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30-40 Krag value?
Can anyone give me an educated guess on the value of a U.S. Springfield Armory, Model 1898 30-40 Krag rifle? The stock has been customized so not original, the barrel looks reblued, rifling is excellent, action is excellent and it shoots well. There is a proof mark on the top of the barrel "A80". It has a Lyman peep site mounted. Overall, the piece is in very good condition. Thanks in advance for your input/opinions.
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Re: 30-40 Krag value?
Realistically, as described, $300, +/- $50, IMO and experience.
I see plenty sporterized Krags meeting that description on racks at shows and in shops priced between $250 and $600, but anything above $300 just gathers dust and cobwebs. Dealers and sellers can put any price they want on a gun, but that doesn't mean someone will pay that price.
Noah
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Re: 30-40 Krag value?
once you bubba up a rifle like a krag it loses whatever value it may have held. no collector will buy a sporterized krag so the best you can hope for is someone looking for a cheap shooter if you want to sell it. you might increase value a bit if you could find an orignal stock but you'd still lose value because of the re-blueing. i think 300 is a little too much since you can buy modern bolt action rifles used for that price or brand new for a little more.
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Re: 30-40 Krag value?
What Noah and Wellcraft said:
I love those old gals, and they are a pleasure to shoot as well as very accurate. That said, ammo is getting harder to find and the Krag round isn't exciting enough to interest most modern shooters.
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Re: 30-40 Krag value?
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Re: 30-40 Krag value?
Thank you all for your great input, it is much appreciated.
Bill
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Re: 30-40 Krag value?
Keep it and shoot it, there's nothing better than a cheap good shooter, particularly since it still has the soul of a warrior in it.
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Re: 30-40 Krag value?
Totally agreed with Yellowfin here. The Krag sporters have been shooters for American soldiers and hunters for almost 120 years. Sporterized Krags were THE gun that made American hunters into bolt action rifle fans. The Krag has the smoothest bolt you'll ever find, and I'm sure there are Krag sporters that have been in the woods each deer season for five generations or more. Just make sure your rifle's bolt isn't developing stress cracks on the locking lug.
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Re: 30-40 Krag value?
Unfortunately, once "sporterized", their value drops greatly. It probably won't go for more than $200-$250. Ammo is hard to come by and by the sound of it, you can't even strip the rifle apart and sell any original pieces to collectors as it was reblued.
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Re: 30-40 Krag value?
Though once very popular , Krag sporters just don't really sell well these days. Seems everyone wants a synthetic-stocked , heavy barreled tactical sniper rifle these days. The Krags split-bridge receiver doesn't make mounting a scope easy , the caliber is seen by many to be underpowered. The action is incredibly smooth , but not very strong with it's single lug bolt. The barrels were of very mild steel. And many if not most of the sporterizing was poorly done. I've seen more hack-jobs than well done examples.
OTOH , new original contour barrels and newly manufactured full-length military style stocks are available. If the receiver hasn't been permanantly butchered , ya could put it back to original style.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...1/P2150001.jpg