One of my Krag cast bullet match rifles.

[madsenshooter]

Here's one of my cutdown 92/96 rifles. You've seen it before with a Weaver 6x scope on it. I sold my AR15 to avoid jumping through anyone's hoops to keep it, and removed this nice 6x24 scope before doing so. The Cast Bullet Association has a couple classes I could shoot this rifle in, military modified scoped, where I'd be limited to 6x. Or, I could shoot in the Light Hunter class and get several more rounds in a match shooting the smaller targets that the benchrest shooters use. I like shooting the smaller targets and getting more rounds downrange comes closer to making the long drive to the nearest CBA sponsored events worthwhile. The mount is a Miller Kodiak Dreamount from the 1950s. Lifting up on the rear of the scope and rotating everything 90 degrees allows removal of the scope and/or replacement with other pre-rigged scopes and it does return to zero. I have other sighting options, a Pacific receiver sight or replacing the bolt with one that has a Rice peep sight installed. Or, the dovetail of the scope mount could be removed and the issue sight put back on. I wanted to turn the rifle into a varmint rifle using a Remington 6mm barrel rechambered to 6mm/30-40AI, with the reamer held short so I could make the wildcat from .303 British. But, the lunkhead who shipped the barrel to me let it move 2" to and fro in the box and all I received was the empty box. Said lunkhead, one C.D. Dutton, won't take responsibility for his poor packing, and I didn't spring for insurance, so I'm out. P.O. has been looking for it over a month now, so I'd say some employee took it home with him. $90 wasted.

[WILCO]

Nice looking rig. Sorry to hear of the other troubles.

[DeanWinchester]

Is there a cooler bolt action rifle than the Krag?

I have a Norwegian Krag in 6,5x55. It's a trophy to me.
Sorry to hear about the barrel. That sucks. Nice rifle though.

[Char-Gar]

Some things are blessings and we don't know it. The thought of putting a 6mm/30-30 Ackley on a Krag action makes me a little queasy. 50 years ago, a fellow I knew barreled a Krag to 219 zipper and cracked the lone locking lug. The old guys are very brittle.

[HighHook]

I am defiantly bitten by the Krag bug...

[missionary5155]

Good afternoon
Yep. Krags are good rifles for castboolits. Grove diameters come in all numbers but easy to fill.
I use an 1898 model for military rifle matches at the local range I use when up north there. Bowling pins at 50 and 100 yards. Two minutes per stage to drop 10 pins at each range. The 100 yarders are a challenge. No rests beyond the human body. I use a round nosed 220 grainer running about 1850 fps. Really plants center hits with authority.
Mike in Peru

[madsenshooter]

Mike, here's the bullet I plan to use in it, if things work as I'm figuring. http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=31-230E-D.png It's a base pour copy of one of Don Eagan's designs that has had considerable success in benchrest competition. Cast of a high tin alloy that I use they weigh 220gr checked and lubed. I haven't shot any yet because I gave all I cast to a noob figuring he'd get around to trying them out for me. He hasn't, so I have to cast more. When loaded to fit into the rifling OAL is 3.09" and so far it's fed well in the rifles I've tried it in, with one exception. I've been getting some good results with NOE's 311365 spitzer in my long Krag, will have to try it in this shorty. Charger, I had figured on keeping the pressure down on the wildcat, capacity would be about the same as the 6mm Rem so some of the starting loads on Hodgdon's website would be around max for the old rifle. Really torqued me off about the barrel as I have dies, reamer and some extra .303 brass. Guy got some bad feedback from me on gunbroker for his idiocy and unwillingness to shoulder the blame. He put one piece of cellophane across the end of the box, and with a 2" run for the end the barrel broke out. Still, I think some P.O. employee stole it.

[gnoahhh]

Nice rig. Krag actions are tougher than you might think, but prudence being the better part of valor it's wise to keep loads on the mild side. That Egan-style bullet is one I too have wanted to try.

[Char-Gar]

I have four Krag rifle and they are my favorite. I killed my first deer with one in 1959 and have been a fan of these rifles ever since.

The Krag military chamber is generous and so are the throats. Over the years I have learned that .314 cast bullet diameter will deliver the best accuracy regardless of the barrel groove diameter. So, I use .314 cast bullets in all of my rifles and have ceased to worry about the variance in barrel specs which run from .308 to .312 in my rifles, with .3095 being the most common size.

The heat treatment of the actions was the same as the low numbered 03 Springfield actions, which resulted in things being some what brittle. Krag actions do not trap gas as did the early 03s did before the "Hatcher Hole" in the left side of the front receiver ring. As a consequence Krags just crack or shear bolt lugs and do not turn into grenades as do the low numbered Springfields when gas gets loose in the action.

[madsenshooter]

Some more brittle than others Char-gar. I have one receiver in the 13,000 serial range that was too hard, brittle. It is cracked behind the locking lug recess and some of the threads inside the receiver ring broke off when I removed the like new barrel. Sedgley, I've read, wouldn't use a receiver that wouldn't take a file. I've never tried .314 boolits, only have a few molds that would cast that big to begin with, and chambering problems start at anything above .311 in the rifles I presently have.

[uscra112]

I'm trying to grok that scope mount. Are you saying that the rear end is just resting on the bridge, not tied down in any way?

Phil

[Char-Gar]

If a fellow needs to load a bullet larger than what chambers easy, the solution is to neck turn the brass. It is worth the effort in the Krag.

[madsenshooter]

I'm trying to grok that scope mount. Are you saying that the rear end is just resting on the bridge, not tied down in any way?

Phil

That's right Phil, that's a big leaf spring under the front of the scope, the spring tension holds the feet of the rear ring against the receiver.

I could see it being worth the effort if I had a decent trimmer Char-gar, but my old Lyman has a lot of wobble in it.

[Char-Gar]

Forster makes a neck turning gizmo for their case trimmers. I use a Wilson trimmer, but bought a used Forster on Ebay just so I could use this gizmo.

The best notion, while costing more is the Sinclair neck turning thingie. They come in several different versions from moderate to high priced but either will work.

If a fellow gets deep into handloading, case forming and odd ball things, sooner or later he is going to have to bite the bullet and turn a few case necks.

I have been shooting cast bullets in the Krag for 50 years and have kept detailed records. I have used about every sizing diameter there is but .314 delivers accuracy much greater than .311 or .312 in every Krag rifle in the fleet. Some of the rifles will chamber .314 bullets with ease and some will not. Hence the need to neck turn some cases.

Ed Harris like to shoot .315 bullet in the Krag, but I don't have anything that goes that large. Mostly I use good old 311407 Mod, that drops em .314 spot on. I have enlarged a Lee push through die to 314 to seat the gas checks and smooth off any flashing. I then lube them in a custom .315 Lyman die in the machine.

Folks have different ways of looking at these things, but that is where I am 50 years deep into Krag rifles. The 03 and 03A3 are much easier to work with than the Krag. Although the Krag can be cranky, dealing with it's quirks yields good results.