I've had a hankering for a .35 Krag. Anyone ever put one together? Could the chamber be cut by using the .30-40 reamer, and neck reamed on up to .35? Any answers or experiences greatly appreciated. I'm pretty much strickly a cast bullet shooter, and have an idea this would be a good chambering, to go along with my .358 Win.

Yes, you could cut a chamber that way. Some would suggest it might not be as accurate as using a single reamer with both the body and the neck at the size you want, but IF the barrel is carefully centered and both portions cut without removing the barrel from the lathe, it should really be no problem.

You will have to make a decision also as to what kind of a throat you want, and a third (throating) reamer may well be needed for that portion of the chamber. Still, no problem if done right....just takes a bit more care/skill for a really good job.

Pretty much all my cast bullet benchrest guns were chambered that way, and in their days they outshot all comers for a couple of years... So, you'd have to be a really good shot to detect the difference if done by a person who knows what he/she is doing. Not likely to ever be a concern with a cartridge & rifle like a .35 Krag. Other opinions may, of course, vary.

Thanks for the reply. we have a couple young guys in the shop that are very good machinists, and I believe they could handle the set up alright. I would just get the proper chambering reamer, but have not been able to find a source, so far.

A good friend of mine did a .375-30-40 on a Ruger single shot years ago. It worked out very well and he took it to South Africa and shot plenty of game with it.
A my #1 hunting rifle is a .30-40, I think it a great plan! Have you researched if anyone has done it before? Personaly I would probably "improve" the chamber, and have a custom reamer made as well as a custom sizing die.
I still think about a .25 Krag, which has been done.
SDH

quote:

Originally posted by SDH:
Have you researched if anyone has done it before? SDH

Good point!! It would be worth a call to JGS to see if they have done it. I'll make a (small) bet that they have. It's truly surprising how many varieties of special cartridges they've made reamers for...literally many hundreds of different chamberings....and often 8-12 different versions of even the most oddball ones, with slight changes in shoulder angle, neck diameter, etc.

There is a sort of .35 Krag factory load, it's called the .35WCF and was designed for the 1895 Winchester. Was also used in Ross sporters. The factory loads (very old!) are a hair too long to work through a Krag magazine and I have to snub off the bullet noses. Also pressures are high for a Krag so my rifle had the safety lug welded up so that it bears on the receiver "bridge".