Went out earlier this week to take advantage of the overcast morning to test my latest load for my Miroku 1895 .30-40 Krag. I'm trying to find something it liked with these cheaper Hornady 220 grain RN before I test out the much costlier Woodleigh version. I'm so smart I forgot to take pictures of the target but the first two 5 round groups were just under 1.5" at 50 yards, acceptable but I'm looking for more. After letting the barrel cool the next group was a bit over 3" and the last group right around 2". I love how thing thing comes up to my shoulder and points but the silly brass blade makes it hard to focus on for shooting groups.

So since I forgot the target picture here's some beauty pictures:









The most worrisome part of the day... The Hornady 220's are not a super tough bullet, in an email they told me though should open reliably down to 1700 fps. IF my loads are leaving the barrel at 2200fps then by 50 yards they should have shed over 100 fps in speed. The only penetrate into the dry sand/clay mix that makes up the backstop to a depth of a few inches and the majority are found with separated cores and jackets. I know this is much harder on the bullet than a game animal but it makes me worry about shooting a mule deer with one come the fall.
Top row: 8 and a half separated jackets
Middle: 6 "intact" bullets
Bottom: 5 identifiable lead cores and 2 other fragments
Note: Some of these separated jackets and cores go together, so somewhere around 12-14 recovered bullets out of the 20 fired.



Been a while since I went out with my 16" Miroku '92 so I took that out a day or two prior to getting the above rifle out.

The front sight on this carbine is terrible. Those silly brass bead sights are the worst of the worst IMO and this one has the brass offset (low and left) of where the true center of the front sight is. I need to replace it with a simple blade sight but I have so many gun projects I keep forgetting. Anyway I did manage to miss the target completely at about 30 paces but that's my fault and I know it.



Here I was trying to get a picture of the sooty trail the brass gets from the Miroku's generous chamber. This gun leaves a bulge in the brass though it still chambers in a Vaquero. It will even chamber in the tight cylinder of a FA revolver though the brass must be pushed in it's not a drop in fit.



Ammunition was factory American Eagle 225 grain JSP. Didn't have a whole lot of penetration, only a few inches into our fine dry clay but they mushroomed alright and the recovered round weighed between 215-218 grains. Not a big deal it shoots ok and gives me a way to shoot my .45's since I'm not set up to reload for that round yet.

Here's the target from the previously reported on range session. It's hard to see but there are several different loads on that target. Just above the receiver you can barely see the pencil mark circling the best 4 round group I've fired from this rifle. The load shows promise but it's not quite "there" ye, I just need to play with seating depth and neck tension to find the "just right" spot. As I said I fired several loads on this target, all hit several inches to the right but all were relatively decent for elevation (so the groups on the left are actually 180 degrees from when they were fired).


My supply of Hornady 220 grain RN's is for now depleted so todays ammo was playing with the other end of the spectrum.


Even at sedate .30-40 Krag velocities there is quite a difference in the recoil when you drop from 220 grains down to 100 grains (they look goofy as heck also).



As with the other target I'm cheap and reused this one, turning it every so often. So all of these loads shot fairly well for windage (one to two inches right) but were (obviously) very high. One group measured about 3/4" at todays extreme distance of 35 yards which is just fine for barn yard loads.



The following two pictures are the only two recovered projectiles next to an unfired bullet. Interestingly the recovered jacket is the only time I've seen this bullet do that. I found bits of green grass as well as old dead grass inside the jacket when I picked it up, so somehow it dumped it's lead core and continued on through the grass still flying relatively "straight" until it came to rest on the berm. Usually (even in soft dirt) these bullets basically disintegrate, the theory is that the jackets acts as a large gas check while the lead is pretty soft. Hence why I like them for the afore mentioned "barn yard load", it's rare in my experience that these ricochet.

Love that 30-40!

Love the pics but why would you risk marring the finish by posing the gun on rocks?

I didn't buy it just to look pretty. If I can find a good enough load I'll be hunting with it, I'm not scared of marks and dings. I have another in .30-06 with much more wear on it, dings in the stock blueing worn in places. They are reproduction guns not safe queens.

Nice

Older post but I enjoyed the photos so I'm bumping the thread! (And it has photos)

I have a Browning Miroku 1895 .30-40 krag that I'll be shooting this weekend. Hopefully it likes the 220gr Sierra Gameking. (Thanks for talking me into it Biebs)

Great!

Now, anything on the '92?

quote:

Originally posted by Sevastopol:
Great!

Now, anything on the '92?

Haven't got to it yet. Actually I set it aside and got going with other projects and sort of forgot about it. I did fire one heavy Buffalo Bore 325 grain +P round through it. No soot or case bulge so theres hope. One day I hope to get set up to load the 270 grain SAA bullet from RCBS for my .45 Colts at around 1000 fps from a Vaquero. I'm hopeful that will be a good load for the 92 also.

I was shooting 220gr Woodleigh out of my 30-40 1895 this weekend (among other things).

Was doing the ladder loads with IMR 4350 to find where case expansion told me to stop.

Loaded up enough to go back out and shoot groups next...with the load that was just 0.001" expansion over the Hornady factory load (which gave me 2,367 fps ave at 80F).

The heaviest load I tried chronographed at 2,450 fps but the case expansion was 0.0005" over the 2,367 fps load and 0.0015" over the factory...so not going back there.

Was thinking about trying Varget with the 220gr...but I know IMR 4350 is tried and true...and those Woodies are expensive!


Tim

Tim - Have you tried the Sierra #2180 (220gr ProHunter)? They are almost 1/2 price of those 220gr Woodleighs. I'd think that at the Krag velocity, there wouldn't be too much difference?


I love both my Krag bolt rifle and my 1895 Krag...I think one of them will get the nod for opening morning Texas whitetail season this year.

You have no worries about the 220 hornady on mule deer in your 30-40 sir. The 220 Sierra will be just fine too. They work great in a 30-06 and will for you.

quote:

Originally posted by Buglemintoday:
Tim - Have you tried the Sierra #2180 (220gr ProHunter)? They are almost 1/2 price of those 220gr Woodleighs. I'd think that at the Krag velocity, there wouldn't be too much difference?


I love both my Krag bolt rifle and my 1895 Krag...I think one of them will get the nod for opening morning Texas whitetail season this year.

I already have the Woodies, and Elk is the target...so figured I would stick with them.

If I was going to use this load on deer, the Sierra (or Hornady) would make more sense...I agree.


Tim