Krag Collectors Association Forum

The .30 Krag is not one of the standard offerings from Lee for their collet neck sizer, but they will make you a custom one for only $70. I bought a collet die for a .300 Win Mag rifle I inherited, and it makes sizing trivial. I'll get a Krag one this year.<br /><br />An alternative comes from Reddi...

I finally "worked up" my 220 gn load. From Lyman's data, previous chronograph readings for my 180 gn load, and QuickLoad pressure and fps estimates (which are inaccurate at these pressures, but help gauge barrel length changes), I started at 35.0 gn of 4895 (with Remington 9.5 primers) and...

... the load published was way to high a charge... almost as if the numbers were reversed...

Which load was it? I have loaded .30-06 for a friend, and I'd like to mark my Lyman--just in case. Thanks.

<blockquote>Ever since, I use Lyman data very cautiously and consider the Hornady 9th and 10th my loading bibles!</blockquote><br /><br />Thanks for the recommendation; I'll look for a Hornady some place to thumb through.<br /><br />I've always preferred data with pressure numbers, which suggests th...

Nosler gives no pressure data, but their charge and velocity numbers for 150 and 180 gn line up well with the starting loads in Lyman's pressure barrel, so I'll assume they are staying under 32,000 psi, a reasonable approach. However, their 200 gn data looks much hotter, too hot for me.

With the 48th edition, Lyman is using a SAAMI pressure barrel. For the 150 gn Sierra SBT they start with 39.0 gn of 4895 for 2265 fps from 24" and end with 43.5 gn at 2609 fps.<br /><br />IMR's brown book (much older data) has a "Speer 150 gn Spitzer" over a max of 36.0 gn of 4895 for...

Okay, I get to eat a little crow today. I looked over the 1895 report from Ordnance which says they are looking at various powders and are willing to accept lots of powder making 38,000 normal and 45,000 when hot. SAAMI's 40,000 for the .30 Krag is, then, reasonable. Regardless, my rolling block won...

Frankford in 1894 reported they were using Peyton powder in their first productions runs. The Wikipedia article on the California Powder Works says this stuff was corrosive and the army switched to W.A. powder to load Krag ammo, in 1896. Their Laflin & Rand article says that company was involved...

(First posts must be short, so I'll continue in a second post.)<br /><br />The good folks at Lyman provide the only current, pressure tested data. Their data indicates modern IMR powders will make the original specs at about 32,000 psi indicated, the same pressure Whelen reported for the new IMR pow...

There are comments in this thread about SAAMI pressures and the suitability of the pressure tested loads from Lyman. I think looking at some of the earliest data on the Krag might be helpful.<br /><br />In 1894, the Ordnance department noted that Frankford Arsenal was ramping up production of the am...