Semi-OT: Do I want a .30-40 Krag?

[awp101]

Notice I said "want", not need...

Noah's thread on his 1895 .30-40 got me to thinking about it. I never paid much attention to Krags until a couple of years back when I found a stripped, barreled action for dirt cheap. Not knowing how hard it would be to source the missing parts I passed. Then last year a sporterized Krag started showing up at the local shows but my want, cash flow and the seller never coincided. Finally, on the hog hunt with 86er in March, one of the hunters used his Grandfather's (Great Grandfather's? I forget offhand) to take a hog.

If I start looking for one, it would have to be a straight trade situation. I have a Win 75 I traded into not long ago that would be the trade fodder. I'm already .22 poor and did the deal mainly because there were no other offers for the rifle I was parting with. Based on my reading and looking, the value of a decent, sporterized Krag would be close to the value of the Winchester ($325-375).

What I sort of need now is convincing. The .30-40 won't do anything my -06 or 7x57 already do, so other than the history of the round and rifle and the ability to say "Yup, I have a sporterized Krag!" there's not much call for one around here.

Convince me one way or the other please....

[pwl44m]

If I had My Krag here I would take a pic and post it for u to drool. It is the most beautiful Krag Carbine U have ever layed eyes on.That along with the slickest action in the World and U would want One. I don't think I would part with Mine for the price Ur talking though. I need to get My Tail in Gear and get My other Safe down here where I am living now.
I also have a full dres Krag in the White, that is I have the barreled action and My
BIL in Tx has the rest of it which He can't seem to locate.
Do U "want" a sporterized Krag ? Of course U do. Do U "need" a sporterized Krag ? Of course U do to satisfy that addiction.

[3leggedturtle]

You really think " we'll " tell you that you dont need or want it!!! Sounds like you already got your mind made up and just want approval. Buy it, shoot it, then put it in classifieds afterwards, doubt you'd lose money on it. Todd

[Hobie]

The Krag is a gem of a bolt gun and a wonderful thing to behold and use. You can't exceed the original pressures of the .30 Army round though as the government discovered long ago. Getting something (or not) just to fit in is just as illogical. If you can do it, want to do it, won't hurt others doing it, get the rifle and enjoy.

[2ndovc]

I love my Krag! It's one of the most accurate and pleasant shooting rifles I own. Like Hobie says, it won't do anything your '06 can't do better but I'd say it has a little edge on the 7x57 due to bigger, heavier bullets.

My former father in law and his dad both hunted with Krag Sporters. They never missed!

jb

[Jeff H]

...........but I'd say it has a little edge on the 7x57 due to bigger, heavier bullets...........jb

Looooooong, moderately paced bullet appeal to me no matter what they are coming out of - 6.5x55, 7x57, 30-40.......
When I was a kid, I remember a shop somewhere near St. Clair Shores, MI, where they had Krags and Rolling Blocks really cheap.
I let someone talk me out of getting either because they were "old and underpowered."

[firefuzz]

YES, you want a Krag carbine.



It's not as powerful or accurate as either of my '03's but it's a joy to carry and will shoot almost any load under 2" at 100yds. This is not an original carbine, could be a DCM gun tho, who ever did the work did a great job. Has both the rear sight and a period correct aperture sight and is in a real carbine stock cleaning rod and all. I lucked into this one on GunBroker fairly cheap, wouldn't take double what I paid for it.

If anyone has a good cast bullet load(s) for a .30-40 please send them my way.

Rob

[awp101]

You can't exceed the original pressures of the .30 Army round though as the government discovered long ago. Getting something (or not) just to fit in is just as illogical. If you can do it, want to do it, won't hurt others doing it, get the rifle and enjoy.

I read that last night. Something about cracked locking lugs when pushing the round to ~2200fps? Not a worry for me since I don't hot rod old (or new) rifles.

