My New Krag - 1898 Rifle

[viking73]

Hello Everyone,

Well good news. I contacted the shop where I bought this gun from and they said they are more than happy to have me return it and trade it for the other 1898 Krag rifle they have.

My Poyer book showed up yesterday, and that coupled with everyone's great advice and comments here will be a big help with I inspect the other Krag. I will make sure the stock is one piece, and that the handguard is the correct - it also had the M1901 sight on it. I guess there is no guarantee that it will be any better than this one but I will find out.

I do appreciate everyone's comments - I know they are to be taken constructively. Thanks too Fred for the PM. I do feel a bit foolish for buying something I wasn't familiar enough with. I just have not seen that many Krags before and I jumped at the chance to own one.

I hope to do the swap tomorrow after work. I'll be sure to post photos here - I hope it is more original and not molested like this one. Thanks to you guys, I'll be better able to tell! I also post this message at the KCA Forums.

More on this saga in a few days.

-Derek

[Fred]

I understood what you meant. I was just explaining that after I'd sent him the PM with the information of what wasn't right about his rifle, the gentleman then had gone on to the other site and sought further advice to learn more about it, which is good.

[Fred]

Great Derek! If you could, take some photos of the rear sight and hand guard, the whole rifle, the serial number on the side plate and of any stampings behind the trigger guard and also on the left side of the wrist. We'll run through the pictures and give you our impressions of what it is. I'm Really Glad that the dealer was decent about it all.

Fred

[PeteDavis]

Hoorah!

[madsenshooter]

And, since he's shot it, he can see if the rifle swapped for shoots any better. To this non-collector, that's what matters most.

[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]

My New 1898 Krag - TAKE II!!

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!