Krag Sights
I have a krag carbine of 1899. two questions for anyone out there
1) what do the numbers on the rear sight aperature delineate? are they yard designations? or something else?
2) this piece is identicle to an 1899 rifle but is the length of a carbine. by this i mean that the stock on this CARBINE is fashioned the same way as the stock on the longer rifle models, only scaled down to fit a carbine barrel. anyone have any ideas as to why this is the way it is? the stock does have some markings and numbers stamped into it so it tlooks to have been a miiitary rifle or have been stored in an armory
any info on either question i can be reached at staind460@yahoo.comdelineate?
1) what do the numbers on the rear sight aperature delineate? are they yard designations? or something else?
2) this piece is identicle to an 1899 rifle but is the length of a carbine. by this i mean that the stock on this CARBINE is fashioned the same way as the stock on the longer rifle models, only scaled down to fit a carbine barrel. anyone have any ideas as to why this is the way it is? the stock does have some markings and numbers stamped into it so it tlooks to have been a miiitary rifle or have been stored in an armory
any info on either question i can be reached at staind460@yahoo.comdelineate?
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It's hard to say with this limited amount of info.
What is the caliber of the Krag rifle?
If it's scandinavian made - Norwegian/Sweedish or Danish it's usually Metres.
If it's US made - it's most likely yards.
The scandinavian made rifles are in the calibers 6.5*55 or 8*58RD.
The US made rifles are in .30-40Krag (also named 7.62Krag, .30Krag).
Don't do anything that I've allready done - That'd be just plain STOOOOOOPID.
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Wanna see somethin' scary.?? Click here...0 -
my rifle is a 30-40 0 -
The numbers on the rear sight represent hundreds of yards ("4"=400 yards). There is no 1899 U.S. rifle. The 1899 was made in half-stock carbine configuration only, with a 22 inch barrel. It used either the carbine rear sight model 1898, 1896, 1901 or 1902 with an upper handguard designed to fit the individual sight. All of these, except the 1902, have a letter "C" stamped on both the sight base and either the slide or the sight blade itself. The 1902 sight is stamped "C" only on the base. If no "C" is present, the sight is a rifle sight.
The only other "1899" U.S. Krag was the Philippine Constabulary Carbine. This has the 22 inch barrel, cut down from the standard 30 inch rifle barrel and the muzzle end was lathe-turned to allow the standard Krag bayonet to fit. The Constabulary Carbine also uses a cut-down rifle stock that extends to within a couple of inches short of the muzzle, and the forend is shaped to accept the standard upper band. The interior lightening cut was also expertly filled-in. I don't know what sights, either rifle or carbine was used on the Philippine version.
If you suspect your 1899 is a Constabulary Carbine, I'd recommend an expert appraisal. This scarce variation has been copied and faked to the extent that there are probably more phony ones in circulation than there are originals.
"I think of my gun as a tool for converting worthless human garbage into valuable fertilizer." John Dollar in the novel "Bridge City" by Fred Rexer0 -
the receiver of the carbine is marked 1899
the idea that it is a "phill constabulary rifle has passed around befor in my research. the carbine came from my great grandfather who was a professor at goddard collage in philadelphia, my father and i are pretty sure that the rifle was used by cadets or a drill and ceramony team. the carbine was used to facilitate the D&C or make it easyer than it would be with a full length rifle.
if i can figure out how i will post some pics of the rifle/carbine0 -
It may be that the drill team got some lookalike shortened rifles from Bannerman's or one of the other outfits that sold surplus military equipment. The sellers often modified military rifles to make them more attractive to buyers.
Does the end of the barrel have a stepped-down tip? Is the front sight base brazed or silver-soldered on, or does the sight mount on a base that encircles the barrel? The latter is a dead-giveaway to a sporterizing job, either by a gunsmith or one of the big surplus dealers. Does the line of the forend flow smoothly to match the upper barrel band with its bayonet lug? Does the cut-down job on the forend and the filler plug in the barrel channel look like an expert did it? Just a few things you can check while you figure how to post photos.
"I think of my gun as a tool for converting worthless human garbage into valuable fertilizer." John Dollar in the novel "Bridge City" by Fred Rexer0 -
-the barrel does have a stepped-down tip
-the front sight is in two pieces. there is a sight base that is either
soldered or brazed and a sight blade that is pinned in.
i do not know what you mean by "Does the line of the forend flow smoothly to match the upper barrel band with its bayonet lug? Does the cut-down job on the forend and the filler plug in the barrel channel look like an expert did it"
- the bayo lug/endcap is slightly lower than the fore stock
anyone know how to post pics?0 -
When Krag rifles were modified for the Philippine Constabulary, the forends were expertly re-shaped to allow the use of the original upper band/bayonet lug. There is no pronounced step between the bottom of the forend and the barrel band. Your description does sound like a Philippine Constabulary Carbine. Only a hands-on appraisal by an expert will tell you for certain.
"I think of my gun as a tool for converting worthless human garbage into valuable fertilizer." John Dollar in the novel "Bridge City" by Fred Rexer0
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