I got an 1898 Krag today. It's been sporterized a bit, but overall it's in decent condition for what I paid. I'm concerned, though, that there may be an issue with the striker (aka firing pin). When tearing it down for inspection and cleaning, the striker pin appears to be a bit bent (not really apparent in the photos), although it has no problem clearing the hole in the bolt face. My concern is that it looks to be too long, and protrudes way too far through the bolt face.

I tried loading up some empty cases with spent primers (and a couple of live ones), and running them through the gun. It dimpled them all VERY deeply, pierced a couple of the spent ones, but not the new ones (although it looked like it was pretty close).

I found one forum post elsewhere online where somebody claimed the spec was suppposed to be 2.190". Mine measures at 2.273", and protrudes 0.133" past the bolt face. I've already ordered a replacement (dang, these things are hard to come by, and PRICEY!) but if somebody here has access to a credible source and could quote me the proper spec, or measure their own Krag striker, I'd really appreciate it. I want to be sure this thing is in spec before I put live ammo through it.





Also, when re-assembling the bolt, what is the proper orientation of the firing pin rod in relation to the cocking piece? It seems like it should be screwed flush like in the first picture below, however mine does have enough threads to go past flush like in the second picture, and this does reduce the protrusion of the striker tip at the bolt face to about 0.095" from 0.133". However, some of the threads are exposed in this configuration, and this seems less than ideal.

You may have a greater response posting your question here

https://www.gunboards.com/foru...ay-denmark-u-s-a.85/

Yeah, you're probably right, but most of the collector's forums probably wouldn't have much appreciation for what I'm trying to do here. I'm just wanting a reasonably authentic shooter, not a perfectly correct collector's piece. That, and I only have time to monitor so many forums. I did post this question on the one other board that I'm active on, and got a few responses. It looks like the proper spec is going to be 2.185". I'll report back here with the results when my new part gets here, hopefully Monday.

While we're at it, does anybody know if there are handguards from any other rifles that will fit the US Krag with a little modification? Authentic Krag ones, even repros, are pretty darn expensive. S&S has a blank without clips that needs to be inlet for the rear sight for $60...was hoping to find something a bit cheaper if I'm going to have to cut and drill on it anyway.

Have you tried milsurps.com ? That’s where I go for SMLE stuff. There’s a thread for Krags

Well, new parts came in today from S+S. It measures to 2.184", and appears to be a well-made, quality part. Protrusion past the bolt-face is .045", and the nicely rounded tip leaves clean dimples in the primers. I shot it some today with my cast handloads, and while it functioned properly, I have some work ahead of me to get it accurate. I'm not sure if it's my load, the rough bore, or something else, but it's grouping about 6-8" and a foot and a half right at 100 yards. I loaded up some jacketed bullets tonight and I'm going to try to give it another go tomorrow. We'll get it figured out one way or another.

I have a suspicion that somebody welded the old striker. It looks like there are grinding marks on it, the contours are wrong, and when I tried dremeling down the tip so I could save it as a spare, the whole thing snapped off. It was hollow inside, and there were a bunch of impurities evident in the metal. My theory is that somewhere in this thing's history, Bubba broke the striker and built it back up with a welder, without any regard for the proper spec.

New Striker:


New on top, old below (before I broke it):


Much better protrusion:


I guess it's just par for the course when dealing with something that's 120 years old. As always, I love a project .

Very nice carbine. Forty years ago, I had a nice collection of Krag's with a factory match 1898 rifle (no factory records, but factory sights were long range and no handguard.)

I had three carbines and would caution you to closely examine the receiver, as two of the three had fine cracks that you could easily pass over if not looking for them.

This was common knowledge of collectors at that time but seems to have fallen of the radar lately. Both carbines were eventually sold with full disclosures to people who wanted wall hangers for display.

I removed the strikers from each gun before selling. Even by then, new factory strikers were hard to find.

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Good to know...where did they crack? I had the gun out today, and in spite of the freaking obnoxious on and off rain that kept falling, I think I'm close to having a load that it likes, using powder and bullets that I'm already using for .30-06. But I'd sure like to make sure there are no cracks...I don't want the receiver coming apart on me.

You could try the CMP forum for some Krag info. There are still active shooters of the Krag out there.

Dick Hosmer on www.jouster2.com is one of the best Krag guys I'm aware of when it comes to collector info and history.

Thanks guys, there's some good resources there. Apparently I'm not the only one with the same project in mind.