Krag Collectors Association Forum

I have been shooting cast bullets in Krags for years but all I ever had was scrap wheel weighs which are soft. About 8BHN with a Lee tester.

Recently was able to purchase a good quantity of clean salvaged Linotype metal. The Lyman books have a recipe to mix Wheel Weight with Linotype and alloy harder cast bullets that are about 15 BHN. About the same as Lyman #2 alloy.

I'm looking for some reports from Krag shooters if you guys have experience with that combination in Krags or other military rifles with 30 cal cast bullets. Can I expect significant improvement?

Jeff The Caterpillar Man

I have found the harder the better.
I use straight Linotype or its equivalent. If you are going for accuracy alone 311291, 311332 or 314299 are usually the most dependable for giving bullseye accuracy. My first choice would be 311291 sized bore diameter with 15 to 18 grains of 5744 or 4227 held in place with a light wad. This load in my ’03, ‘03A3 and ’98 Krag can easily hold the 10 ring at 100 yards off the bench. With may 10 rd groups at an inch or under. The 311332 is almost as good. The 314299 sized to .308 over 20 to22 grains of 5744 or 4198 many groups are pushing the inch size with some groups almost a one hole group in the ‘03A3. In a 40X in 7.62 NATO with the U311291 I have many one hole groups both, 5 & 10 rd that are well under an inch. Then I have other days when everything falls apart.
As far as I think, the harder the better.
Try and see what you think

trapdoor4570 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 06, 2023 9:19 pm. . . My first choice would be 311291 sized bore diameter. . .

Better results might occur if you sized to groove diameter or a bit above.

OPPS
Senior moment

I purchased some 311332 bullets with gas checks from The Bull Shop that were advertised at 20 BNH. Using a load of 2400, they shot very well, although the bullets physical makeup did not make it conducive to loading from the rifle's magazine. Off of a rest I could manage just over 1.25 MOA.

I tried a couple of batches of 311284 bullets I purchased a few months ago with the same load of 2400. One batch was .310 with gas checks, the other .312 with gas checks. They were both advertised as 11 BNH. Off of a rest they shot well enough although the .312 size shot better in my rifle. Right around 2 MOA once the barrel warmed up. The nice thing is they would cycle through the magazine without any hang ups.

311284 was originally designed for the Krag. That's why they work when loaded into the magazine.

A few old rifles have come to grief using 5744 in bottlenecked cases. Seems to work OK with nearly straight cases.