Jim was my best friend when I was a kid and we often went hunting together. Jim's dad was a crusty old cuss who carried a sporterized 30-40 Krag into the woods every deer season. For some reason I was really taken by that old rifle and decided I wanted one.
But by the time I started looking in earnest for a Krag they had become collectible and prices were driven up higher than I wanted to pay. I just wanted a shooter but even these were fetching $250-$300 in the 1980s and I didn't want to pay that much. My self imposed limit was $150. So I kept looking.
In 1992 I wandered into a local gun show. At the very first table lay a sporterized 1898 Krag. I casually asked the dealer how much he was asking, and when he replied "$90" I had to fight the urge to rip my wallet from pocket and start throwing bills at him. With all the detached calm I could muster I made an $80 counteroffer. As I did so I put my hand on the Krag just in case anyone walking by might take an interest in the old gun. I had already decided it was leaving with me, we were just haggling over the price, now.
The dealer whined that he had paid $80 for it and wanted to make some profit so he said I could have it for $85. With that it was mine.
Two rows over I found a used set of RCBS Krag dies marked at $5 and I was in business.
I shot it a lot over the next couple years and enjoyed it thoroughly. But after I while I grew to dislike the butchered stock. It had not been cut down with great craftsmanship. So I found a beautiful black walnut sporter stock that was advertised as 95% inletted for $95. This was $10 more than I paid for the rifle but what are you going to do?
Well, that stock wasn't anywhere near 95% finished and over the next two years I spent a few hours each week slowly and carefully fitting the barreled action to the wood. It took so long because I had never done this sort of work before and had absolutely no idea what I was doing. But amazingly enough the parts eventually fit together like a hand in a glove.
The only remaining project was to replace the front sight. The rifle came with a Lyman receiver sight but it wore the original front blade and it way too short making the gun shoot very high until I fitted a taller blade in the base. But it looked awful with the big, tall blade sticking up in the air and I really wanted a professional looking front sight. So I measured and figured that the tallest available Williams ramp and gold bead blade should work. These were purchased from Numrich.
Now, I have a drill press and a tap and die set and I have done some metal working in my youth but that was a long time ago. Not wanting to screw up the sight installation I relented and took it to a smith. I had hoped to do everything myself but I wasn't confident about getting the holes drilled and tapped properly if I tried doing it. The smith did the job perfectly, had the rifle ready the next day and charged me $45. I don't regret the decision to let him do it. The new sight is still pretty tall but looks better because the ramp improves the aesthetics.
I guess I could reblue the rifle to make it look really sharp but I won't. I can live with worn finish. I'm calling this project finished.
So, who else has a Krag they want to share? Not the most practical rile, and difficult to use for serious hunting because scope mounting sucks, but a beautiful rifle that's great fun for casual shooting. Photos, anyone?
But by the time I started looking in earnest for a Krag they had become collectible and prices were driven up higher than I wanted to pay. I just wanted a shooter but even these were fetching $250-$300 in the 1980s and I didn't want to pay that much. My self imposed limit was $150. So I kept looking.
In 1992 I wandered into a local gun show. At the very first table lay a sporterized 1898 Krag. I casually asked the dealer how much he was asking, and when he replied "$90" I had to fight the urge to rip my wallet from pocket and start throwing bills at him. With all the detached calm I could muster I made an $80 counteroffer. As I did so I put my hand on the Krag just in case anyone walking by might take an interest in the old gun. I had already decided it was leaving with me, we were just haggling over the price, now.
The dealer whined that he had paid $80 for it and wanted to make some profit so he said I could have it for $85. With that it was mine.
Two rows over I found a used set of RCBS Krag dies marked at $5 and I was in business.
I shot it a lot over the next couple years and enjoyed it thoroughly. But after I while I grew to dislike the butchered stock. It had not been cut down with great craftsmanship. So I found a beautiful black walnut sporter stock that was advertised as 95% inletted for $95. This was $10 more than I paid for the rifle but what are you going to do?
Well, that stock wasn't anywhere near 95% finished and over the next two years I spent a few hours each week slowly and carefully fitting the barreled action to the wood. It took so long because I had never done this sort of work before and had absolutely no idea what I was doing. But amazingly enough the parts eventually fit together like a hand in a glove.
The only remaining project was to replace the front sight. The rifle came with a Lyman receiver sight but it wore the original front blade and it way too short making the gun shoot very high until I fitted a taller blade in the base. But it looked awful with the big, tall blade sticking up in the air and I really wanted a professional looking front sight. So I measured and figured that the tallest available Williams ramp and gold bead blade should work. These were purchased from Numrich.
Now, I have a drill press and a tap and die set and I have done some metal working in my youth but that was a long time ago. Not wanting to screw up the sight installation I relented and took it to a smith. I had hoped to do everything myself but I wasn't confident about getting the holes drilled and tapped properly if I tried doing it. The smith did the job perfectly, had the rifle ready the next day and charged me $45. I don't regret the decision to let him do it. The new sight is still pretty tall but looks better because the ramp improves the aesthetics.
I guess I could reblue the rifle to make it look really sharp but I won't. I can live with worn finish. I'm calling this project finished.
So, who else has a Krag they want to share? Not the most practical rile, and difficult to use for serious hunting because scope mounting sucks, but a beautiful rifle that's great fun for casual shooting. Photos, anyone?
