Krag Rifle Forearm?

[bruce]

Oh the joy of the hunt! Over the last several months have found two ... both beyond my money! One went for a little over $300 and ...yesterday evening ... someone went all the way up to $485 for a cracked 1902 hand guard.

So ... I got myself an idea. If I could find a drawing or some good pictures / photographs ... maybe even dimensions ... possibly I could take my time and make a hand guard. Given the difficulty of finding a specimen and given the price when found, making one looks to be a very workable solution. It would allow a placeholder until the genuine article could be located/purchased.

What do you all think? Pipe dream? Anyone know of a source for such information?

Sitting here on the coast of Georgia ... with my Krag rifle ... and just needing that little bit of pretty wood!

Sincerely. bruce.

[butlersrangers]

Which rear-sight do you have?

Krag hand-guard 'sight openings' are sight specific.

[Parashooter]

KragHandguard.jpg
Image shows Krag handguard (for 1901 sight) made "from scratch" in home workshop. Not a simple project only because of spring clips and rivets.

Dimensions are provided by the rifle itself.
Length = rear of receiver ring to lower band.
Width = to match forearm width.
Thickness = constant radius exterior, based on width at edges. (Interior to just clear receiver and barrel.)
Sight opening = to match selected sight.
Clip locations = indicated by relief cuts inside forearm. (Interior of HG must be relieved for clips and rivets, exterior drilled and counterbored for rivet heads.)
Rivet location = centered on clips, at approx. 10:30 and 2:30 o'clock.

Wood is black walnut (Juglans nigra) heartwood, dyed to match hue of stock.
Clips are cut from steel packing bands; rivets are shortened common nails.

Sketch below shows method for peening rivets -

KragHandguardSketch.jpg

[Dick Hosmer]

That came out looking really nice! Are you going to go into business?

[bruce]

My rifle is fitted with the 1902 rear sight. From all appearances, this appears to be original to the rifle. The receiver number is common to carbines. I have no explanation for this discrepancy. It has a full length infantry rifle barrel in perfect condition. The entire rifle is in very nice condition ... no rust ... no corrosion, etc. Just very nice. Given the difficulty of locating a decent hand guard for this apparently late rifle, I figured it would not hurt to try to carefully work at making a hand guard. This would not be to mislead anyone. It would only be till I might be able to find a genuine replacement. Sincerely. bruce.

[bruce]

I apologize. I have been running pretty hard at the church. We have a 125th Anniversary coming up Sunday and there are a lot of moving parts that have to be coordinated.

I have mistakenly said "forend" when I should have stated "hand guard."

What I need is the hand guard. The rifle is fitted with a 1902 rear sight.

Very sorry to have messed up and confused everyone.

Sincerely.

Bruce

[Parashooter]

That came out looking really nice! Are you going to go into business?

Thank you for the compliment, Dick. My woodwork days are done - too old to cut the walnut anymore!

[butlersrangers]

I hope these pictures are of some help: A model 1899 carbine with the 1902 (carbine) sight and the original hand-guard that was used on rifles and carbines with model 1902 and model 1898 rear-sights.


carb7.jpgcarb10b.jpg

[Kragrifle]

Keep looking for that 1898/1902 handguard as they do come up from time to time at more reasonable prices. There are newer reproductions out there, but none are very good. Only Ben Rice could make Krag hand guards that could fool the experts (there is one way to tell it?s a Ben Rice piece, but I?ll never tell) and his do show up on EBay.

[bruce]

I hope these pictures are of some help: A model 1899 carbine with the 1902 (carbine) sight and the original hand-guard that was used on rifles and carbines with model 1902 and model 1898 rear-sights.


[ATTACH=CONFIG]49827[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]49828[/ATTACH]

The above rear sight is exactly what is on my rifle! Thank you for the excellent picture.
Sincerely. bruce.

[butlersrangers]

Actually, you probably have the rifle version of the model 1902 'Dickson' sight.

The curved elevation 'ramp', on the rifle-base, is taller than the carbine 1902 base.

The carbine base is also marked with a "C", usually on the right-side. (Only about 1,000 carbine sights, with the 1902 style base, were made).

The top leaf assemblies are identical for 1902 rifle and carbine sights.

There are variations in the locking-knobs and the 1902 eye-pieces: (plain single-notch, single-notch with swing-up 'peep', and 1898 three-notch eye-pieces altered at Springfield and used to make 1902 sights).

Attached photo shows 1902 carbine and rifle bases:

[J.J.]

Try S&S Firearms, Glendale, NY. Part # HG203.
They used to make a pretty nice reproduction. I bought one for my '96 Krag several years ago and I really did not have to do much fitting to it other that staining to match the stock color and oiling.
J.J.

[BEAR]

S&S has not had any handguards since COVID. Neither has Antique Guns LLC. COVID is hurting all the small businesses.

Butlersrangers, how about the feasibility of converting a M1903 or A3 handguard to a Krag handguard.

BEAR

[butlersrangers]

I have never made a Krag hand-guard from something else.

The 'barrel-clips' are the big challenge and Parashooter did a wonderful job of making a hand-guard from a walnut chair-leg and packing steel-bands, IIRC.

I believe Schwartz, aka Antique Guns LLC, retired due to health problems. He was the source of reproduction hand-guards for vendors like S&S Firearms.

I don't think 1903 & 1903A3 Springfield hand-guards will work as 'donor' parts.

[Parashooter]

Any "donor" handguard would need the steel clips added - they're all that holds it on with most models of issue sight.

The wood is the easy part - just cut, file, sand until it fits right. Because they're hidden under the wood when assembled, the clips can be ugly - so they're easy, too. Making and installing the common-nail rivets is pretty straightforward but does require patience and a steady hand.

The project is time-consuming. I recall it took most of a day. Tools included table saw, drill press, gouges, chisels, knives, files, sandpaper, hacksaw, bench vise, punches, hammer.