My Favorite Woods Gun is a M1896 .30/40 Krag Carbine.

[Adam Helmer]

Thanks to my twin brother, in 2002 I became the owner of my favorite Krag. He found a "butchered" Krag Carbine some woodshed gunsmith cut the barrel to 16 inches and replaced the original stock. The bore was akin to the inside of the tailpipe on my truck. On the used gun rack the "Ugly Krag" went for $65.00. Happily, my twin brother knew a local gunsmith who replaced the barrel, moved over the original sights and polished and blued the action for $75.00. I paid $150 for the smoothest bolt gun I own. My Krag Carbine is a Model 1896, which is the first year Krag Carbines were made at Springfield Armory.

I have worked up an accuracy load of a 150 grain JSP bullet and H414. That is my deer/bear hunting load. For year-round target shooting I use the Lyman #311467 175 grain cast bullet or the Lee 185 grain RN cast bullet and both like 18 grains of 2400 powder and 77.5MM overall length. For cast bullets, a slight increase in rear sight elevation is needed for POA/POI at 100 yards than with jacketed bullets. I put a piece of masking on the stock of my rifles with such sight adjustments noted.

I have a few Original Krag rifles on establishment, but this 20-inch barrel M1896 Krag Carbine is all the Woods Rifle I have ever needed. Krags are very smooth and slick arms, I never have had enough on establishment: I am still seeking Krags.

Adam