1902 Krag rifle

[MLD]

So I picked up a Krag on a trade, my first and only one. From researching, I believe it has a 1901 rifle sight. There is a lever on the front of the sight for wind age that is frozen in place. I soaked this sight in mineral spirit for a couple weeks but it didn?t free up. I don?t want to damage it. Should I leave well enough alone and shoot it as is or is there a way to free it up. Also, looks like to me that every sight takes a different set of screws. Anyone have some experience with these sights?

[Dick Hosmer]

You could tap it gently with a hammer and a small block of wood. There should be nothing holding it except crud/rust/friction - nothing "mechanical" to break, but they DO get tight. Just for grins, what is the barrel length? 30" or 26"?

[bruce]

Apply Kroil to the stuck part. Give it time to work. Then ... if it is still tough to move, get a hammer and give it a tap. Sincerely. bruce.

[MLD]

It has a 30? barrel. It?s a 1902 rifle. Just an average service rifle but in fairly decent shape. Muzzles under two and the bore is clean. I used Kroil on it also and nothing moved. Guess I?ll need to persuade it somewhat. I did misplace the sight screws and thought I accidentally threw them away. Was a little panic stricken because the screws appear to be unique to the different sights and almost unattainable. Luckily I found them.

[Dick Hosmer]

Figured it did, but had to ask, since there were 100 rifles made that year with the shorter barrel for trial. Glad you found the screws!

[MLD]

Interesting. Will keep that in mind when I?m hitting the gun shows!. A lot I don?t know about these rifles.

[butlersrangers]

Since you have your model 1901 sight off of your rifle and soaking in kroil, it should be very easy to free the windage 'locking-lever'.

Simply hold the sight on a smooth hard surface on its Left-Side. Give a downward tap to the right-side of the lever with a small plastic mallet.

The lever loosens to the left and binds to the right.

IMG_1577.jpg

[MLD]

Thanks for the tip! It loosened without much tapping at all. I was expecting something like serrations underneath, not realizing it was a tension lock.

[Kragrifle]

S&S used to sell reasonably good Krag sight screw reproductions if you don?t find your screws. Grand Pa?s parts may still have some original screws.

[MLD]

Thanks. I see Grandpas has the long screw for the front of the 1901 sight. May order a spare. Thought I would try to pick up a spare firing pin but don?t find any available. Loaded up a few 170 grain round nose at about 2000 fps. Gonna be a great shooter.