I have always felt the .30-40 Krag to be about the perfect cast bullet rifle cartridge.
My thoughts also. If you want to hunt big deer with cast bullets, the 30 US Army is about the smallest that will work really well. Where I live there are still old guys that shoot deer with 180's and cow elk with 220's.I have always felt the .30-40 Krag to be about the perfect cast bullet rifle cartridge.
You can get bolts on Ebay pretty reasonable. It's the single lug that seems to cause any issues, if there are any, with the Krag.i own a sporterized 1898 spr armory in 30-40 krag. i use a 165gr ranch dog and h4198 that goes 1926 fps. i have killed 8 or 9 deer with it and everyone of them are DRT. my son has used it and 5 or 6 deer were DRT too. he has the longest shot with a cast boolit that was a doe and the range was 173 yards(laser range finder thingy).
i have another sporterized krag and two krag actions sans bolt. i've been thinking that either 35 krag or a 9.3 krag would be my cast boolit shooter. but thats down the road.
i also been thinking of taking the krag action and put it into a 22 hornet or 219 donaldson wasp. or i'll go all out and make it a 224 krag.
Those are 44 1/2's, but pretty "ideal" in my book!Here you go, 4-6 months and one can be yours.... Sporting/Varmint, Schutzen, Benchrest, and silhouette. Plus a switch barrel option is available or action only.
www.cparifles.com. Check out the caliber list: www.cparifles.com/pages/calibers
Okay.... all this talk about milsurps makes me want another milsurp in 3006. I have a 1903a4, original everything except the actual scope. The closest I could get, or rather the closest I wanted to pony up for was a weaver k4 post reticle. Anyway, I love that rifle, but it's in such nice condition I don't want to take any chances.In that scale , I know this is blasphemy, I've had exactly 1 rifle , excluding the Gew 98 1916 DWM in 280 B Square with the .303 throat , that simply refused to work with me . An 11/43 1903A3 . It wouldn't shoot anything much above sickly 30-30 start loads . I believe it is the only one I've parted company with and felt like I'd had it too long and was glad to be rid of it .
I have a couple that are just too easy and one of those IS a 30-30 . The 358 Win might be the perfect balance for me though it's enough for the great deer . I have run well into jacketed speeds with a 250 gr bullet with by many contrasts mild recoil . It also shoots that 35-250 into about .900 for 5 with field timing .
It's also been quite sporting with WC , SWC and RNFP intended for 9/38/357 use . I haven't tried the cute little 358-95 for the 380 yet .
My own choice as a dedicated cast bullet rifle is the 7.65 Argentine 1909 Mauser. Shooting a Lyman 311284 HP powder coated. The bullet (mold) I believe came from Brad.
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Some year or two back, story was nose dia too big IIRC but in the .312 bore its been perfect!! Rifle shoots under 2" @ 1650 ish with 2400. It hasnt drawn blood yet but will work just perfect for the sub 200 yard needs of places I hunt. (Mostly sub 100)
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..... The 358 Win might be the perfect balance for me though it's enough for the great deer .......
All these fine old "thirty-somethings" are making me feel envious and needful.
My pick is the 30/30 as an "ideal," because it's common, easy to load for, efficient (moderate case capacity) with numerous common powders, comparatively easy to find brass for, easy to cast for (30s, in general, I guess), easy on the shooter, etc. Pretty boring common knowledge.
The main reason I see the 30/30 as MY ideal is that it fits the platform I've chosen for my personal battery these days - the Contender Carbine. It fits, it suits, it's not abusive in a lightweight rifle - perfect for that platform. If I had chosen a heavier gun, say some repeater, my choice might be different, but the 30/30 is just so easy to please and so "civil."
Surplus 30 cal barrel and a smith willing to join the two.Okay.... all this talk about milsurps makes me want another milsurp in 3006. I have a 1903a4, original everything except the actual scope. The closest I could get, or rather the closest I wanted to pony up for was a weaver k4 post reticle. Anyway, I love that rifle, but it's in such nice condition I don't want to take any chances.
So my other option is to rebarrel a turkish mauser 1938. It's a gew98 action that the turkish started with.. Currently 8mm mauser. It's already had the stock refinished and altered a bit.
What would be the cheapest way to get that turkish mauser up and running in 3006?