doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Custom 1898 Krag Target Rifle by W. L. Armitage

I bought this online several years ago and almost immediately sold it to a close friend.� Well, I just got it back today and I'm very happy I did.� The gunsmith stamped his name, W.L. Armitage on the bottom of the barrel, but I have no idea when it was built. I'm hoping someone on this forum can help me out. As you can see, it has a Douglas XX Premium barrel and Redfield International rear sight.






The quality of the build is first rate.� Even the butt plate is hand forged and checkered.� VERY accurate due to the Douglas XX barrel and glass bedded action.�





Keith

Continued:
The front globe sight is a GH "Clear View" that takes Anschutz size clear apertures.


The gun was bedded, and the gunsmith an extra action screw, in a fashion similar to Norwegian Krags. I Googled W.L. Armitage but came up with absolutely nothing. My next step is to write American Rifleman (with pics) to see if they can help me with identifying the name. Next to the name was an "H", but its significance is beyond me. Here are pictures of the bedding, barrel and trigger. The trigger was the most interesting. A Dayton Traister Mk II, it obviously was not made to fit a Krag and had to be heavily modified to fit. But it works to perfection with about a 2# pull with no creep and a crisp letoff. I contacted Dayton Traister and was told they were bought out in 1985, but my contact at DT stated that they made a few Mark II triggers for Krags, mostly in the 50's and 60's, but sold them as late as in the 70's. So this trigger (if not modified by Armitage) doesn't help me date the gun's build.








Keith