My Hermit's Pass Krag

[Frank Srebro]

So, I was about age 13 and hiking with friend Jim to a place in our mountains called the Hermit’s Pass. We were checking fox traps and ran into a deer hunter in his early 20’s. I kind of knew him; his family lived across the crick that ran through our section of town. I was a budding gun nut back then and recognized his rifle as a sporterized Krag. He let me handle it and of all things it was the red recoil pad with straight slots I remembered most because it was so different than the pads with round or zigzag holes I’d seen.

Fast forward many decades to last Saturday when I was with two nephews at the Firemen’s annual dinner and gun raffle in my old home town. I struck up a conversation with a gent at our table and recognized his surname as one of the families that had lived across that crick. I asked about his family and learned his Uncle was the same young hunter I’d met up with along with Jimmy on the trapline so long ago. The gun raffle went on and the gent casually mentioned he had some old guns for sale. I asked what he had ….. nothing of much interest to me except for a cut-down Krag. I met up with him yesterday and she came home with me. Nice reunion!

I know this will give some of our custom rifle aficionados the shivers. I’ve always liked Krags - grand rifles back then and even now. Even with the “lunchbox” on the side. A very nice job on the sporterizing and the bore is excellent, kind of unusual for an old Krag. The bolt peep is a Leroy Rice made in Ohio circa 1930's and sold for a few bucks. I checked her sighting at the range today. 50 yards and with the 4 cartridges that came with the rifle. That red square is the back of a Fiocchi 100 count shotshell primer cardboard sleeve. 3-inch group, not bad for these old eyes. That lower hole with a cross over it in the red is from another rifle I checked. I’ll get her moved a little right and down next week when I can get a box of 30-40 shells.

The old Krag will be back in my hands this year when our deer season comes in. :)

[todd allen]

I've always thought the old 30/40 Krags to be cool old guns. Never had the pleasure of shooting one. Maybe one day.

[Brett Hoop]

Nothing runs as slick as a Krag bolt!
My dad's deer rifle was a sporterized Krag.

[Daryl Corona]

Thanks for the neat story Frank. Back in the late 70's my Dad had a hunting cabin in Hollidaysburg on the little Juniata river. Most of the guys who hunted this area were WW2 vets and the rifle of choice was either the Krag or a Savage 99 with a handful of sporterized Mausers thrown in. Hard hunting but good memories.

[edgarspencer]

Frank, I am also a fan of the Krag, and have a sporter, and an original carbine.
This is a sight that Lyman made just for the Krag

[Bill Murphy]

My Krag is a Stoeger Peerless restock, a $20.00 item in an early Shooter's Bible, including beautiful steel grip cap and buttplate. Checkering, which mine doesn't have, is $3.50 for stock and about the same for the forend. The sight on mine is a nice Redfield with no visible model designation. The shaping is about as good as a Griffin and Howe. $20.00 included all the labor and metal work on the original Krag. The fully inletted stock by itself was $6.50. Frank's Krag is a beautiful example of what can be done with the original wood. By the way, mine also came from a Pennsylvania auction.

[George Lang]

On our honeymoon in Pennsylvania, many many moons ago, my new bride bought me an original Krag carbine at a local gas station. Price was $27.50 including the sling and a box of new Remington ammo. Owner of station wouldn't let her buy it until I fired 5 rounds (on him) to insure it functioned correctly. I still have it and its known as the "honeymoon gun". PS I also purchased a WIN 1894 early SRC 38-55 for $25 next day, still have that also. Boy were those the days. My first parker was a VG+ VHE 12ga for $70. You can't go back.

[edgarspencer]

George, have you ever researched your Krag carbine? Springfield Research, in Cabin John, MD has war department records on nearly all the Krag rifles and Carbines bought under US contracts. You just never know where it may have been. Perhaps to the Philippines, Perhaps to Cuba.................

[George Lang]

Thanks, I'll have to give it a try.

[edgarspencer]

As I’m sure you know, it was the First Volunteer Regiment, under Leonard Wood and Theodore Roosevelt who fought in Cuba, and are famously known as The Rough Riders. Most of the men in the twelve regiments carried a Colt Single Action Army revolver and either an 1896 or 1898 Krag carbine.

[charlie cleveland]

would like to add one of them kraks to my collection but they are to high now i ve waited to late....do have a mauser 8 mm rifle like new still in military specks also have a sporterized jap rifle carbine in 6.5 jap but somebody chambered it to 257 roberts then i had it chambered to 25-06.... then a 1903 remington in 30-06...charlie

[Bill Murphy]

I have researched my 1903 Springfields and Colt pocket .32s, but never thought about researching my Krags. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Frank Srebro]

Thanks everyone for your comments. I forgot to mention the barrel is trimmed to 24" and nicely crowned, front sight ramp is sweated on, Redfield type but unmarked. Front sight is a Marbles.

