Mr. Szihn, The few sporters I have seen and also the chopped up ones also always had a short section of the barrel threading shown. Yet your pics do not show this. May I ask how this was accomplished? Seems a classy way to cover up whatever threads that show on the barrel. Beautiful rifle by the way. My krag is the model of 1898 that saw Bubba work his magic on. Cut bbl to 25", install sporter type front ramped front sight,kept the issue rear sight, and almost cut the wood too short for the first barrel band.Price was good as soon as I saw the condition of the bore. Thanks again, Frank