Shot my Krag today. Didn't go well

[Allen]

Hi. I inherited my 1898 krag several years ago and today was my first time shooting it. Finally ran across some factory Rem ammo and had nothing better to do today Lol. I loaded the thing up, chambered a round and fired. All went well until I tried to extract the spent casing. Finally got it removed by prying on the rim with a screwdriver. Any thoughts as to why this happened? The rifle is all original and appears to have never been tampered with in any shape or form.

[reincarnated]

Allen,
Maybe I am missing something. What happened at the target? How many times did you shoot? Just once? Can you take out the bolt and see light through the barrel? Was your Krag one of those parade rifles, the sort the local VFW used? Sometimes they bored out the chamber.

[Allen]

Just shot one time at a bottle 25 yds away. The bore looks great. Nice and clean with sharp rifling. How would I know its a parade rifle? I got it from my grandfather many years ago and he got it from the Legion he was in many many years ago

[gunboat57]

What does the headstamp on that cartridge casing read?

[Allen]

Not sure. I'd have to look. Its new factory Remington Core Loct

[madsenshooter]

I have encountered a broken extractor. It appears the very end is broken off in a semicircular shape. Could be someone had an empty case from an overload to extract which required enough force to break the end of the extractor. I don't think much is broken off, just enough that it doesn't grab the rim, despite bending the little spring that maintains pressure on it. Luckily, I had a few spares laying around. I'd have posted a pic, but I'm awaiting a charger for my camera. One that works is .225" tall with a fairly square edge, a little semi-circular shape to it after riding over many rims over the years. The broken one is only .219" tall with a much more pronounced semi-circular shape. It's still mounted on the bolt, and will hold a case, but it slipped over the rim when I had a lead bullet stuck in the rifling.

PS-Where's the neck of the case? Looks like you might have a modified chamber.

[butlersrangers]

Wow! It sure looks to me like someone ran a 'drill' into your Krag's chamber to deactivate the rifle and prevent the use of 'live' ball ammo. If it came from a VFW Post, maybe it was altered to shoot some type of 'blank' cartridge.
There is no longer a shoulder on the blown case.

[Allen]

The only thing I know to do is take it to a gun smith and have it looked at. I don't think it would be wise to shoot it again just to see if it was a bad case or something.

[gunboat57]

When I measured the rim diameter and case length in your picture, it didn't seem to match up with the proportions of a 30-40 casing, unless the neck was missing altogether. It does match the proportions of a 30-30 case whose neck has been blown out almost completely. The split in the case begins exactly where the shoulder on a 30-30 cartridge would be. There's just a hint of a neck at the right end. At the left end, the ratio of the base diameter to the diameter just forward where it swelled is the same as the ratio of a 30-30 base to 30-40 chamber diameter. That's why I was asking about the headstamp. Just shootin' from the hip, but is it possible you fired a 30-30 Win cartridge in a 30-40 Krag chamber?

[Allen]

They are definitely 30-40 rounds. The tell tale is the rimmed case. Its almost like a 7.62x54r case