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Thread: My new M1898 Krag rifle

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Nov 2020
    Location
    Florida
    Posts
    122

    My new M1898 Krag rifle

    In 2007 my house burnt and my M1896 Krag rifle was lost (the bolt assembly was in a safe and escaped destruction). I gave the bolt to a friend that had a Krag to use as spare parts. On and off over the years I'd do a little searching for a replacement Krag, but prices seemed high and/or the condition didn't meet my standards for a cast boolit shooter.

    Well I finally found one. I bought the rifle, not the story that it'd been in the same family since before WWI. Most of the bluing is there. Typical faded case hardening on the receiver. Made in 1899. Upgraded with M1901 rear sight. Stock replaced at some time by the military (stock has its inspection mark, but no P or dated cartouche). My understanding is that unless another bbl or bolt was installed, then no need to be reproofed and marked as such at that time period. Bore was described as "I think it might be excellent, but I did not clean or oil it". The bore photos I was sent showed it ought be OK for cast (I've had much worse bores shoot fine with cast), but is that corrosion or is it dust?. After cleaning, I see a shiny bore with no evidence of pitting or corrosion! Very little copper in the bore. The first inch or so of rifling near the chamber shows some rounding of the land edges, followed by sharp lands to the muzzle. To me, that's VG condition. I am VERY happy with the bore condition. Wood looks nice. No cleaning rod or oiler in the stock. No cracks or missing pieces of wood. No noticed metal corrosion.

    OK, my first test: I have a 30-40 Krag High Wall and shoot 311291's in it sized .311. Take a few rounds loaded for the High Wall and see if they will cycle through the magazine since they are a bit shorter OAL than with other longer bullets. They cycle fine. I cast 311291's for several rifles.

    2nd test: Stick a 311291 in the muzzle. OH NO! The bore riding portion wobbles in the bore. Bore must be larger than .300. Do I have one of those Krags with "generous" bore and groove diameters?

    3rd test: Take one of my unsized 314299's and slug the bore. My Krag's bore diameter is .303 and the groove diameter is .313. I use 314299's sized in .314 in my 303 rifles. Means I'll try the 314299's in the Krag. Besides that, those long 314299's look good sticking out of the Krag brass.

    Subsequent testing with 314299's sized .314 and Alliant 2400 from 14.5 to 16.5gr shows that nothing shoots bad, but 15.5gr shoots the best with groups under 2 MOA. 15.5gr 2400 averages 1517fps at 85 degrees and 10' from the chronograph. Strange, but in the first 50 shots, I'd have a some visible leading in the first half inch of rifling in front of the chamber, only taking 5-10 shots for it to be visible following cleaning it out. Easy to remove with a brass brush, but since then no more leading visible and no deterioration of accuracy in the 83 rounds fired since the 1st 50 rounds fired (no cleaning in the 83 rounds). Lyman #2 and 50/50 lube.

    I loaded the 314299's out as long as the magazine would handle in order to get them closer to the rifling (3.125"...longer than the manual's say the max OAL of the Krag can be) with no function or chambering problems.

    Like the M1901 rear sight...lots of adjustment possible; easily sighted in. SMOOTH bolt action. Nice 2 stage trigger pull. I partially neck size only with a Lee 7.5 Swiss collet die, so easy to size with no lube needed. I don't use an "M" die, but simply inside chamfer the case mouth. Boolits seat fine with no lead shaving. Pulled one to make sure the case neck is not sizing the boolit down...it's not.

    Bonus: The friend I'd given my bolt assembly to back in 2007 was at the range. Showed off my new Krag and let him shoot it (he didn't miss the steel target we had set up). Says he sold his Krag a few years back and still had my old bolt assembly...would I like it back? Heck yes, good to have for spare parts. He gave it back to me at our next range meetup.

    Final test today: I have some quantity of CCI 34's, 3 times as many as CCI 200's. Substitute 34's for 200's. No paper punching with them today, but shooting at steel and smaller targets, I could see no difference, so I'll be using the 34's I have plenty of. I am a happy Krag owner. Got a bayonet coming this week.

  2. #2
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    Mansfield, PA
    Posts
    725
    Krag Rifles in 2021 are definitely an endangered Species! I have several and they are great cast boolit arms. I tried a dozen Lyman boolits and ended up with the Lee .312 185 grain RN boolit.

    Be well.

    Adam

  3. #3
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    Lesage WV
    Posts
    876
    dont shoot it in the wind
    they didnt have wind when they were made

  4. #4
    Boolit Grand Master
    Mk42gunner's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Butler, MO
    Posts
    9,021
    Krag rifles and carbines are sweet. They have to be handled and shot to understand it.

    Even the sporterized versions beat a new plastic stocked rifle for feel.

    Robert

  5. #5
    Moderator
    Texas by God's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    14,335
    My Krag lives in my shop in the gun cabinet, within easy reach.
    The look on everyone's face when they work the bolt is priceless.
    Amazing craftsmanship and machining on the circa 1900 action. Mine has a PacNor barrel, so I size my cast bullets to .309".

    Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

  6. #6
    Boolit Master Mark Daiute's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Newcastle Maine
    Posts
    728
    If you are shooting the 314299 and you use lee dies you might like this: SE2358

    I have two sets of dies one with that expander and one with the "normal" expander. My original Krags, accross the board, get the 303 expander treatment and fat bullets.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check