CMP Old School Vintage rifle match results

[Cat Man]

I had to show the youngsters how it's done over the weekend.
Shot my 1898 Krag rifle. Prone, 10 rounds in 10 minutes, in the grass, on a 1907 loop sling at 100 yards.
Scored a "98" with an "1898". Not bad for 69 year old guy with a 125 year old rifle. The two 9's were operator front sight eye error.

Bragging just a little.

Jeff The Caterpillar man

[Culpeper]

Brag away, brother! I wish my Krags could shoot like that though I fault the operator more than the guns.

What sight is on the old girl? What is the load if you care to give it out.

[butlersrangers]

Nice shooting Cat Man! Looks like you are using a model 1901 rear-sight, with the front blade properly 'blackened', with carbide soot.

That's a handsome looking Krag.

[psteinmayer]

You Da Man Jeff!!! Very nice shooting! Hope to see you at Perry this year

[ebruce]

Beautiful rifle! Excellent shooting! Wonderful score! Want to know more, i.e., load, conditions, sights, etc. Sincerely. bruce.

[Cat Man]

Thanks Guys, I thought it would get a few smiles.

Since there were questions, I can confirm the rear sight is a standard 1902 with standard small aperture. Best for target shooting.
The front sight always gets blackened with a carbide smoker. That's the way I was taught by the old veterans. Nothing does it better.
I was shown the correct use of the leather sling by several "old hands" on the USMC teams at Camp Perry many years ago. Best lesson ever. Vintage leather sling - easy on, easy off hold tight.

Ammo is a load I have used for years in the Krags. True confession, using GI surplus 173 Gr military 30 Cal match bullets. (M1 NM Garand and M14 NM). Boat Tail FMJ. The DCM sold them in bulk back in the 1980's.
They came 1700 bullets loose packed in a .50 Cal ammo can for a few dollars. I bought two cans. Since I am so frugal, I hoard my unopened stash of commercial 168 BTHP Match Kings under the bench
and keep shooting the DCM bullets. Brass is used scavenged vintage commercial. Segregated, sorted Winchester head stamps in one pile. Remington and UMC brands in another separate pile. Full length resized cuz
they are used in several different Krag's. Charged with 37.5 Grains of IMR 4895. Pushes them at a chronograph 2450 FPS. Good enough to hold the 10 ring at 200 Yards. Mild load. Easy on the old rifle and easy on my old shoulder.

And I'll see you on the range.......

Jeff

[butlersrangers]

Jeff - (You misspoke a little in your last reply. The sight on your pictured rifle is a model 1901 sight, not a model 1902).

Thanks for sharing your load data.

I, also, like using IMR-4895 and lighter 'spitzer' and match bullets in my Krag rifles and carbines.

I've never had a devotion to the 220 grain RN bullets for the Krag.

The U.S. Palma Match Teams, in 1902 and 1903, fired U.M.C. made .30-40 ammunition, that utilized a pointed 220 grain Thomas bullet.
Frankford Arsenal assembled ammunition did not compare in long-range match shooting.

BTW - In the 1902 Palma Match at Rockcliffe, Dr. Hudson and one other U.S. Competitor, Captain F.L. Graham, shot early versions of the 'new' Springfield rifle.
Pvt. Leizear shot the 800, 900, and 1,000 yard distances from the 'Back Position'. He had the lowest 1,000 yard score for the U.S. Team.
A gold medal, for the highest individual match score in the 1902 Palma, was won by Lt. Thomas Holcomb, future WW2 U.S.M.C. Commandant.

In the 1907 Palma Match, held at Rockcliffe (near Ottawa, Canada), the U.S. Team recaptured the Palma Trophy, after losing to Canada in 1901, coming in second to Britain in 1902, and forfeiting their victory in 1903, because they used custom Pope barrels.
The Winning 1907 U.S. Team used selected Krag rifles and UMC cartridges assembled with 203 grain Hudson-Thomas 'pointed - jacketed' bullets.

The final years of the Krag rifle military use, (and also, the final days of the Krag in Match Shooting), saw the introduction of lighter pointed projectiles.

I have posted some photos relative to the 1902 and 1907 Palma Matches. It is exciting to read about the 1902 contest even 123 years later!

[Cat Man]

Opp's - I did Fat Finger typed the 1901 rear sight numbers. Thanks for the correction.

Great information about the Palma and pointed bullets.

[psteinmayer]

Great info Jeff!

For a while now, I've considered trying the 178 gr ELD Match bullet in my Krag for the Perry Vintage match. I've been shooting the 220 gr RN bullet for a couple decades now, but it's getting harder and harder to find them and the cost has continued to rise... but I have several hundred of the ELD Match bullets and I can find them in abundance! My only concern is how they would feed through for the Rapid Fire string. As we all know, not all Krags smoothly feed spitzers. I used to load a 180 gr spitzer bullet, but if I didn't crimp them, the bullet would telescope into the case neck upon feeding from the magazine well. I think I'll load some test rounds and see how it goes. I have plenty of IMR 4895 and IMR 4350. Of course, the 4895 would be a much cleaner burn compared to the 4350. Perhaps for this years match... if I can confirm the feeding will work out fine... and the loading from my charger won't be an issue, then perhaps I'll try the 178s. truth be told, I'm not the most accurate with my 220 gr load (but that's mostly me... back problems and such), so I don't think I could do much worse!

[waterman]

Has anyone tried old-fashioned but ordinary round-nosed 180 grain bullets for those matches, or at least when working up loads for the matches? How does their accuracy compare with the fancy match bullets?