Originally Posted by
Dick Hosmer
Hope you enjoyed your coffee - but, see - that wasn't so hard, was it? Nice looking carbine!
One thing that has not yet been mentioned is that "1896" (as opposed to "Model 1896") is the scarcest of all the Krag receiver dates. Only 5000 arms were so marked - some are rifles, some are carbines. I own carbine 32383, in very similar condition to yours, and rifle 37045, which is, at present (and for the last 40 years or so) the highest known "1896". The word "Model" is thought to have been added around 37100. If any one can refine that, please post a picture (not a Photoshopped one of course!!!!!!). As an old fart, my brain was shaped at the time when "photographic evidence" was a valid and useful tool. Now, when every pixel can be dicked-with, a lot more care is required.
My very first Krag was a full dress 1896 rifle with serial number 34036. I bought at an antique mart while passing through Maryland. I thought it was 84038 until there was a post from another fellow on the forum had confused the serial number on his krag too. Every thing was fine until I showed it to a buddy. The rim on the bolt face was missing and half broken and half hammered inward. Something was wrong and smelled of dead fish. We were looking at the bolt and began to think. For whatever reason I grabbed a fired 30-06 case and dropped it in the chamber. It chambered perfectly. It became very clear what had happened. The rifle was used to fire blanks. At least we hoped it had been used to fire blanks.
I took it back to the seller and he tried to tell me it was a rare arsenal modification. By then I had been reading Jouster's Krag forum for a year or so and knew better. The guy returned a bunch of money and sold it to me for what he claimed he had in it.
I figured it was done as a shooting gun so I contacted a good gentleman in NY to spin the barrel off for me. He asked me what I was going to do with the receiver and told me he did not have that range in his collection. His very big collection. I figured if he wanted it it must be something semi-special. I kept the receiver.
And that, gentlemen, is how I got hooked on Krags. Now I own sixteen of them and two thousand rounds of ammo. My krags are not what you would call collector grade or super rare krags but they are mine and I like them.
Last edited by CJCulpeper; 10-14-2014 at 10:04.
1."If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things." - Rene Descartes
2. "The Right to Buy Weapons is the Right to be Free" From The Weapon Shop by A. E. van Vogt