A friend of mine inherited this rifle and wanted my help in cleaning it up and checking the sights in case he wanted to hunt with it. Based on the serial number, it was made in 1901. At some point, someone added sling studs, a leather sling, and a Williams receiver sight to the rifle. Most of the metal is in very nice shape, with the only rust spots and blemishes appearing along the barrel and front sight. I waxed the barreled action and stock to keep it in that condition.

I spent some time cleaning the dirty bore, eventually scrubbing with Iosso to try and break up the built-up crud. It still shot poorly with Remington 180 gr. soft-point loads, and bullets were leaving slightly oblong holes at 50 yards. I wouldn't take it into the woods after that. At least it functioned and fed very well, and recoil was less than I expected. I understand now why Krags are said to be the some of the smoothest feeding rifles out there, because this one definitely is.

If your friend is really interested in shooting with his heirloom, he might consider having it rebored to, say, .35 caliber and rechambered to .35 Winchester, a really excellent short to mid-range caliber with case dimensions practically identical to the .30-40. Cases can be formed from Hornady .405 Winchester brass and a wide selection of .358" bullet is available. Loaded to Krag pressures, it would be roughly equivalent to the .356 Winchester.

As far as I know, he's interested in making sure it still functions but keeping it in this condition. If possible we'll try shooting some different bullets through it to see if something clicks with this barrel.

I'm pushing for him to get a Winchester 70 as a deer rifle to use. He is just getting into hunting and shooting now so simple is better.

Fun and enjoyable rifles to shoot.
Try some different brands of ammo,,though the choices and supply are getting less and less fromthe mfg'rs.

The Krag rifling is for a 220gr issue bullet and the short bbl w/ worn rifling may not be stablizing the 180 enough.
If reloading is in the future, try .311d bullets.

I've gotten commercial 180gr Winchester ammo to shoot well in my Krag rifle, but the bore is an excellent one.

Cast bullets in the 180 to 200+ range w/ light loads of a shotgun powder do very well.

Take the bolt out of the rifle and examine the locking lug and it's immediate area for any signs of a crack on the bolt body.
The US Krags do have this happen and it's deffinetly worth a look. I've only ever seen a handfull of cracked Krag bolts but they are out there.

Try 200 to 220 gr cast bullets? And perhaps several different alloys. A wonderful gun I would have rebored by JES to 35 Krag. Then use 225 gr flat point cast.

Thanks for the info. I was not aware Krags were made for 220 grain bullets, but it makes sense now. It explains why the 180 grain bullets were leaving oblong holes on target. I've experienced a rifle shooting unstable bullets before and this is similar. I see OWS has 220 grain loads available, maybe we'll try them.

I examined the bolt and everything looked fine, but I'll give the lug a second look. Cases and primers looked good after firing too. I'm surprised the bore is so dirty considering the action and metal are in great shape.

The bore is probably foul from improper cleaning after firing corrosive primed ammunition. It has become the rare rifle from that era that has a decent, much less pristine bore. My '98 Krag has a sewer pipe with pitting about 3" from the chamber but will still keep the 220gr bullets point on. Groups are not that good but surprisingly decent for the shape of the bore. The rest of the metal is in excellent condition.

Jerry Liles

If it stabilizes 220 it well stabilize 180s.

Check the crown and the last few inch of the muzzle end of the barrel.

Lots of times they get worn my cleaning I had a 95 mauser that wouldn't hit a 8x11 at 50 yards cut the barrel back 1 inch new crown and it well now put them into the same hole.

My father, born in 1916, bought a sporterized Krag as his first Deer rifle in the early 1930s for $4.95 as I remember. I still have it, and with a receiver sight it is a deadly woods rifle.

Dennis Olsen will reline the bore for $250.

I am getting decentt accuracy W/150gr Balistic Tips loaded @ 3.150" COAL.

2600 fps over H414.

I don't have the book in front of me, but I believe Krag bore diameters often varied from a standard .308. You might check your bore at the muzzle with a micrometer to see if it is oversized. I think oversized was the more likely variation.

I have a 1899 Krag which looks a lot like the one pictured. Its bore was pretty munged up with dust and old oil, but once cleaned was incredibly bright and shiny. Very sharp lands and also quite tight when pushing a .308 jag with a cleaning patch through.

