1898 krag carbine??

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  • Zorros

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 10, 2017
    1,407
    Metropolis
    I think this one has been in maryland for some time so i wonder if anyone has run across it. It is serial no 123037. Receiver marked mod 1898, barrel is 22”, front sight is not a 1903. Stock has no cartouche. Possibly (p) rear of trigger guard. Barrel band is spring held iand is type 3 with open u pointing to the front. Rear sight has no C i can tell, and ladder graduated to 20. I think the sight is a 1902 with a swing up apperature. Bolt recess in stock is square. Many, many counterfeits around of the 98 carbine. Can’t tell what it is. Paid very little to someone who was quickly liquidating a collection for a third party. Maybe some of you krag collectors can add something.
     

    Cruacious

    C&R Farmer
    Apr 29, 2015
    1,596
    Elkton
    Can you toss up a few pictures? Usually Carbine fakes have signs visible of stock work and some signs of the barrel being cut by inconsistent/missing finish.
     

    TheOriginalMexicanBob

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 2, 2017
    32,178
    Sun City West, AZ
    There is a such thing as a Krag NRA Carbine (I have one). They were converted from full-size rifles by Benecia Arsenal and sold through the NRA prior to WWI. These do have 1903 front sights and a 1902 or 1903 rear sight (can't remember which). These rifles are very professionally done and look really good.

    There were also many, many Krags sporterized by companies and individuals over the years and there's a huge variation in quality, appearance and equipment and how well the stocks were cut. Unless it was done by a well known company like Bannerman or Sedgely there's little if any collector value to them...shooter value at best. That doesn't mean they're bad rifles...just little value comparatively.
     

    Zorros

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 10, 2017
    1,407
    Metropolis
    I will post some pics shortly. What i have read is the NRAA and Bannermans have the 1903 sight to use on the cut down barrel. I “think” this front sight is A type 3 carbine, but i am pretty certain the rear is a 1902. But you all can eyeball when i out pics up. Would really like to hear from you. This one is an enigma to me.
     

    Doco Overboard

    Ultimate Member
    From the top of my head the rear sight should be graduated to 2000 and the front site should exhibit a C.
    Pictures would help, sounds like a nice example. If the stock has a wood filler where the wiping rod went or it has been filled at the the nose it's a cut down rifle stock.
     
    The 1898 Carbine is the most faked military firearm of all time.
    What you are describing, considering the serial number, could be real. However, the rear sight doesn't sound correct and considering the sheer number of fakes out there, I wouldn't get my hopes up.
    Confirmation from Springfield Research Service (SRS) would be the only real way to find out.
    Check out kragcollectorsassociation or jouster.com for a full blown expert's opinion.
     

    Zorros

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 10, 2017
    1,407
    Metropolis
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    F8C20302-4EF1-46C9-9F44-12D6EE13C5B9.jpg Pics.
     

    engineerbrian

    JMB fan club
    Sep 3, 2010
    10,148
    Fredneck
    The 1898 Carbine is the most faked military firearm of all time.
    What you are describing, considering the serial number, could be real. However, the rear sight doesn't sound correct and considering the sheer number of fakes out there, I wouldn't get my hopes up.
    Confirmation from Springfield Research Service (SRS) would be the only real way to find out.
    Check out kragcollectorsassociation or jouster.com for a full blown expert's opinion.

    Whats so special about them that makes them the most faked military rifle?

    *I know nothing about Krags*
     
    Whats so special about them that makes them the most faked military rifle?

    *I know nothing about Krags*

    Very rare carbine, yet there was a shit ton of '98 rifles. It wasn't too hard to make a '98 rifle look like a '98 carbine, so a bunch of people did it.
    Back in the day there was a company called Ostberg Armory and Locomotive Works who did a really good job of faking carbines. He actually marked his fakes with "OALW", most fakes were not marked.
     

    Zorros

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 10, 2017
    1,407
    Metropolis
    Whats so special about them that makes them the most faked military rifle?

    *I know nothing about Krags*

    5002 were made. And there are many 1898 krag rifles that “enterprising” souls might convert. Before people thought about counterfeiting, many 1898 rifles were cut down for woods rifles.
     

    Doco Overboard

    Ultimate Member
    A cut rifle barrel may be smaller in diameter than a carbine barrel by about .030. If it was, someone new what they were doing and it was done long ago as best the pictures indicate. The serial is just shy of some published numbers for 98 carbines according to Mallory.
    A picture of the underside of the bolt would help to tell if its for a 96 or 98.
     

    Zorros

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 10, 2017
    1,407
    Metropolis
    Find somebody with SRS books and have them run the serial number. That is the only way any collector is going to believe it left the factory as a carbine. There are easily 50 fakes for every real one.
    I'm a Kragaphile.

    Ok. I will ask around. Today was the first i have heard of an SRS book.
     

    Zorros

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 10, 2017
    1,407
    Metropolis
    I took the bolt out of this gun when i got it, and it was not intuitive to remove or replace it. I have instructions in the krag book, but after looking at them, don’t want to attempt. From the book’s info, this serial number was ade late in august 1898. Post the end ofnthe spanish american war. The muzzle is crowned. I like these old rifles because some are a puzzle, like this one.
     

    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,678
    If i sold it to you for $50, i would lose $10! are you thinking it might be real. Maybe restocked, 1902 rifle sight and rifle front blade insert?

    Nothing leads me to beleive it isn’t anyway. But I am honestly not enough of an expert to tell a good fake and a real one apart. Either way I’d take any Krag for $400 in good shape and laugh all the way home. But a real carbine I am sure is worth well North of $1000.
     

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