Replica handguards for krags.

[soldierofhistory1898]

Would someone please tell me what the email address is for the man who makes the replacement handguards for Krags. I remember a post on the old Krag rifle forum discussing them but it and all the knowledge in it is long gone. What a pity. Anyway I would appreciate it if someone could locate that for me. Many thanks.
S.O.H. 1898

[JOEZ]

Go to www.partsforantiqueguns.com . I bought one a while back and it was excellent. Good luck.

JOEZ.

[Dick Hosmer]

Thanks for the recommendation. I don't need any at present, and don't expect to, since my acquiring days are about over, but a GOOD source for that item is nice to know about.

I'd been wondering about theirs - they look nice, but over the years several companies have marketed handguards which either would not fit (sight cut shifted by as much as 3/16") or did not look correct. I've seen some that were pre-treated with a "pinkish" tone, and even some that I suspect were not walnut.

[madsenshooter]

I've gotten a couple from the above link. They are real walnut. I had a slight problem with fit of one for a 1902 sight, as Dick said the sight slot was off and with the sight installed there was a slight gap of about 1/8" on the right side where the handguard and stock meet. I returned it and he refunded the money, though I'd had it a long time before trying it. Without the sight installed it fit ok, so the cut for the sight was the problem. Anything mass produced is going have a few out of spec. These I think are about the best one is going to find, I got one from S&S that wasn't walnut, some type of soft, stain drinking wood. It was thicker on one side than the other, and required a lot of sanding to get it anywhere near even. Occasionally someone will sell one on ebay, and not know what rifle it is for, but that's a rarity and you have to compete against other eagle eyed folks.

[John from the Cereal City]

I'v purchased a few of these handguards and have been very pleased with the fit and finish. All I had to do was stain them to match the stock and they were a drop on- no other fitting needed.

If you need a new stock that also doesn't require any fitting, I recommend
Michael Kokolus at http://www.gunstockduplicating.com/ He made a '96 rifle stock that was absolutely perfect. Not cheap in price, but if you want a new stock to use for making a match rifle or reenacting, this is as close to arsenal made as you can find.

[Fishnerd]

I bought one for my 95/96 carbine (#26930). The quality and fit were nice. The problem was me- I can't for the life of me even come close to matching the color of my stock, which I'll coin "Krag Antique Cherry". Any suggestions on a stain or combination of stains?

[madsenshooter]

MinWax makes gunstock, or gun something stain, that I wish I'd tried. I've done a couple of walnuts, special dark and another, they were too dark, then tried a red oak, too red, maybe the lighter walnut with a touch of red mixed in. I think if you get somewhere near, the aging of applied linseed oil will bring it closer to matching

[dave]

I have matched about three re-pro handguards to original stocks (repros were made by a Ben ?????) Dick knew him, he is gone now. Anyway I always use Min-Wax Red Mahogany oil stain, you may have to vary number of coats to get good match. I have refinished a few M1 stock using the same. Almost always takes 2 applications with dry time in between. Try it on scrape piece of walnut, you will like results!

[madsenshooter]

That's another one that I wanted to try Dave, just haven't got around to it.

[Dick Hosmer]

That was Ben Rice - sadly, he did pass away several years ago. His fitting was perfect, but his early work had a distinctive "pink" tone to it.

Fortunately. I have never (yet) had to use a repro handguard - or, if I do have any, they are too well done for my eyes to catch! :-)

There was a REALLY good (very) technical article on stock finishing and color-matching from a few years ago. I'll see if I can find it - I'm sure it came from the CMP.