My New Krag - 1898 Rifle

[psteinmayer]

Amen to that!

[Rick the Librarian]

It is a very reasonable seller indeed that will take back a rifle after it's been fired! I'm glad it had a happy ending.

In Viking's defense, I think all of us have done the same thing - jumped on a firearm that we had no knowledge that we "felt" was a good deal. I almost bought a Ross rifle at Cabelas a couple of months ago, but the "wise angels" inside told me to wait.

In fact, I have to say that buying my first Krag was just about the ONLY gun I've bought where I did the research first.

[madsenshooter]

Uh, we won't discuss the cutoff I thought to be a school gun. It was nowhere near that, but my uninformed mind told me it was. Shoot, it even had an 03 barrel and a 98 stock that had been cut at one time for a 96 receiver. Parts is what it was and is.

[psteinmayer]

My sporter was my first (and only) purchased Krag (my 1898 rifle was passed down to me by my Dad). When I purchased it from a Mississippi pawn shop in 1983, I knew it was a Krag, but that's all I knew. I thought it was a Carbine, and was ignorant enough to not even realize it was sporterized (I was only 20 at the time, and didn't know much about different guns). I only purchased it because I knew of my Dad's 1898 rifle (which is now mine), and wanted a Krag also... so I borrowed $175 and took it home. I learned a lot after that, although nothing compared to what I've learned in the last three years being on this and the KCA forums!

I'm now the proud owner of a couple Arisakas, a Garand, and soon to be the owner of a pair of Trapdoors... and I'm not ruling out another Krag or two (quiet, Bob!).

By the way, the sporter is still a great shooter!

[viking73]

Hi Guys,

I posted this on the KCA Forum, but wanted to post here too. Oh, and also, I never shot the Krag before I took it back to the store yesterday. Just wanted to clear that up.

I did do the swap yesterday, I'm happy to report that the shop was very nice about it. I was nervous on the way there about the other Krag. What if it was in as bad shape as the one I already had? I wasn't sure what I was going to do. Much to my relief, I think I did 110% better! They even let me slide the rear barrel band forward to check for cuts or repairs - none were seen! For one, the bore condition is very nice - it's already shiny, no where near the dark, dirty condition of the rifle that started this thread.

Enough talk. Here are some photos. Sorry in advance for the quality. I will take a few more outside in the natural light soon and post them here. Now for the photos:





Illegible cartouche (1902 maybe?)




Proof mark:




The hand guard seems original and correct for the M1901 sight:




There were some interesting stamps on the butt plate, something I didn't notice before:




Here are some more detail shots, again I apologize for the quality. I am just excited and want to share!
















I promise to post some better photos soon.

Thanks again to you guys pointed me in the right direction as to what to look at. I feel pretty good about my Krag now. I can't say enough good things about the shop either. They could have told me, sorry, all sales are final. It is so nice to know that there are still some honest folks out there!

-Derek

[Rick B]

Now that's a rifle to be proud of. Sometimes things work out for a reason and in this case you learned and got lucky at the same time which is a Win Win situation. I own one really close to yours Rick B

[viking73]

Now that's a rifle to be proud of. Sometimes things work out for a reason and in this case you learned and got lucky at the same time which is a Win Win situation. I own one really close to yours Rick B

Nice rifle Rick!

Yes, I do feel very fortunate. Things could have gone the other way for sure. I did learn a lot from this fiasco. I'll make sure I do my homework next time I see a rifle I want but know nothing about...

-Derek

[Dick Hosmer]

Very glad that it all worked out - you will be MUCH happier with this one, I assure you!

[sdkrag]

Now that is a fine example of a 98 rifle. Congrats on a nice piece.

[Rick the Librarian]

I agree, excellent. Glad it turned out for you. Anyone who has "been around" in this hobby and hasn'r had the same thing happen to thm is a liar!