So there was this gun.

[5MadFarmers]

No, I didn't miss it. I didn't miss it as I was making it.

Some people collect antique cars. To that crowd every car is valued on originality. Others create hot rods. To that crowd original doesn't matter as it's simply material to mold. When a collector of original cars encounters a hot rod their "judgement" won't be positive. What they fail to come to grips with is that it's simply opinion. Others do not agree. This doesn't mean they're wrong as it's not a question of right and wrong. It's opinion and style.

Guns are no different. You have an opinion on what's permitted and what's not. That's your opinion. I tossed that back via the Hotchkiss. Works both ways but I fully understand that and was making that point. The number of original M-1896 cadets is zero. Nada. They don't exist. Thus anything I bake up has zero possibility of being real. On guns that don't exist, but you wish to illustrate, you have to bake them. By definition. Baking up an 1898 likely isn't useful as they exist. Thus somebody can get burned. Baking up a cadet or Colt-Krag is a different horse entirely. They exists in electron format only.

That is the point. If given the choice of baking up a gun which doesn't exist or "restoring" one to a level where it'll be taken as real - I go with the former.

Everything baked in the book is listed as baked. I even show how it was baked. Do I need to do that here? No. This is a web site.

I posted the picture of that "Cadet" to see how well it was baked. The reactions told me the answer. It could have been an interesting thread. Instead it was hijacked.

[Dan Shapiro]

Wasn't that "pistol" the one used by Gen George Washington to execute Benedict Arnold at the Battle of Fallen Timbers?

[Festus39]

I picked up a Krag recently that seemed close to yours but then I remembered it is shorter than normal. I bought it for a shooter. Barrel measures 23 and three-fourths inches from the bolt face. All the metal and bands are there including the front sight which appears to be nicely soldered on and the rear is adjustable to 1800 yards. It is stamped 1895 Springfield Armory and the ser. no. is 25985. The bore,stock, and overall condition is really what I first noticed. As I originally said I bought it to shoot.

[5MadFarmers]

I picked up a Krag recently that seemed close to yours but then I remembered it is shorter than normal. I bought it for a shooter. Barrel measures 23 and three-fourths inches from the bolt face. All the metal and bands are there including the front sight which appears to be nicely soldered on and the rear is adjustable to 1800 yards. It is stamped 1895 Springfield Armory and the ser. no. is 25985. The bore,stock, and overall condition is really what I first noticed. As I originally said I bought it to shoot.

That, no matter how it's sliced, is a very interesting gun. Fascinating even. I'd pay money to see that gun in late 1896. It's guns like that which make me pound my head on the table.

Any chance you can post pictures?

There is no way, at this late date, to be certain what it is. It's in early M-1896 carbine range. Not all the guns in that neighborhood were completed as carbines. Thus they're interesting. If the barrel is a carbine barrel, and from your information it seems a might long but we might simply not be in accord on how to measure, it's a mucked up carbine. An earlier one. I happen to have the parts it's missing but that's another story. If the barrel is a sliced back rifle barrel then we're in another arena. That's the arena which makes me pound my head.

There is no way to tell.

You're either sitting on a mucked up carbine or an interesting rifle. Either way it's interesting.

[Festus39]

Well, whatever this thing is I'm going to load up some 180 soft points for it. I don't hunt but I do kill hogs.
I'm unable to do pictures so I'll try to figure something out on this Krag. The guy I bought it from collected seriously old lever guns;said he had owned the Krag for years but it didn't really fit his collecting.

[5MadFarmers]

Well, whatever this thing is I'm going to load up some 180 soft points for it. I don't hunt but I do kill hogs.

"Hey Jim, you won't believe what I read today."
"What's that."
"Two eggheads arguing about Krags. The thing is that one I have is pretty close to the one they're arguing about."
"Really? What'd you tell them?"
"Just mentioned the one I had."
"What'd they say?"
"Well, the one egghead said it might be a carbine or it might be a rifle."
"What'd you tell him?"
"I told him I kill hogs with it."

Thanks I think. Get your name on the ballot. You have my vote. You kill hogs with yours. Mine sits gathering dust in the safe.

I'm unable to do pictures so I'll try to figure something out on this Krag. The guy I bought it from collected seriously old lever guns;said he had owned the Krag for years but it didn't really fit his collecting.

Another egghead. Invite him over to kill a hog.

Sometime we get a reality check. Color it complete.

[jon_norstog]

Festus,

I'd like to see pictures of your Krag too. It could be a rare bird, or it could be a turkey. My Thai buddhist wife has been down on me for years about hunting, but I think she'd give me a pass if i brought home a tasty young sow. FWIW I think the Krag carbine is the best hunting rifle Springfield Arsenal ever made. It, and the little Swede Mauser carbine, are the only milsurps I can think of that are just fine as-is for hunting.

I don't need an invitation to bring home a hag. I just need the hog.

jn

[Dick Hosmer]

I'd think 23.75" from the bolt face is pretty damn clear, myself. And, when the same gun is described as also having a "soldered" front sight, I'd then think it probably was a cut-off rifle, which, as you say, makes it interesting.

It's when someone says: "the barrel is (fill in your choice of weird dimension) long" with no further info/qualifier, that's when I start to get antsy.

As to the book, I'm eagerly awaiting its' arrival, and I do hope that it gets the reception (whatever that might be, and I've given up trying to guess) that you want.