I've had one or two over the years, mostly with bores that have seen better days. Got to feeling pretty sentimental about old Ole's design and found one on the Net that I could afford -- "sportered up" with an abominable stock of course, but I hope it has the nice bore and tight action described. Should see it in about a week.
There's just something about a Krag and that old .30 U.S. cartridge that I can't get out of my system. Older I get, the more I appreciate the old stuff it seems. I'm not quite to the point of selling everything so I can hunt with one of Ray's .25-35s, but I surely do "get it."

Nice lower pressure round with a rim quite suitable for "break open" actions. I almost ended up with this number. It was nice ole' SxS rifle with A&D action by very respectable Belgian maker LeForgeron.

I've had a Krag-a Norwegian one. It was an outstanding rifle. The guide rib on the Norwegians acts as a second locking lug, and they are made out of much better steel than the U.S. Krags were. In 6.5X55mm, the Norwegian is a much different proposition than the U.S. Krags, but the smoothness of the action is there....

I have a .30/40 Ruger No. 3. You'd be surprised how that old round will perform in a strong action - the brass is very strong!

I have a thang for the old Krag Carbine..They are so damn slick and smooth, it facinates me to no end...I have always wanted to custom stock one and with the old 220 gr. bullets it should be a real brush gun...I have only shot one deer with one and it was very effective on that buck..Basically a 300 Savage and thats no sin...

I inherited one from my Dad who inherited it from my grandfather. It's a model 1896 standard military rifle.

I bought some factory ammo for it a couple years ago and sighted it in at the range. Didn't shoot too bad for an old military rifle. I hunted moose with it a couple times too but didn't see any bulls. Has some sentimental value to me since both my grandfather and father hunted deer with it.

I have one that I picked up locally here in the Rogue Valley 4 or 5 years ago... It is one of the run of 5,000 Calvary Carbine Models made in 1898....It was sporterized back in the 1950s...it has a Lyman site on it..

I pretty much shoot 25 grains of SR 4759 with about any bullet weight I feed it...using 168 grain match bullets, that load and that rifle will turn in groups that are about 2.5 to 3 inches at 200 yds.. with open sites and my poor eyesight..

I have taken it out spring bear hunting a batch of times, but have had no bears doing their part...sure is a nostalgic old rifle...

one guy attached to my son's scout troop a few years ago, brought one in that was in immaculate shape to a scout meeting on a day we had a theme about the old west...

it had belonged to his granddad... but this guy was as about "anti gun" as they come....he said he wanted to fill the bore so it could not be shot... boy is that ONE rifle I'd love to liberate from the mentally insane!!!

Here is a sporter I recently picked up at a local dealer. I've been looking for one for a few years now and never found the right deal until last month. I've been reloading for one for years that my brother in law owns. Mine is much nicer to say the least.

Taylor: That is indeed a nice sporter. The "mannlichered" original stock looks a lot nicer than the monte carlo mess on the one I just bought.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Taylor: That is indeed a nice sporter. The "mannlichered" original stock looks a lot nicer than the monte carlo mess on the one I just bought.

I had been wanting a full stocked rifle for some time and almost broke down a couple of times and bought a Ruger RSI or a CZ rifle, very happy I held off. I haven't seen too many orginal stocks that have been cut look very good either. This definatly wasn't the average "Bubba" who got a hold of this rifle.

We have a collector that is selling out, he brought in three Krag "sportized" rifles this week, prices $450-$550, one Mannlicher, and two with scopes. If anyone is interested, email me at
walt@buckmountainrifleworks.com and I'll send photos.

I'd rather see them go to some of "our" guys before I have to put them on gunbroker.
Walt

I'm a Krag fan. I have a 1903 Norwegian Krag in 6,5*55 (obviously). Its rebuilt to be a competition gun with a long heavy barrel, diopter and a unoriginal stock. Its a fantastic action, and as long as I keep it dry its way better than me. Even if its superceeded by first the mauser98 and then the Sauer, a lot of oldtimers and semiserious shooters use their old Krag.
Groups 1 - 2 " is regular at least up to 200 meters with iron sights.

I went to a "field shooting" match this tuesday and some of the Krag shooters did really well, it was only a local match but still. Field shooting here is shooting at unknown distances from around 80 meters up to well above 300 meters. Targets range from half a VHS casettesize to 10 by 10 inches and scoring is miss, hit and inner hit.

Click the link below for some pictures and to see what we are doing after work up here. I'm the guy with the army jacket and the yellow coffecup. I used my Hekler & Koch AG3 because you only need the gun and armyuniform in that class ,the targets are larger and there is less firce opposition also. You really need some special clothing and equipment to do well in the bolt action classes.

http://www.dfs.no/?module=Articles;action=Article.publicShow;ID=14784

I also use the Krag for capercaillie since the diopter allow accurate adjustments for any probable range.

900: Thanks for sharing your Krag experience, and for the link. What a joy to see a bunch of youngsters obviously enjoying their shooting on a chilly day in the snow. You Norwegians are raising your kids right!

Yeah SS900, that was actually a pretty cool site..

The idea of a heavy barreled Krag with a sporterized stock... that actually sounds pretty darn cool...

Mine is American made in 1898 but it still turns in some very respectable groups at 200 yds with a Lyman peep site on it...especially when I use match bullets in it...

Seafire: My Krag should be here no later than Monday. Barrel cut to 25 inches and issue sight removed, but it has a Lyman rear. It was made in 1899 according to the serial number, in the 160,000 range. Hope it shoots as well as yours apparently does.

I love the krag! Own a handful of the Springfield's, and a Winchester model 95, as my name implies my current project gun a Siamese Mauser in Krag.

i bought a beauty a few yrs back with full sporterized srock and never regret it

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Seafire: My Krag should be here no later than Monday. Barrel cut to 25 inches and issue sight removed, but it has a Lyman rear. It was made in 1899 according to the serial number, in the 160,000 range. Hope it shoots as well as yours apparently does.

Bill

Keep me posted on how it shoots...Those match bullets and MVs around 2000 fps for the heavier bullets and 2200 fps for the 165 to 180s seem to be the most accurate velocities in mine...

I feed mine match bullets or 180 and 220 grain RN's...most of its shooting is casual range shooting.. it does get hauled out to bear hunt with at times.. but so for Yogi and BooBoo haven't shown their faces.. they probably heard what an accurate rifle it is...

Mine is a rarer calvary model they only made 5,000 of.. serialed in the 128K range..