Cast bullets in krag rifle with rough bore

[BobinIL]

I have a Krag rifle I purchased from gunbroker that I would like to shoot in some vintage rifle matches. when I recieved the rifle the bore was very dirty. I have been scrubbing it like a madman to clean it up. I am finally getting to where a patch will come out of it clean but when I let the copper solvent soak overnight I still get a lot of blue residue. Now that it is clean I notice that the groves of the barrel are very rough. the lands of the rifling is strong and they are shinny and smooth but the groves are rough. I slugged the bore and it slugs out at .310. I have been able to get 2" to 4" groups at 50yards using remington factory 180grn ammo and reloads using hornady 220 grn round nose. The best group was 1" at 50yds with the hornady bullet. Keep in mind that these bullets are all .308 diameter. I am thinking about trying some of the lyman 314299 200grn RN sized at .311 or .312. will cast bullets overcome the rough bore or am I wasteing my time??

[docone31]

With a rough bore, I might suggest paper patching.
The paper is very mild abrasive. It will be messy at first, but as the firing goes on, the paper will smooth and make shiney the bore.
If it is ok with jacketed, the paper will really help. Much better than fire lapping which will open up the bore.
Size to .308, no gas check, wrap with Meade Tracing Paper, size to .311. No lube.
When I paper patch, I use the lowest loads for the powder I use. I have had some daggoned good results this way.
The Lyman mold you mentioned will size nicely to .308. I use the Lee Push Thru dies, with dish soap as lube.

[jonk]

I have tried the 314299 with no great accuracy but it LOOKS like a good bullet for the job- though I agree, more than light frosting in a bore is calling for problems with cast unless you find a way of smoothing it out.

I've never gone the paper patch route but it seems a viable option.

[45 2.1]

Try the Lyman 311284 in that rifle. It was designed for the Krag rifle in the first place and usually is a very accurate boolit in any 30 caliber rifle it fits.

[SharpsShooter]

I use the 311299 for my Krag and I have not found better yet. Loaded to 1650-1800 it is deadly accurate. I shoot mine as cast diameter of with 4198.

All you can do is try with the rough bore. It is possible that it will be fine. Use of GC boolits will reduce the chance of problems.

SS

[4570guy]

The bore on my Krag is not all that great either. I have good luck with the Lee C312-185-1R sized to .312 (its a bullet typically used for the Lee Enfield). No leading and very good accuracy.

[docone31]

I use that Lee mold for my .30s and my .303. I size it to .308 and wrap for the .303.
It is an easy casting mold.

[fourarmed]

The bore on my Krag looks very bad, but it shoots extremely well with 314299 and 2400 powder. I don't recall whether I size .310 or .311, as I haven't loaded for it in a while, but it is one or the other. I don't know if it will work in any Krag with a rusty bore, but it does in mine, and from your description, I'll bet mine is rougher than yours.

[curator]

You might try to smooth the rifling a bit with J-B bore paste on a tight fitting patch covered nylon bore brush. I have had good results using either J-B or #360 or 400 valve grinding compound. Use an old nylon bore brush and cover it with a wrap of canvas or other sturdy cloth. Work in a pinch of abrasive and clean the bore, paying attention to not overworking the muzzle end. You could also look into fire-lapping the bore. Once the rough spots are smoothed down, most rifles shoot cast bullets reasonably well.

[BobinIL]

Thanks for the responses. I have been using JB bore paste. All cleaninng is from the breach using JB's paste, Shooters copper solvent, Kroil and steel wool wrapped around a copper brush. I think there is some good potential with this gun once I get it clean and smoothed out.

[prs]

The paper patch routine is interesting for sure and I will keep that in mind for future reference. I friend of mine had a Krag that was rough and leaded-up on him after only a few shots. We cleaned the copper our of it and he swore off of jacketed bullets, but it was pretty rough. I am not sure of the Lee mold he had, but I cast him a batch of WW alloy boolits and treated them once with thinned Lee Liquid Alox which I let cure for several days before sizing (don't recall the die diameter, prolly a .311 or +). Then I lubed them again with un-thinned Lee L.A. and let that cure before loading. It sure did help a lot over what he had been doing with NRA lube; not perfect, but purt good anyways.

prs

[P Patcher]

I have a krag carbine with a rough bore that measures .310. The guy I bought it from said "it's to bad the barrel is all done but at least you have a good action and wood". I brought it home and scrubbed it up a bit and it still looked pretty bad. I loaded up some lyman 311284's sized .311 over 16 grns 2400 and gave it a try. This rifle is one of the best cast shooting gun's I own, and the the one I enjoy shooting the most, It's my go to gun when I just want to shoot something I can depend on. Give that old girl a chance she might surprise you.
Addison

[shooting on a shoestring]

Yep I strongly second what P Patcher said. I own a 30/30 with a bad bore that shoots great, doesn't lead, and I duplicate factory round ballistics in it. Myself and my Dad have owned several "bad bore" rilfes that still perform inspite of their looks. To quote Dad, "Give good luck a chance to happen".

Also, my 30/30 bore shined better after about 100 rounds of light loads with Cream of Wheat between the powder and boolit. Same for an old Blackhawk of Dad's that shined up real nice a couple of months ago.

Shoot the old Krag a couple of hundred rounds first, then decide if its really a problem.

Oh and by the way..."I have a Krag rifle I purchased from gunbroker that I would like to shoot in some vintage rifle matches."...Please refrain from shooting that gunbroker.

[NSP64]

Welcome BobinIL, where are you going to shoot at?