I began this thread in the reloading section under the impression that my problem had to do with bullet choice. However, that seems not to be the case.

The rifle in question is a recently acquired sporterized 1898 Krag, and the problem is that it is reluctant or refuses altogether to feed both spitzer and round nosed bullets. I have been told that the problem lies in the fact that the magazine cutoff has been removed to allow the fitting of a receiver sight. Not having a cutoff or cutoff spindle to experiment with, I improvised by replacing it with a .125" twist drill, which seemed to be a fairly close fit. No improvement was noted.

The bullets tried include M118 boat tail spitzers removed from Lake City Match ammunition in the process of creating "Mexican Match", loads, by replacing the original bullets with 168 grain Sierra Match Kings, and 220 grain Hornady soft points, which appear to closely resemble the original Krag factory loads. Neither would function satisfactorily, although the round nose bullets could eventually be coaxed into feeding by repeated urging with the bolt.

Suggestions would be most welcome.

I have a '98Krag sporter with the c/o removed and a Pacific Gun Sight aperture site in place of it.
It feeds both 180gr commercial Winchester and my cast FN and RN bullet loads in various weights.

About the only thing I can think of is if the (bullet) ramp in the magazine was altered for some reason in sporterizing. You never know what people are trying to accomplish or make happen.

The mag follower itself can be looked at and should be stock milspec.
The short follower itself that sets at the rear of the mag box,,you can see it with the magazine empty and the bolt open,,should be able to pivot very easily in there.
It retracts into the spring loaded arm of the extended mag box hanging outboard on the right side of the rifle when the box is 'opened' and is held tightly in position at that point.

I've included a few pics of the bullet fed ramp, the feed throat itself, the follower in position in the magazine and when the box magazine is all the way open.

Hope these help in comparing them to your sporter.

1..Left sidewall of the recvr, rcv'r ring to the right,,the bullet ramp visible with it's contour


2..This looking straight down from the top into the action,,muzzle to the left. Left recv'r wall on the bottom.
You can see the bullet ramp and outline & contour of it and the feed throat.
That's the mag follower to the right,,the short, narrow shiny thing.



3..
Same pic as #2, just panned to the right to show the rest of the mag follower.
You can see it's shape. It is easily pivoted at this position with finger pressure.
The ejector also showing.


4... The mag follower in it's static position held tightly in place with the mag follower arm,,the magazine box is in the open position off the right side of the rifle. The follow cannot move at this point,,or shouldn't be able to. You can see the rest of it's shape here.


5...Just a pic of the Pacific rear site. Takes the place of the cut-off.

The twist drill is too small diameter and possibly too short. An 1896 Krag will feed just fine but the 1898 needs the cutoff rod. at least thats what was required in my 1898 with the cutoff mounted receiver sight.

This is what the spindle attached to the Pacific sight on my rifle looks like.
It has the front end of it relieved half dia.
It does not rotate at all so when it is inserted in the cut-off hole in the rifle to mount the sight,,that half dia cut fills the cut-off slot inside the mag as if the orig cut-off was present and in the position to allow the magazine to feed.

If that rod was full dia at the end,,it would mimic the spec cut-off and present itself as if the cut-off was present and in the position to 'cut off' the magazine from feeding (single shot mode).

If the spindle is too short and leaves the cut in the mag unoccupied all together,,the rims of the cases get pushed slightly into that unoccupied cutout.
Then when pushed forward to feed by the bolt they stop abruptly as they meet the end of that cut.
That would be about the point where the bullet tip starts to feed up the ramp.

Thanks, guys.

I have the same symptoms with a receiver sight, and this sounds like a likely solution.