What's going on with this brass?

[Texas10]

I grabbed 3 of the Winchester brass. The necks measured .340 at the mouth, .423 to .424 at the shoulder, and .455 about .200 above the rim.

And yes, that grams reference was a typo. Should be grains. ::)

[psteinmayer]

As far as I know, if they were factory loads, they should have already been loaded to safe levels for use in a Krag. Remington and Winchester ammo has always been manufactured to acceptable velocities and pressures. I would shoot any remaining factory rounds as-is.

Another handy tidbit for reloading: If you're concerned about your primers moving, use some primer sealant. I loaded some Italian Ordnance 10.4 mm brass that was converted Berdan primed. This very rare round has no current production ammo or brass... so I converted old (but good condition) Berdan cases to accept Boxer primers. The primers were slightly looser than they would have been had the cases originally been Boxer. I used good primer sealant, and since this was an old Italian revolver with very tight headspace, I was confident they would be safe... and I was right - the sealant really did the trick and the primers never moved! I now use primer sealant on all of my rifle ammo, Krags included.

[RichWIS]

I believe Hornady makes a sort of universal 30 cal neck sizing die. The die is available from most suppliers(if in stock). If you have a 308 Win die you can use that, Install die with about a 1/4 inch clearance from the shell holder and run a case into it. You will see an obvious line where it stopped sizing the neck. Adjust until sizing stops at the juncture of neck and shoulder. A FL die works, the 308 case is fatter and will not contact the sides of the case. Backing out your FL die until it just sizes the neck will work also. The advice about annealing is spot on, it is easy to do and will extend case life, an issue since as you have found brass for a Krag is not easy to come by.

[Keith Herrington]

I grabbed 3 of the Winchester brass. The necks measured .340 at the mouth, .423 to .424 at the shoulder, and .455 about .200 above the rim.

And yes, that grams reference was a typo. Should be grains. ::)

My measurements are as follows:

Fired Brass
Neck dia. .340"
Length at Shoulder using .375" collet 1.784"
Shoulder dia. .422"
Gasring dia. .456"

Sized brass using my Hornady sizing die modified to take an Redding Neck Bushing (.333")
Neck dia. .333"
Length at Shoulder using .375" collet 1.780" (could set it tighter if needed)
Shoulder dia. .419"
Gasring dia. .453"

Bottom line: your measurements are spot on. If you want a sizing die modified as mine, let me know.
keith.herrington@aol.com

[butlersrangers]

'RichWIS' - gave a good suggestion about using a .308 Winchester F.L. Sizing Die to Neck-Size .30-40 Brass.

Keith - confirmed your fired Brass is dimensionally typical for 'once fired Krag brass'.

The .30-40 Case Neck is quite long. It is not necessary to Re-size the entire case-neck, especially if reloading 130 to 165 grain bullets. With lighter projectiles, you may have to seat bullets Out, as far as practical, to have your reloads feed through the Krag action.

I am not a 'Precision Bench Rest Shooter' (BR does not appeal to me). I am a Military Match shooter. I have gotten good results from my Krags using Standard Dies, Neck-Sizing, using 'starting loads' of IMR-3031 & IMR-4895 with 180 grain and lighter jacketed spitzer projectiles (to keep pressures low), and standard large rifle primers (Winchester).

The .30-40 U.S. Army has been around a long time and is fun, accurate and easy to reload. There is a wealth of Data on this cartridge.

[Keith Herrington]

I am not a 'Precision Bench Rest Shooter' (BR does not appeal to me). I am a Military Match shooter. I have gotten good results from my Krags using Standard Dies, Neck-Sizing, using 'starting loads' of IMR-3031 & IMR-4895 with 180 grain and lighter jacketed spitzer projectiles (to keep pressures low), and standard large rifle primers (Winchester).

Quite understand your comment. My efforts to get the "perfect" sizing die revolves more around reducing runout than anything else. However, I've not only done that but gotten superb dimensionality as well. I don't really know how much "accuracy" I'm gaining from my efforts, but by nature I'm a precision rifle shooter and reloader. I shoot better knowing that my ammo it the best I can produce. Spending a few bucks on these dies was money well spent in my opinion, and easy to do if anyone else is interested.

[psteinmayer]

I applaud your efforts Keith. I'm sure you'll knock us all dead at Perry next year.

For me, it's more about the fun of loading and shooting in the matches. The Krag has been around for over a hundred years... and shooters have been successfully reloading, taking record game, and winning matches ever since... and doing it using simple tools and equipment to load, so I'm going to keep that tradition alive. I use a standard Lee FL sizing die backed out 1 full turn to neck size. I load 220 gr Hornady RN bullets over 40.0 grains of IMR-4350 and a CCI 250 Magnum primer, and I do alright with it... for me anyways!

[butlersrangers]

Keith - I'm not knocking the persuit of perfection. As you state, there are different valid approaches to Reloading and not every minor variable effects accuracy at the target. Keeping it fun is important.

One old extra-step I use: 1. Start the bullet slightly into the case-mouth with the Seating Die. 2. Back-off the Die and rotate the case about 90 degrees in the shell-holder. Seat the projectile to about half its seating depth. 3. Back-off the Seating-Die pressure. Rotate the case another 90 degrees and then complete the bullet seating stroke.

I do this quickly & automatically, and it improves bullet concentricity with the cartridge case.

[Keith Herrington]

Yup, I've tried that method in regular seating dies and you can get good results. But my consistency using that method was never as good as I wanted it. Now that I've got case runout down to below .002", the runout of my loaded rounds rarely exceed .004". When they do I just set them aside for practice. Something to remember. The newer the brass, the less all this seems to matter. But I'm now on my second loading. As time goes on and I use these 500 cases over and over again, I think (I hope) these steps I take will be increasingly worthwhile. But, only time will tell. In any case, I've had a ton of fun "solving" this problem.

[Texas10]

Lot's of great information guys, it'll take a while to sink in as i try different approaches. I bought a set of lee FL sizing dies and will try the neck only approach for now, just because that is what I do for my 223 brass.

I'll start trying some hand loads in the next few weeks and let you know how it goes. Still have not decided on a bullet/powder combination to start with.

BTW: is that H4350?

Thanks again for all the help. This should be a lot of fun!