Got out to the range today. One of the things I wanted to accomplish was range testing some incremental loads worked up with the Hornady FTX 30396 bullets designed for the .308 Marlin Express. These are tougher construction than the 30395 bullets designed for the 30/30. After having the 30395 bullet disintegrate on a 120 yd hit that struck a whitetail buck's neck vertebrae, a conversation with Hornady determined that I was exceeding the design envelope of that particular bullet by several hundred FPS. The 30396 bullet was designed for the Mv that the Krag was churning out, but the pointier ogive gave me concern as to whether the bullets would suffer in accuracy due to the longer jump to the lands that would occur.



I loaded 5 rounds each in 2 different OAL (3.100" and 3.150") with powder charges of 50.0, 50.5 and 51gr of Alliant Reloder 17. I had no sight black & the brass bead through the Pacific K-2 receiver sight, great for in the woods on brown fur, was quite difficult to see on the targets. As the sun receded I was able to get a better sight picture & was able to get off a pretty good group @ 50yds.



50gr of RL-17 2 3.150" OAL seemed to be the sweet spot for the old Krag. I did have 1 flier that was probably my fault, but it plunked 4 shots into a nice tight group considering that I was using iron sights..

One should be able to kill a lot of deer and bear with that.

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:
One should be able to kill a lot of deer and bear with that.

It's a real joy to carry. Fits right in the palm of the hand.

I remember the day my Dad bought it from his best friend for $12. It was in the kitchen of a Pennsylvania farmhouse in 1958 and I was a wide eyed 8 year old..

I have that exact rifle! It was my father's...bought from the NRA in the early 1930s for $4.75 as I recall.

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
I have that exact rifle! It was my father's...bought from the NRA in the early 1930s for $4.75 as I recall.

Got any PIX?

I restocked it a couple of years ago. I found a Bishop Monte Carlo stock circa 1970s style. There was enough material to remove the comb/cheekpiece and pistol grip to duplicate the original cut down GI stock.

Junkie, mine just has a sporterized military stock, with barrel about 22" and a shorter forend. Still has the forend finger grooves and the rear peep.

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
Junkie, mine just has a sporterized military stock, with barrel about 22" and a shorter forend. Still has the fore-end finger grooves and the rear peep.

I think you posted some PIX on another thread.

I have yet to see any that have the barrel band eliminated like mine. There is a lug dovetailed into the barrel for a foerend screw just behind the swivel stud. It's 1/4 24 thread so it must have been done long ago.

The stock I replaced was also a cut down military stock. It still has the GI trap buttplate.

I had an uncle that had one just like that, that he cut down with a hack saw and shaped the stock with a horseshoe rasp, actually turned out pretty good..He killed a ton of elk with it, when we heard that old krag thunder in a canyon we just naturally headed that way to give him a hand getting it back t camp...Ive always wanted one, and I'll find one someday and grab it..they are so smooth and slick and as good as 300 Savage, a caliber we viewed as a magnum back in those days..We all packed 30-30s and 25-35s. I always swore that someday Id have a big gun like a 300 Savage, but alas it never happened, I opted for the .308 in a 99 Savage and never looked back..Love the krag and the 99.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
I had an uncle that had one just like that, that he cut down with a hack saw and shaped the stock with a horseshoe rasp, actually turned out pretty good..He killed a ton of elk with it, when we heard that old krag thunder in a canyon we just naturally headed that way to give him a hand getting it back t camp...Ive always wanted one, and I'll find one someday and grab it..they are so smooth and slick and as good as 300 Savage, a caliber we viewed as a magnum back in those days..We all packed 30-30s and 25-35s. I always swore that someday Id have a big gun like a 300 Savage, but alas it never happened, I opted for the .308 in a 99 Savage and never looked back..Love the krag and the 99.

My Dad always wanted a Savage 99 in .300 Savage.

The sound I remember was Dad working the bolt on opening morning of the PA deer season in 1967. He was shooting a buck that ran through a brier patch behind me & came out just on the other side of him. Dad was about 25 yds off to my left and slightly behind me when he let loose with the Krag.

That bolt sounded like a railroad car hitting a joint in the rails. BOOM, clackity clack.....BOOM, clakity clack. Unfortunately, he had me chase the buck right away & even though it was hit solidly through the lungs & leaving a copious blood trail, I pushed it about 100 yds into an open field & a guy driving by on a gravel road shot it in the head (while it was running he said) & claimed it. It ran right by a neighbor as it crossed a RR track & he let it go because he said it was blowing blood out of its mouth & looked like it was ready to drop at any second.

That was when I learned to give a deer at least 5 minutes before having a look.

nice rifle, I hope you get better results from the 308me gummie grenades, but I didn't in a 308me. The shoot accurate but blow up and fragment on anything but a lung shot. Might want to try a different bullet.

We always used Rem Corelokts, mostly 220 gr. but some 180s and they worked fine on elk and deer in the 30-40 carbine my uncle used..as did the 300 Savage. Its still consider a steller whitetail rifle in the Texas brush country, and lot od elk have fallen to both calibers, that's for sure.