Firing my 1898 Krag

Wizard · August 04, 2018, 11:10:42 AM

I have a beautiful 1898 Krag .30-40. I have always fired 3/4 powder loads because of the age of the barrel. Each year I have the armorer inspect the weapon for damage. I asked him if I could fire full loads through the barrel. He said I could and I went to the range very early this morning. The range opens at 10 am but the owner arrived about 630 am to do paperwork. The range has 16 stalls for normal shooting and an attached 3 stall range for training and for high powered weapons up to 700 Express. There is a blast door to kill the sound of the high powered weapons. The .30-40 is a beast of a round which will kill any game living in the Americas.
I got there at 7 am and went to the high power range. I fired 3 rounds at 3/4 load and reloaded 3 rounds at full charge. When I fired, the sound seemed at least twice as loud and the recoil intense. Before I could fire another round, the door opened and the range owner rushed in. The sound was so loud, he thought the barrel had exploded on my Krag. He said I could fire the last 2 rounds but I had to go back to 3/4 loads when the range was opened for business. The American version of the Krag is the 1898 Springfield rifle used during Spanish-American war.

Wizard

Lipripper · August 04, 2018, 12:23:34 PM

Wizard that must of been real loud to get the owner running out to check and see what exploded

Wizard · August 04, 2018, 02:54:28 PM

Lip, it is hard to find ammo or the Krag. I believe Remington stopped making it last year. I have about 2000 new casings, 6000 primers and 6-7000 bullets in my shop. I only reload .30-40 and .45 acp combat rounds now. I used to reload reload 9 mm Makarov for my Russian hand guns but I broke the die and can't fix or replace it. Other ammo is still easily available.

Wizard

Ron Fogelson · August 04, 2018, 03:56:11 PM

Pics of the weapon or it didn't happen

I'm kidding of course but some pictures would be cool

Lipripper · August 04, 2018, 05:30:52 PM

Quote from: Wizard on August 04, 2018, 02:54:28 PM
Lip, it is hard to find ammo or the Krag. I believe Remington stopped making it last year. I have about 2000 new casings, 6000 primers and 6-7000 bullets in my shop. I only reload .30-40 and .45 acp combat rounds now. I used to reload reload 9 mm Makarov for my Russian hand guns but I broke the die and can't fix or replace it. Other ammo is still easily available.

Wizard

That's a nice little stash of amo . It helps when you reload your own stuff.

Oldratt · August 05, 2018, 05:42:44 AM

I have one that has been shortened to carbine size. I have had it for probably 20 years and haven't shot it. Didn't know if it was safe or not. Sounds like fun. I may have it inspected by an expert and give it a try.

Wizard · August 05, 2018, 09:36:50 AM

I hope you can find ammo for it, oldratt.

Wizard

Pacific NW Ron · August 05, 2018, 10:08:27 AM

Sounds like 3/4 load is enough to have fun with it. I'm not sure I'd trust to many full loads or take a chance of damaging it with to many more.

Oldratt · August 05, 2018, 10:23:31 AM

I have some Remington ammo and some old Federal
probably 200 rounds.

Oldfart9999 · August 05, 2018, 10:48:41 AM

Wizard, has it been worked on or is it original? I never got to shoot one but saw several that went through the school to be "sporterized", they made a nice hunting weapon.
Rodney

Wizard · August 05, 2018, 01:31:36 PM

It was "sportsterized" by your's truly. No changes to the mechanism or barrel. I customized an existing stock and frame. I have the original stock and frame to reassemble back to original mil spec. The military version is very heavy woodwork and I wanted a lighter gun to fire. By the way, the military peep sights are highly accurate. As you know. it's good to have a full set of armorer's tools. A .30-40 will kill any animal in the Americas.

Wizard

Oldfart9999 · August 06, 2018, 06:56:37 PM

The school did a lot of 1903 Springfields, but anybody doing it should look closely, some of the later ones came with 2 groove barrels, not the best for accuracy. They started out with all forged parts and with a well made stock and good hand polish and bluing are a beautiful piece, most would be proud to own one. They are also capable bringing down anything that walks on this continent and most others. They also made excellent sniper rifles.
Rodney

SteelHorseCowboy · August 07, 2018, 10:00:22 PM

Wiz, MidwayUSA has Hornady Custom Grade dies for 9mm MAK at around $35.

I only reload 44 magnums, because of the price and customizability. Right now I've got a small pile of ammo that'd cost around $400 off the shelf if you could find it, cost me less than $85 to make it. 180gr Hornady XTP, forget how much powder but I've got it written down, pushing 1900fps. I've never seen that load in a store. Mild kick from a large frame revolver, and at close range will punch through lots of fur, fat, and bone and expand explosively. I'm counting the fact that I'd already saved enough by making my own to defray the cost of the equipment well before I started that batch.
Only 4 calibers in this house. 9mm Luger, 22lr, 44 mag and 7.62X39.
I was going to start reloading the 7.62 to try and milk more accuracy from my CZ527, but it's built for cheap, steel cased russian surplus ammo and already gets sub-moa with it. So I figured, what's the point? I've already got a few thousand rounds of that laying around.

Then 9mm range fodder is cheap enough that it just ain't worth reloading to me. Yeah it'd save me some money, but not enough to make it worthwhile. I did the math once, and I think I'd save around $2 per 100 rounds if I recall correctly. That's not worth the effort to collect the brass or the time to reload it. Besides, my range is maintained by inmates, they collect all the brass left behind, sort it, deprime it, and sell it to help fund the range.
Since I get to use the range for free for being a vet, my waste goes to a worthy cause.

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Wizard · August 08, 2018, 09:01:40 AM

I've worked on weapons since age 11. That was the first year I shot NRA Nationals in small bore. I shot a perfect score for 2 rounds of the championship. I lost in the standing round. It's hard for an 11 year old to win that round. Kind of set me up for my career. I wanted to shoot the Camp Perry championships for .45 but the agency wouldn't let me compete. My weapon collection is part of the display at the agency's museum. I donated it when I retired. Today I have a Kimber Tactical Ultra and Super Carry in .45; Walther PPK in .380; (2) Harvey Casson National Match in .45; Taurus PT92 in 9 mm; Makarov in 9 mm Mak; Krag in .30-40; an AR and some others. I also have a 700 Express as a wall hanger. I saw it in a pawn shop and it said, "Buy me". It is a BFG.
.45, 9 mm and .380 is too cheap for me to reload. .30-40 is hard to find and if you find some, it is expensive. Thanks for the tip on the Makarov dies. The weapon and I have some history.

Wizard

SteelHorseCowboy · August 08, 2018, 10:42:58 AM

I don't shoot anything bigger than what I consider the "standard" hunting rounds myself. .30-06, 270, MAYBE a 7mm Mag. Just too much recoil for my shoulder.
I started working on guns close to the same age. It all started when I took apart my Dad's Marlin 60 and had to track down a gunsmith to help me put it back together.

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