When I was a youngster my best friend’s dad carried a 30-40 Krag deer hunting every year. Not really being into guns all that much, he owned exactly three. In addition to the Krag, he had an old Mossberg 12 gauge bolt-action shotgun and a Stevens single-shot 22 rifle. He was a hunter, not a shooter or gun collector and these are the guns he needed to hunt and that’s all he wanted.
The shotgun (which I found ungainly) and the 22 never interested me much. But I was fascinated by the Krag.
The Krag is a Norwegian design that was used by the U.S. military for a brief period of time around the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. These are beautiful rifles that feature a rather odd side mounted magazine system that is slower than the top-loading system using stripper clips so most people consider the Krag inferior to the competing Mauser design.
I found the Krag alluring and vowed to own one, someday. It would take 25 years to fulfill that promise to myself.
Oh, I saw Krags for sale, but rifles in original condition brought good money from collectors and even the guns that had been shopped up for hunting were always priced beyond what I wanted to pay. I passed on may cut-down Krags in the $200+ ranged because I wanted to pay no more than $150.
In 1991 I went to a local gun show. At the first table right inside the entrance I almost walked past a Krag on display. The original stock had been shortened as had the barrel (to 24”) and a receiver sight had been installed... just what I wanted.
“How much for the old Krag?” I casually asked.
“Ninety bucks,” came the reply.
Quickly placing one hand on the rifle to prevent anyone else from grabbing it, I resisted the urge to go for my wallet with the other hand. It’s a gun show, you HAVE to negotiate... even when the asking price is less than you are willing to pay. So I offered $80. The dealer groaned that he had paid $80 for it and had lugged it around to several shows without success. He said he reduced the price to $90 to try to move it. He told me he wanted to make at least $5 on it so for $85 it could be mine.
It was mine.
With the Krag in hand I found a set of used RCBS dies for the 30-40 about three rows over from where I had purchased the rifle. The asking price was $15. They came with me and I left a ten-spot with the seller. Always negotiate.
I bought a couple hundred new cases and some 150 grain FMJ bullets that were pulled from military ammo (I only plink with it so I don’t need fancy bullets) and found it great fun to shoot. But it shot high. Way high. The front sight was too short.
I shot the Krag for several years before deciding to put a sporter stock on it. I bought a nice walnut number from some outfit that claimed it was 95% inletted and only required some final fitting.
HAH!!!
I spent two years whittling on that stock to make it fit. There was a lot of wood that needed removal and this was my first stock-fitting experience so I took it slow and easy, working a couple hours each week on the project. I also installed a recoil pad.
Finally it was done and I wasn’t unhappy with the final result. But the front sight had been cobbled together by whomever had cut the barrel and not only was it too short to sight properly, it was ugly to boot. So I took it to a local gunsmith who for the princely sum of $45 (I really thought he would charge more) put a nice Williams hooded ramp sight on it.
As I type this I realize that I haven’t shot it since the sight was mounted. I will have to do something about that.
The shotgun (which I found ungainly) and the 22 never interested me much. But I was fascinated by the Krag.
The Krag is a Norwegian design that was used by the U.S. military for a brief period of time around the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. These are beautiful rifles that feature a rather odd side mounted magazine system that is slower than the top-loading system using stripper clips so most people consider the Krag inferior to the competing Mauser design.
I found the Krag alluring and vowed to own one, someday. It would take 25 years to fulfill that promise to myself.
Oh, I saw Krags for sale, but rifles in original condition brought good money from collectors and even the guns that had been shopped up for hunting were always priced beyond what I wanted to pay. I passed on may cut-down Krags in the $200+ ranged because I wanted to pay no more than $150.
In 1991 I went to a local gun show. At the first table right inside the entrance I almost walked past a Krag on display. The original stock had been shortened as had the barrel (to 24”) and a receiver sight had been installed... just what I wanted.
“How much for the old Krag?” I casually asked.
“Ninety bucks,” came the reply.
Quickly placing one hand on the rifle to prevent anyone else from grabbing it, I resisted the urge to go for my wallet with the other hand. It’s a gun show, you HAVE to negotiate... even when the asking price is less than you are willing to pay. So I offered $80. The dealer groaned that he had paid $80 for it and had lugged it around to several shows without success. He said he reduced the price to $90 to try to move it. He told me he wanted to make at least $5 on it so for $85 it could be mine.
It was mine.
With the Krag in hand I found a set of used RCBS dies for the 30-40 about three rows over from where I had purchased the rifle. The asking price was $15. They came with me and I left a ten-spot with the seller. Always negotiate.
I bought a couple hundred new cases and some 150 grain FMJ bullets that were pulled from military ammo (I only plink with it so I don’t need fancy bullets) and found it great fun to shoot. But it shot high. Way high. The front sight was too short.
I shot the Krag for several years before deciding to put a sporter stock on it. I bought a nice walnut number from some outfit that claimed it was 95% inletted and only required some final fitting.
HAH!!!
I spent two years whittling on that stock to make it fit. There was a lot of wood that needed removal and this was my first stock-fitting experience so I took it slow and easy, working a couple hours each week on the project. I also installed a recoil pad.
Finally it was done and I wasn’t unhappy with the final result. But the front sight had been cobbled together by whomever had cut the barrel and not only was it too short to sight properly, it was ugly to boot. So I took it to a local gunsmith who for the princely sum of $45 (I really thought he would charge more) put a nice Williams hooded ramp sight on it.
As I type this I realize that I haven’t shot it since the sight was mounted. I will have to do something about that.