Here's my thought process right now:

Krag - It fits the small sporter collection I have and it's a caliber I don't have (and have never shot to be honest). Between the .257 Roberts, 6.5x55 and 7x57 there's already a lot of overlap but that just gives options. All 4 rounds will kill anything I'm likely to hunt (if I ever do again) and has done so for 75-100 years. Most of the time it will be in the safe and will take a turn in the range rat rotation. The biggest draw for me is the history of rifle and the round.

Win 75 - It's heavy. I'm a plinker, not a target shooter. I'm a .22 junkie. It represents a top target rifle of the time. I need more time with it but it shows great promise in the accuracy department. Dang it...I'm talking myself into keeping it while trying to make a case....

OK, looks like I need to start rolling pennies again.

[Hook]

Firefuzz, try Ed Harris' 'The Load', 13 gr of Red Dot under most any cast bullet. He also, I think, advocated 16 gr of 2400. Just google his name and 'the load' and you'll get plenty of info. So far, I've only fired jacketed in mine, mostly 220 gr RN, but one of my main plans for my upcoming retirement is to get back into casting in a big way. This Krag will be one of the main beneficiaries of that project.

I, too, got mine off GB and I would love to hear the stories this ole boy could tell. I can just picture some good ole boy sitting in a cabin carving the deerhead into the stock and stamping the date (1934). When I first cleaned it up, I pulled two old, very gummed up Western open point cartridges out of the buttplate cavity that had been wrapped in a rag and wedged up in there for emergencies. The oil from the stock had seeped in and thoroughly coated them in a sticky mess. Boy, do I wish I knew the history of this rifle. BTW, I added the peep sight and it is extremely accurate! The action smoothness has to be experienced to be believed.






Awp, I don't think you need much convincing.....just go get one.

[Ben_Rumson]

"I read that last night. Something about cracked locking lugs ..." The Krag has only one locking lug .. and on US Krags the bolt guide rib only acts as a safety lug and is not part of the lock up...

[olyinaz]

Hard to beat a Krag for smoothness of action. They're really nice.

Hey, why not buck the trend and get a Norwegian Krag in 6.5mm? Not only do you get a great rifle, you get a great chambering as well!! Nothing wrong with .30-40 at all, but I'll take 6.5x55mm over it any day.

Best,
Oly

[awp101]

Hey, why not buck the trend and get a Norwegian Krag in 6.5mm?

Oh, I have no problem bucking the trend. Today a 'smith I've done some wheeling and dealing with in the past should be receiving a Swede 96 receiver I sent him. I'm having him install a carbine length 7x57 barrel on it. If possible, I'm going to have him mark it .275 Rigby.

In this instance though, if I get a Krag sporter I'll try my best to find it in .30-40 since I do not have a .30-40 nor have I even fired one. Gotta cross that off my list of things to do.

[damienph]

Hey, why not buck the trend and get a Norwegian Krag in 6.5mm?

Oh, I have no problem bucking the trend. Today a 'smith I've done some wheeling and dealing with in the past should be receiving a Swede 96 receiver I sent him. I'm having him install a carbine length 7x57 barrel on it. If possible, I'm going to have him mark it .275 Rigby.

Remember, you can adjust a set of 7MM dies to resize your .275 Rigby. Just go slow.

[awp101]

Will do!

[awp101]

"I read that last night. Something about cracked locking lugs ..." The Krag has only one locking lug .. and on US Krags the bolt guide rib only acts as a safety lug and is not part of the lock up...

Good to know. Now that I'm home, here's the quote:

In October 1899, after reviewing the experiences of the Spanish-American War, U.S. Army ordnance authorities developed a new loading for the .30 Army used in the Krag rifle, in an attempt to match the ballistics of the 7x57mm Mauser cartridge employed by Spanish forces in that conflict. The new loading increased the muzzle velocity in the rifle version of the Krag to 2,200 fps at 45,000 psi. However, once the new loading was issued, reports of cracked locking lugs on service Krags began to surface. In March 1900 the remaining stocks of this ammunition (some 3.5 million rounds) were returned to the arsenals, broken down, and reloaded back to the original 2,000 fps specification.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.30-40_Krag

I know Wikipedia isn't 100% accurate so it's nice to see where they're wrong.