[edgarspencer]

Frank, Mine is also 24", and I keep reminding myself, I need a 30 caliber crowning tool. what crown there is on mine was file formed on the lathe.
I Like your stock a lot, and think it's perhaps the nicest conversion of an original stock. Checkering and color are great

[davidboyles]

Frank my first deer rifle was an 189? Argentine Mauser bought for me by my dad when I was 12. 7.65 Argentine and we bought at Woolworths in downtown Houston. the place had racks of military surplus rifles. I later got a dandy 6.5x55 SWedish Mauser Carbine probably $18 and those long nickel plated bullets. Springfields o3A3 ,British 303 Jungle carbines with flash hider, 1898 Mausers, M1 Carbines, Garands 30/06 you name it a kid could get lost. I sporterized the Argentne myself and shot a few deer with it til I got a Swede Carbine. Great memories. Thx for sharing

[Frank Srebro]

David, just from your description I'd say your first rifle is in the second pic, lower rack, second from right = Argentine M1891 Mauser. I remember seeing cardboard barrels full of them, all excellent, while as a young pup with Mom and my grandmother while they shopped at a dry goods store in Scranton. Yep, those were the days ….. :bowdown:

click twice to expand

[Bill Murphy]

I spent many hours in my youth at the Hunter's Lodge, later known as Ye Olde Hunter, then Potomac Arms. Several great guns in my collection came from that store on the Potomac River. Sadly, not too long ago, it disappeared. I remember massive field pieces displayed in the fenced parking lot with prices comparable to a new set of tires for your car.

[Bill Murphy]

Notice in the ad that The Hunter's Lodge admitted to being affiliated with Interarms. This connection seems to have been swept under the rug in later years, maybe because of some of the shady activities of the owner of Interarms. You could throw a rock from the Hunter's Lodge facility to the Interarms building. Again, in later years, the Interarms building was completely devoid of signage and the doors were locked.

[Dave Noreen]

Frank's Ye Olde Hunter ads made me nostalgic. I opened Google Earth and found I don't see anything familiar along the Alexandria waterfront. The address of Potomac Arms was Zero Prince Street. I no longer own any of the guns I bought there. Best gun I ever saw there I put Kevin onto, and he wrote his article "Grandma's Gun" for The Double Gun Journal about it.

[Richard Flanders]

There's a stock Krag in my family. My youngest brother has it. Not sure where my grandfather got it but he served in Cuba and the Philippines in the Spanish American War. We had a McClellan saddle on the farm also, likely from his service there also. I have old pictures of him sitting on a horse with a McClellan while serving. I've never been able to figure out who the experienced torture expert was that invented that diabolic saddle.

[George Lang]

my first rifle, a gift from my Dad, came from Ye Olde Hunter. It is an El Tigre SRC 44-40 Spainish copy of the Winchester 1892 and I still have it 67 years later.

[Kevin McCormack]

Frank's Ye Olde Hunter ads made me nostalgic. I opened Google Earth and found I don't see anything familiar along the Alexandria waterfront. The address of Potomac Arms was Zero Prince Street. I no longer own any of the guns I bought there. Best gun I ever saw there I put Kevin onto, and he wrote his article "Grandma's Gun" for The Double Gun Journal about it.

Yes, my eternal thanks to Dave for alerting me to "Grandma's 28", a Parker GH 28 gauge Damascus Steel jewel in completely original condition, purchased by a local Alexandria businessman from William Wagner's shop across the river in DC on Pennsylvania Ave. SE, a veritable Mesopotamia of Parker smallbores from the c. 1895 - 1915 era. Regular patrons included Gen. Billy Mitchell and Judge Louis Wright, both Parkerphiles in the little gauges. A very significant number of early Parker 28 bores can be traced directly to Wagner's shop.

It never ceases to amaze me the number of exotic and now-considered uber rare guns that came to within 25 miles of our nation's capitol; Henry Bartholomew's River Valley Farm on Broad Creek feeding the Potomac River became home to some of the finest A.H. Fox heavy waterfowl (and not a few bird) guns, handled by luminaries such as Nash Buckingham, 'Doc" Reuter, and Col. Jack Hession. Canvasback shooting within sight of the Washington Monument and Railbird hunting across the river in VA at Huntley Meadows - who could envision it today!?

[Phil Yearout]

Those old magazine ads were wonderful. I remember drooling over them without ever having the hope of buying anything!

[Bill Murphy]

Kevin is right about the mystique of Washington, D.C. and smallbore Parkers. Many of them never left the area. I have two 28 gauge Parkers from Billy Wagner's shop and both were found within a few miles of the Pennsylvania Avenue sports emporium.

[Rick Losey]

the first center fire rifle I fired as a kid was a Krag

that's when I learned about the trilogy of a Krag, a thumb and a nose

nice rifle Frank - I bet it would be impossible to count the Penn's woods deer taken with one

[John Mazza]

Frank - that is a SWEET Krag ! I saw a guy walking one around during a gun show a few years back. It had a custom maple stock with an intense curl to the grain. (It looked like a Krag & an old PA longrifle had a baby !) The stock was just a tiny bit "fat." I think it needed to be slimmed down a bit to look/feel "perfect." If it wasn't for that, I would have bought it on the spot. I have an 1892 (with the typical arsenal upgrades) that I love to shoot. Accurate as hell ! For the life of me, I cannot understand why I only own ONE Krag...