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Forums10
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Joined: Jul 2005
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Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,398 Likes: 16 |
Welcome back Mark! I was hoping you would join this thread.
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Joined: Dec 2010
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Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 1,224 Likes: 3 |
Interesting post, Mark. I had heard that the reason so many Krag sporters were single shots is that the repeater conversions were very difficult to make, especially in smaller ctgs like .25-35 and .219. Seems not to be so. I envy you all those "old smoothies". That safety lug conversion deserves an article someplace, or at least some pix!
I noticed a remark by George Nonte in his old column "Cartridge of the Month" in "Handloader" #59 (Jan/Feb 1976) on the .35 WCF where he mentions "....surplus Krags so altered (to .35 WCF) are not unknown. I once owned a full-stocked, 18-inch barrel, flush-magazine Krag whose original barrel had been rebored to .35 Winchester--a very nice woods rifle."
Anybody know what he meant by "flush-magazine"? Single shot? Reduced cartridge capacity magazine?
Anybody notice other mention of this rifle in Nonte's writings?
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Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 1,153
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 1,153 |
The 'flush magazine' probably refers to the not-unusual practice of making the magazine's door fit flush against the line of the stock's wood along the right side of the action. This conversion is detailed in The American Rifleman, I believe the article I saw was published sometime in the '50s or early '60s. Apparently the conversion made the rifle a LOT easier to carry in the field and some folks even thought it looked better.... Regards, Joe
You can lead a man to logic but you can't make him think. NRA Life since 1976. God bless America!
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 231
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 231 |
Brothers of the Steel:I must have Ol' Timers Disease,(58)because I can't remember who but I read that someone in the 50's-60's made a parts kit that converted Krags,to a slimmer 3 round magazine from the standard 5.Larry Koller who wrote "Shots at Whitetails" hunted exclusively with a custom Krag he built and I believe he installed such a kit.For what it's worth.
The Sons of Alvin Linden
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Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 6,881
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 6,881 |
Posting for Waterman,
MP Sadly Deceased as of 2/17/2014
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Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 1,224 Likes: 3
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 1,224 Likes: 3 |
Neat. That Hart conversion rifle looks like the gun Nonte mentioned. Thanks for answers, all. I'm gonna have to dig up that American Rifleman article.
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 41
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 41 |
The article about flush magazines for the Krag is in "The NRA Gunsmithing Guide-Updated", mines the 1982 edition and usually still available at abebooks. Great book by the way, with plenty of how-to-do articles that we all grew up with in the 50-60's from the American Rifleman.
Larry Koller was also a big fan of the .250/3000, which made me go out and find a cherry Savage 99 EG back then.
Bob
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Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 422 Likes: 1
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 422 Likes: 1 |
The scan is from Ellis Lenz' book Muzzle Flashes. My copy is the 1944 second printing. The paper is thin wartime stuff and the print from the reverse page shows through. Lenz wrote that the stock work was done by Harvey W. Rogers, a stockmaker employed by Hart Arms Co. of Cleveland, Ohio. Rogers worked for Hoffman before he worked for Hart.
The stock itself is the issue military Krag stock with the upper part of the comb removed and a comb of proper height and appearance added. A pistol grip has been dovetailed into the lower part of the military stock and the grip area checkered to hide the joining line. The long military barrel was cut off and the military fore-end was cut back to make a Mannlicher-type fore-end. The lightening cuts were filled in the standard manner. Lenz wrote that the labor involved was little short of making the stock from scratch.
The Hart flush magazine was apparently an aftermarket assembly. Is there any relationship between the Hart Arms Co of pre-war Cleveland and the present suppliers of stuff to the benchrest crowd?
Last edited by waterman; 02/21/11 12:53 PM.
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Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 63
Sidelock
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OP
Sidelock
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 63 |
This thread gets more and more interesting... I think I will go with .35 Krag; a .30-40 opened out to .358. Already have tons of new and used .30 Krag around, you see.
Current sub-projects:
Stock. Haven't found a suitable candidate yet.
Front sling swivel attachment. If anybody makes the sling swivels that attach through the stock to the barrel, you can't prove it by me.
Last edited by Plain Old Dave; 02/21/11 01:18 PM.
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Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 422 Likes: 1
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 422 Likes: 1 |
The Lenz book has a diagram of how to modify a Krag military stock. All you need is patience. (VBG)
My late friend Jim Hogan installed a "through the stock" barrel band and sling swivel on my Bannerman Krag sporter about 10 years ago. I seem to remember that I sent a check to Brownell's for the parts.
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