[kragluver]

Yes you should get a Krag. They are great cast bullet rifles and typically very accurate. If you do get one, be sure and slug the barrel. Krag bore diameters tend to run all over from 308 to 313. Mine is 310. I shoot the Lee C185 sized 311. This bullet was originally designed for the 303 Brit. Do check the bolt lug by dipping the bolt head in gasoline and then wiping dry. If there is a crack, gas will weep from the crack. I have yet to meet a Krag owner who has found a cracked lug. Also, the bolt handle and guide rib both act as safety lugs should the primary lug fail - just read PO Ackley - the Krag action is plenty strong for the cartridge it was designed for.

[O.S.O.K.]

A Krag? You mean like this?



Actually, this was a sportered one - I posted about restoring this previously.

AWP, we all have Krags - you're missing out. Get with the program

[Charles]

Yes, you want a Krag. I have four.

I have heard of a Krag cracking a lug with military or factory level ammo. I have seen a couple that were rebarreled to other calibers that had cracked lugs.

[Noah Zark]

I just inherited this cut-down Krag faux carbine, which if family tradition is to be believed is an NRA Carbine sold by the DCM in the 1930s to my grandfather:



This once belonged to my maternal grandfather who bought it from the DCM in the early 30s during the Depression, really ticking off my grandmother as the family story goes. He had a great job as a locomotive engineer and a second job part time delivering biscuits and cookies from Ontario Biscuit Co to grocers in SW NYS and NW PA. But $$$ was still tight and he took a lot of grief.

The Krag was recently given to me by my uncle, who had it since my grandfather died in 1976. My uncle is now 87 and hasn't fired the rifle since childhood, and he's ready for it to move to the next in-family caretaker.

Of course no documentation exists for buying the rifle from the DCM for (as the story goes) $2.50, so it cannot be definitively proven that it's an "NRA Carbine" reworked at Benecia, CA and sold by the DCM. All I have is family tradition.

It's a cut-down 1898 Rifle with rifle rear sight and M1903 Springfield front sight assembly with a shortened blade insert to properly range the rear sight. The stock was cut down in front of the rear band, and there is no keeper spring on the rear band. The HG is not a carbine HG.

The muzzle gauges a "0" with a CMP muzzle gauge, and the crown is even and sharp. The bore is bright and the rifling is bold, if not sharp. Accuracy using Remington factory 180 Corelokts is about 1.25" off bags.

I added the Butler Creek Mountain Sling, and removed 65+ years of dust mite colonies from the bore and nooks and crannies of the external features, oiled the moving parts, checked the bolt lug with UV light and some kind of magnaflux fluid (no weeping of bright orange liquid under UV), and loaded 'er up and let fly.

It's a nice addition to the 1895 Browning I reported on previously.

Noah

[bobbyjack]

I love my Krag! It's one of the most accurate and pleasant shooting rifles I own. Like Hobie says, it won't do anything your '06 can't do better but I'd say it has a little edge on the 7x57 due to bigger, heavier bullets.

My former father in law and his dad both hunted with Krag Sporters. They never missed!

jb

Funny I thought the reason the Springfield 03 was designed and even bought the mauser patend was because the Krag 30/40 was not up to par with the German mauser 7x57's?

Bob

[olyinaz]

Funny I thought the reason the Springfield 03 was designed and even bought the mauser patend was because the Krag 30/40 was not up to par with the German mauser 7x57's?

Bob

Had more to do with the Mauser action design I think (stripper clip loading etc.). Besides, it's the 6.5mm Krag that really kicks butt!

Oly