Springfield 30-40 Krag

[Outlaws]

Well while shopping for a Swedish Mauser I stumbed on a rifle I never bothered to pick up and feel before. I had seen a pic once befpre on the net, but given its limited service in the US, it never caught my interest.

But today found its way into my hands. I haven't bought it (yet), but I am very interested in it. Its got an unknown vintage aftermarket stock, which was VERY comfortable IMO, and has a fancy looking Lyman setup. It said 1894 Springfield Armory and a 5 digit serial number...thats it. It looked and felt like it was a solid rifle. But I know nothing about them. I just read the wikipedia thing on it, but it was limited on info.

The shop wanted $350. They had 4 or 5 in there, all with various styles of aftermarket stocks, for about the same $350.

Is there anything to know about these? I am going to the gun show in tomorrow to look for a Swede, but if I don't find one I am worried I will crack because this rifle was really nice (I think). It had checkering, but it was well spaced and wasn't ruff, and the stock was very slim with a little flare toward the end of the forearm.

 

[Ben Shepherd]

How long is the barrel? 30" or has it been "sporterized" down to a 26 or 24?

 

[Outlaws]

It was not 30". I would say 24" +/-. Just a "normal" overall rifle length.

 

[gaweidert]

Smoothest bolt action you will ever cycle. Many of the original military ones were sporterized and used a deer and elk rifles for decades. With a good bore, a fine sporting rifle still used today by many people. Non sporterized rofles command premium proces and the bores may be questionable. People who used them for hunting took better care of them than those rifles tha basically sat unused for generations.

 

[B.D. Turner]

I had a Krag carbine that had been shortened even more by a barrel butcher. It retained the original stock. The rear site changed to a Williams peep. I liked it better than any Mauser that I ever owned and would take a good 30-40 over many of the new rifles on the market today.
I can't understand why there was never a commercial made rifle on the Krag design. You just open the loading gate toss in the ammo and pop it back closed so simple and far better than any magazine bolt rifle of today. The action was smoothe and quick. I let the one I had get away but would love to have another one.