First Time Krag Shooter

Ammunition, reloading, shooting, etc
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psteinmayer
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Joined: Tue Aug 30, 2011 2:31 am

Re: First Time Krag Shooter

Post by psteinmayer »

Whig wrote: Thu Jun 09, 2022 1:39 pm In my experience, the sight markings are a good start but you need to shoot your rifle and find exactly where your sight needs to be set for different target distances. Every Krag will be a little different with different barrel conditions, harmonics, sights and loads used. Keep a log book for each target and you should be good to go after some good shooting at the range!

These old war horses are great rifles to shoot.
Exactly right! For instance, although my load accurately approximates the original .30 Army load... at 200 yards, I am in the 10 ring while my rear sight is set at the 250 mark (1902 rear sight). Again, no two Krags are exactly alike in regards to what they like to shoot, what feeds well... etc. It's always a great idea to spend some time at the range and see what works best for your particular Krag!

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butlersrangers
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Location: Below the Bridge, Michigan

Re: First Time Krag Shooter

Post by butlersrangers »

I examined two of my Krags today, that have 22-inch barrels and wear cut-down rifle stocks. They are both very accurate shooters.
Both of them had the bottom of the barrel laying in contact with the bottom of the stock's barrel-channel.
This contact was present even if the nicely fitting barrel-band was taken off. A few pounds of 'lift' could raise the barrel off of the forearm tip.

I checked three Krag carbines that are good shooters and installed in model 1899 carbine stocks.

Surprisingly, all three have the barrel slightly raised above the wood at the forearm tip.
The tops of the barrels press upward against the inside of the carbine barrel-bands.
A few pounds of 'squeeze pressure' will move the barrels downward, to make temporary contact with the wood forearm tip.
Release the pressure and the barrels return to the light contact against the barrel-bands.

Apparently, Krags, with 'carbine' length stocks and a single barrel-band can shoot accurately,
if there are a few pounds of downward pressure on the stock tip or a few pounds of upward pressure against the barrel-band. (Go Figure)!

It is always good practice to fire some five shot groups for accuracy with a 'new' rifle.
Use a 'bench-rest' position and fire at 50 and 100 yards, use the same point of aim for all 5 shots in a group.
This establishes if the rifle is accurately grouping shots and where it shoots in relation to the point of aim.
Sights can always be corrected later.

If a shooter makes a correction after each shot, he will burn a lot of ammo and be in the dark about his rifle's actual accuracy.
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madsenshooter
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Location: Upper Appalachia aka SE Ohio

Re: First Time Krag Shooter

Post by madsenshooter »

MosbyRidge wrote: Fri Jun 10, 2022 1:15 am I went out shooting again today and at 300 yards I had to hold about 2 feet under on the 100 yard setting. Surely something is out of wack. From the front of the wood there is gap under the barrel, but the barrel is supported on the sides. Really not sure where to start with this one. Other than a taller front post.
Sounds to me like you got a front blade that has been shortened some. Sometimes you'll find the taller blade being used with the 92 and 96 rear sights, resulting in a rifle shooting way low, or the other way around, the shorter blade being used with 1901, 1898, and 1902 rear sights resulting in the rifle shooting high.

MosbyRidge
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Joined: Mon May 30, 2022 2:45 am

Re: First Time Krag Shooter

Post by MosbyRidge »

Sorry for the delayed response. I have since lamp blacked the barreled receiver and to me this spot near the barrel band seems to be the culprit. What do you think? Should I file away a little wood, rinse, and repeat? Also I did not have the action screwed in through the trigger guard. I only set it down.

Thanks!
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butlersrangers
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Re: First Time Krag Shooter

Post by butlersrangers »

Just my opinion and best guess, I have never seen any ordnance department instructions on "the stocking up of the U.S. Krag".

(With the 1903 Springfield rifle, it was found that a few pounds of upward pressure on the barrel, at the stock tip, improved accuracy).

If your 'contact spot' is preventing the bottom of the magazine and receiver-ring from fully & evenly seating in the stock, it should be taken down a bit.
IMHO - The receiver bottom should be firmly and squarely sitting on wood.

Being unsuccessful in finding mention of established Krag 'stocking kinks' or peculiarities, I have thought it good practice just to have the Krag metal sitting evenly on the wood. High spots or over-tensioning the rear trigger-guard screw, just seemed to introduce bending and add stresses.

Very few Krag receivers are in the stock that Springfield Armory originally put them in. High spots likely cause things to sit poorly, and be subject to moving around, and vibrating inconsistently.

Some uneven pressure spots, around and behind the action, seem to contribute to wood splitting.

These are just my observations, opinions, and experience. (I am not a great match-shooter, gunsmith or enginerd).
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MosbyRidge
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Re: First Time Krag Shooter

Post by MosbyRidge »

I spent a good hour or two going back and forth scraping mostly layers of finish from the high spots. The receiver makes better contact with the stock now but I don't know that it will change the point of impact. If it doesn't, I may go arts and crafts on it with a tall front post made of an Indian head penny.

Lobo56
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Re: First Time Krag Shooter

Post by Lobo56 »

So what ever became of these fixes and the outcomes? Last post in May, I believe, with no other post on attempts to correct situation.

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butlersrangers
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Re: First Time Krag Shooter

Post by butlersrangers »

'Lobo56' - Welcome to the KCA Forum.
Unfortunately, we may never know how things have turned out for Mosby.
It would be nice to have an update, so we all learn if the accuracy improved and what worked, in this case.
Hopefully, he has success and gets time to update us.

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