30-40 krag chrono

[todd]

today i got the krag(bubbasized) out and this is what i've got......

165gr ranch dog(.311"/173gr act) 11 - 12 bhn/10lead:1 tin
25.5gr of h4198
1930fps avg speed/5 shots
std dev 7.93

i've been shooting the ranch dog for 4 or 5 years, but i never did a chronograph. i "assumed" it would go 1800+/-fps. now i know what the deer did!!!!

 

[Bret4207]

Love the Krag!

 

[fiver]

those numbers sound dead on to me.
that looks like a forever load to me too.

 

[todd]

it is!!! i tried 3 different powders(rel7, varget, h4198) in 3 different loads(3 rel7, 3 varget, 3 h4198) and i found that h4198 fills the sweet spot. it goes roughly 1 1/2 - 2" at 100 yards(bench/5 shots). i did a 3/4" at 100 yards(only 1 time) and numerous 1 1/4" at 100 yards. but it goes 1 1/2 - 2" consistently.

my great grandfather, grandpap, dad, late uncle and finally me have shot this rifle and killed deer. sometime in the '60s my grandpap had a bishop's stock put on but he save the original stock. it was found when we were cleaning his basement up after grandpap was buried. it was black!!!!!! i sanded it with very fine steel wool and i used johnson paste wax to finish it. someday, i'll give it to my son(which he has shot deer with it). i also found(ebay) an redfield 102k no drill peep sight.

 

[Bret4207]

Very, very nice! I've been engaged in an on again, off again search for an affordable peep for my Krag Carbine. You have a real nice piece of history there.

 

[todd]

thanks!!!!

i think the redfield was $40 - 50.

 

[RicinYakima]

Your Great Grandfather was a wise man. That is called an "NRA" carbine. After the Spanish American War was over and we adapted the 1903 Springfield, the Krags first went to the NRA members for surplus thru the Department of Civilian Marksmanship. The carbines sold out very quickly, but nobody wanted the 30 inch rifles. So the NRA asked them to rebarrel the rifles with new 1903 barrels left over from the .30 caliber model 1903 cartridge. You just cut the back half the chamber off and rethread and rechamber for .30 US Army. They had brand new barrels of better specifications and material than the original Krag barrels. These were the best shooting Krags ever.

 

[fiver]

good info Ric.
nice snag on that sight.
those older ones are getting harder and harder to find, and the newer ones just barely stay in one piece when fired.

 

[RicinYakima]

The sight is the give away, as all Krag barrels are too small to have a Model 1903 sight installed. If you have one of these, you can hunt anything in North America with a 200 grain Nosler partition. You just have to shoot within 200 yards.

 

[CZ93X62]

Just how available is 30/40 Krag brass these days? I "passed" on a Browning repro 1895 Winchester a couple years ago in 30/40 out of concern that brass was fast becoming unobtainium.

 

[462]

Thanks, Ric, for that information.

I have one of those carbine length Krags (a Model 1898 actually made in 1898) but figured the barrel was cut from the muzzle end and a 1905(?) sight soldered on.

A previous owner drilled and tapped for a receiver peep sight, and I fitted a Williams.

 

[todd]

remington brass is seasonable( or so they say) but grafs came up their own. i should buy it but i keep forgetting.

 

[RicinYakima]

The one I have now has been redone twice, as the barrel on it now is a 1-44 Remington two groove barrel. The chamber and throat have been cut so that the original 220 grain ammo will not close, but snug fit with the 180 spitzer bullets. Plus it was drilled and tapped on the right side of the receiver so you can't remove the bolt without pulling the sight staff all the way out. Who ever did it knew exactly what they wanted.

Todd, thank you very much for the chronograph data, I had never shot mine over the chrony before.

 

[todd]

your welcome!!! my last chrony had to 12 years or so when i uh.........uh......shot it thru the screen. my krag was made in 1903, i don't know the date that my great grandfather got it . i am the first one who uses cast boolits, but everybody else used factory ammo. i know that the free bore is considerable!!! i never did a chamber cast, but the barrel slug is .3085". (i know, i did it twicet)

 

[Chris]

Todd, have you tried any heavy lead, 311284 comes to mind?

 

[todd]

no, i haven't shot any heavies. i've only shot the 165gr ranch dog boolits and i like them. they are the bees knees for hunting deer. i don't target shoot, i'm more of deer and soda can shooter.

 

[RicinYakima]

"my last chrony had to 12 years or so when i uh.........uh......shot it thru the screen."

Don't feel too bad, I'm on my third! Shot the other two with a .32 Colt Auto and S&W 9mm, both were low and thru the box. Now I bought the cheapest alpha chrony and never come close.

 

[waco]

Just how available is 30/40 Krag brass these days? I "passed" on a Browning repro 1895 Winchester a couple years ago in 30/40 out of concern that brass was fast becoming unobtainium.

https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/dept/reloading/rifle-brass/30-40-krag

 

[CZ93X62]

$38 for 50 pieces is semi-reasonable. Now, to find another Rising Sun repro 1895........

There was a pair of them, actually--at Greta's Guns in Simi Valley. The 30/40 mentioned earlier, and its brother in 30/06. Shoulda/woulda/coulda, both NIB and priced at $900 each in 2010. Since then I have run across original 95s in 30/06 and 405 Winchester (OUCH), both with stratospheric pricing and in wonderful shape. Nice to see, anyway. Another 30/40 1895 shows up with the right intersection of condition and pricing, and I will snag it. Same traffic for a 95 in 7.62 x 54R.