All right as you can tell by my handle I have a Siamese Mauser chambered in .30/40 Krag. Well I have read a lot about the problems with feeding with this combo. I was having a hell of time until I played around with followers. I put in a .303 follower from a P-14 and it feeds the dummy rounds I had made perfectly. However the dummy rounds have damaged tips, etc... that are shortened to around 2.95" long. When I went to the range and tried regular length rounds that are 3.1" long they would not feed at all. Just a little curious here, it appears that if the magazine rails were played with it would work. Any opinions?

quote:

Originally posted by Siam_Krag:
All right as you can tell by my handle I have a Siamese Mauser chambered in .30/40 Krag. Well I have read a lot about the problems with feeding with this combo. I was having a hell of time until I played around with followers. I put in a .303 follower from a P-14 and it feeds the dummy rounds I had made perfectly. However the dummy rounds have damaged tips, etc... that are shortened to around 2.95" long. When I went to the range and tried regular length rounds that are 3.1" long they would not feed at all. Just a little curious here, it appears that if the magazine rails were played with it would work. Any opinions?

Rather than mess with something you can't undo
try a 1903 Springfield follower spring.
I converted a SM to 45/70 I found that these things helped the most.
1. The wide .605 rim would not pass through the forward rails so they had to be widened slightly. I probably removed less than .010 per rail. Maybe as little as .005. Your rim is smaller so you probably do not need this at all.
2. All edges of the chamber and extractor cut had to be radiused about .010 to avoid hang ups.
3. The .45-70 rim needed a bigger gap between the bolt face and extractor claw. The extractor claw was thinned from the back side about .005.
This allowed the cases to rise up under the extractor easily and clear the feed ramp. You rims probably do not require this especially with the large beveled edge on 30-40 brass.
4. Longer rounds fed better than shorter rounds.
5. The old Siamese follower spring did not want to lift the front end of the rounds properly. While stretching it I broke it. I installed a 1903A3 Springfield follower. While not a perfect fit it worked and the rifle fed flawlessly.

Try feeding 303 British in your rifle to check the feed. The shoulder is in a different location and it might give you some insight as to what you need.

I have a Siamese Mauser in 30/40 Krag. It feeds flawlessly and does not appear to have any modifications to either the rails or the follower other than bevel the follower on the rear to clear bolt after last round. Have no idea who built it so cannot ask if any mods were made to facilitate feeding only that they are not apparent now. Wish I could help.