30-40 Krag over H380

Hi everyone. Recently added an 1898 Springfield Krag rifle to my collection, and while it needs some work, and parts, before I throw a bunch of money at it I want to test is the barrel and see if it’s serviceable. To that end, I have 20 once fired cases, with an RCBS F/L die set on the way, and my preferred local reloading store had a box of gas-checked, 209gr, .30 cal CB’s which I bought. I have H380, StaBall-6.5, and Ramshot X-Terminator available to load with, and a good supply of large rifle primers (regular and magnum).
I’m thinking the H380 is the most likely to have good data available (I found data for 220gr FMJ’s), and the StaBall would be great if anyone has tested it, but what have others found worked for these CB’s?
I’d like to get as near to 2,000 FPS as possible, but first I want to see if the barrel has decent enough rifling and crown to stabilize and accurately place these.
Thanks!

Just a couple months ago, I bought my first 30-40 Krag rifle. With the help from other members, and my trial and error journey, u have managed to put loads together for said cartridge that are starting to perform quite well. My first piece of advice, is to check all one fired brass for cracks in the shoulder/neck area. There are wide variations of chambers in these particular rifles. If your brass looks good, see if it will chamber in your rifle, even if it takes some pressure to close the bolt. If it chambers, do not full length resize the cases. After fire forming my brass in my rifle, I partial size so the case fits the chamber tighter. With a trimmed length of 2.304, the neck is only sized down .400 from the top. This sizes the body of the case very minimal as well for a tighter fit to the chamber.
As for cast boolits, you may want to keep velocities down about 1500 to 1800 fps. At least untill you find out if the boolits you bought will take the velocity ok. Your powder may be to slow for low velocity loadings. Some slow powders don't do well dropping the charges to low. You may need to get some faster powder. i.e. 4198, 4227, 2400, Re7 etc.
If you drop down to the "Military Rifle" site, you will see my post, "My new to me 30-40 Krag. Hope this helps.

I did see that thread actually, it got a lot of responses, and seeing that I was looking for a Krag myself, I wanted to see your experiences. I’ll keep that in mind when my brass arrives. I may also size-down some .303 Brit brass, as I have a fair supply of it (and most Krag brass is going for $1 or more each right now). But with the actual brass, I’ll see what I can do to neck-size only.
As for velocity, I’ll have to see. I did find that H380 (with 220gr FMJs) has a starting load of 31.4gr for a 1600 FPS result. I think that’s out of the current Hornady manual, so I might just start around there and work up. I’ll get to tuning for groups later, but first I want to see if I need a new barrel or if the original is still somewhat capable. Even a 1600FPS shot should help determine that if that velocity will stabilize...time to run some calculations...

Don't know about H380 but I've gotten good results (100 yd/2 MOA/iron sights) with powder-coated 200 gr. cast over either H414 or H4350. Velocities are close to 1800 fp from my '98 carbine.

Bill

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Originally Posted by TheAbe

I’d like to get as near to 2,000 FPS as possible, but first I want to see if the barrel has decent enough rifling and crown to stabilize and accurately place these.
Thanks!

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It's an old rifle.

Wouldn't expect much from it outside of being a good plinker and maybe a deer or two.
There's plenty of tried and true bullet/powder combos that'll give good results.
I'd start there with proper bullet fit and a clean barrel.
Also, wouldn't skimp on proper brass.
You're this far in the hole, few bucks more won't matter. :)

H380 works best with magnum primers and don’t reduce below starting load.


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That’s excellent knowledge. Glad I stocked up a month ago when I saw large magnums for sale locally!

Managed to snag a used die set of another reloading group, and the seller offered a package deal with 20 once-fired brass. Those are now loaded up, for now with 36gr of H380 and a magnum primer. Should be good for about 1870 FPS, and a couple of grains short of the max load. That will at least give me an idea of how the barrel performs with these boolits.

It would be a good idea to scrutinize the locking lug with a magnifying glass, and check for cracks.

It appeared intact when I looked last, but further scrutiny wouldn’t hurt. Worst case scenario: Grandpa’s has NOS bolt bodies for the cost of a bottle of powder.
Still have a long list of parts to buy, most importantly a new seer spring. Without that, the firing pin strikes as the bolt is closed....and we can’t have that.
Maybe this post isn’t the best place to introduce it, but here’s what I started with:
Attachment 319403Attachment 319404

Not the best shape, but I got a pretty good deal on it..

Your stock looks in better condition than mine.

Barrel band is a bit loose where it’s supposed to sit, but I plan on splicing on a repair forend, so that should correct the issue. Lots of mold in the barrel channel and receiver area, but an application of wood soap and several of boiled linseed oil, and it’s fairly nice now. There was an old repair to the forend to stabilize the lightening cut when it was chopped down, and there is quite a bit of wood filler. I was also able to dig out the rear sling bar groove. I have high hopes.

That has potential written all over it.
Keep us updated, please.


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Thanks for the encouragement! I’ll start a thread in the Mil-surp area about the rifle itself.