From time to time I will report on this project and hope to add photos as I go along ... if I learn how to post them. I am probably going to use receiver no. 425088, from 1903, the penultimate year of Krag production. It is the cleanest receiver I have, unfortunately it is attached to a very undistinguished sporter which I will cannibalize. I have unattached receivers but this one needs no refinishing. The bolt assembly is OK but I think I will replace it with new parts from Joe DeChristopher, joede@tradenet.net. I saw Joe last Saturday at a small PA show near Allentown. My understanding is that Joe married the daughter of W. Stokes Kirk, who in the 20s and 30s of the last century bought tons of surplus parts from the US government. I have some old Stokes Kirk catalogs and the stuff is fascinating. Crates of the parts - from Krags, trapdoors and 1903s - are said to be in Joe's garage. The guard screws on this action are badly buggered and so are all the other guard screws in my parts box - they are the same as 1903 guard screws and my 1903s are similarly battered. So I bought two new screws from Joe - brand new - for fifteen bucks. Easier than cleaning up the ones I have. Joe also has brilliantly heat blued extractors, $25 and polished bolt bodies, $35. I have fairly good extractors and a couple of shiny bolts but they do not compare with the finish Springfield did as routine work over a century ago. Joe will sell a complete brand new bolt for $125. Considering how much will be spent on this sporter before it is finished, it is probably worth buying those parts.
