of effort and possible confusion. I am not an EXPERT, just a STUDENT of Krags.

There is no SRS listing for this Krag, serial number 134317. Only a very small percentage of the almost 1/2 million Krags that were made are listed in SRS Data. (IIRC - about 4%).

The closest listed Krag is #134319, a model 1898 rifle.

The two closest SRS listed model 1898 carbines are lower and higher serial numbers, than the OP's: #133919 and #138709.

Only 5,000 model 1898 carbines were made. Their serial numbers are mixed in with many, many, thousands of rifles with identical receivers. Krags were not assembled in numeric order.
Finished numbered receivers, apparently, went into parts bins to be grabbed rather arbitrarily and assembled into arms.
This is why model 1898 carbines are problematic.

(The later model 1899 carbines were dated 1899 and intended to be carbines. There are some 1899 carbines that are "1898/ over-stamped to read 1899").
Many model 1898 carbines were later refurbished/rebuilt to model 1899 stock configuration. They retain the 'model 1898' receiver marking.

FWIW - 'Frank' Mallory in his book, "The Krag Rifle Story", 2nd edition, included tables of SRS Data. Reviewing the 'Appendix-Tables', I find a handful of model 1898 carbines listed that have numbers above #134317.
Five are listed in the 138XXX range.
Two are #140190 and #140195.
#154770 is listed as a Saddle-Ring carbine in the Springfield Armory Museum.

The highest # is a very suspect one, #156680. It is listed twice in 1929, as a carbine at the U.S. Consulate-Tientsin. That number is also listed, as a rifle in 1899, issued to the 35th USV Infantry!

Most of the model 1898 carbines seem to fall between #118270 and #125062. I think the lowest recorded is #117536. Listed model 1898 carbines are always mixed in with lots of documented rifles.

IMHO - A credible model 1898 carbine in the early (short stock, saddle-ring, model 1896 carbine rear-sight) configuration is a lot more valuable than a model 1898 carbine updated to model 1899 configuration.

The decision should be influenced by price, credibility of the carbine (reputation of seller and uniform age and wear on parts), interests of Buyer and his toleration for risk.
A low price can make such a purchase a 'No Brainer'. At the worst, this Krag has over $1,000 worth of parts.

[browningautorifle]

I had a carbine but a later one, not much left for rifling either. I was lucky and sold it here for a bit over what I paid. Got out clean. Canada isn't the place to try to do well with these historic guns.

The OP has three threads going on this carbine

Not so unusual. Not really appreciated though...