So, while mine has a very good barrel, it does shoot 180 grain Remington factory loads well. It also shoots hand loaded 150 grain Sierra Game kings well.

I bought some Hornady 220s but haven't loaded any. There are warnings about shooting 220 grainers to max loads as the locking lugs can crack. I believe it is recommended to load them to no more than 1900-2000 FPS.

AsI understand the cracked lugs were due mostly to trying to make a magnum out of it !
A fairly popular mod was the 25 Krag just install a 25 cal barrel. The rifle action is not the strongest so the proper loads don't give much velocity.

Max chamber pressure for the Krag is 47137 PSI

With plenty of margin, that will safely get you in the 2600 fps range in a 22" tube W/150s, 2400 W/180s.

Plenty of power for iron sight ranges.

220 Hornady round noses can be pushed to 2200 fps @ modest pressure W/slow powders like Norma MRP & RL25. RL22 will need to be backed off to just under 2200.

Faster powders just won't work W/the 220s W/O pushing the pressure envelope.

Another option I've heard of for rough bore Krags is to ream the chamber to .303 British & freshen up the bore.

I have seen a lot of rough bores shoot well in slow velocity calibers, the Krag being one of them btw..I would try both 200 and 220 gr. RN and Spt. bullets and several powders before I gave up on it..MIght even try some heavy lead bullets..

The Krag is an awesome gun, my uncle had one and shot deer and elk with it every year. The big slow 220 gr. bullet would penetrate a tank. Smooth is the word of the day when you mention a smooth bolt action..

quote:

Originally posted by wildcat junkie:
Max chamber pressure for the Krag is 47137 PSI

With plenty of margin, that will safely get you in the 2600 fps range in a 22" tube W/150s, 2400 W/180s.

Plenty of power for iron sight ranges.

220 Hornady round noses can be pushed to 2200 fps @ modest pressure W/slow powders like Norma MRP & RL25. RL22 will need to be backed off to just under 2200.

Faster powders just won't work W/the 220s W/O pushing the pressure envelope.

Are you really shooting a Krag with those loads, or just extrapolating some Quickload data?

You can install a 1903 or 03-A3 barrel on a Krag without too much trouble and get it back to shooting good.

quote:

Originally posted by A7Dave:

quote:

Originally posted by wildcat junkie:
Max chamber pressure for the Krag is 47137 PSI

With plenty of margin, that will safely get you in the 2600 fps range in a 22" tube W/150s, 2400 W/180s.

Plenty of power for iron sight ranges.

220 Hornady round noses can be pushed to 2200 fps @ modest pressure W/slow powders like Norma MRP & RL25. RL22 will need to be backed off to just under 2200.

Faster powders just won't work W/the 220s W/O pushing the pressure envelope.

Are you really shooting a Krag with those loads, or just extrapolating some Quickload data?

I am shooting 150 gr Nosler BT @ a chronographed 2612 FPS & Hornady 220 RN @ 2188 FPS. Primers edges have a radius that looks like an unfired primer. I load to 3.150" COAL, which is the max that will function through the magazine. Niether is anywhere near the lands in the old GI issue barrel.

The key here is the Hornady 220 RN that will allow 2 gr more usable case capacity & develop about 3000PSI less chamber pressure when loaded to the same COAL compared to semi-spitzer bullets.

I would trust Quickload (using common reloading practices of starting low & working up) that takes in many more parameters than Nosler "book" data that shows the same safe pressure/Mv for a 180 BT & a 180 partition loaded to the same COAL.

The only instance where Quickload was totally out of the ball park was when I tried Norma 204. Most of the time Quickload is uncannily close in prediction, other times I reach prediceted pressure/Mv @ a few gr less powder, sometimes Mv falls a few 100fps less than predicted.

A 220 Hornady RN @ 2200fps is predicted @ less than 42,000psi chamber pressure.

The 180 prediction is Quickload but see as how the 150 & 220 data seems to be reliable I would feel safe the 2400fps prediction for 180s.

I've shot plenty of 150's & 180's from my 98 Krag carbine. I'm thinking along the lines of re-crowning.