range time

[waterman]

Not surprised that the Krag shot better than the 03A3. With Krags, both pairs of opposing grooves are usually the same diameter. Not necessarily the case with the 03A3. 2-groove 03A3 barrels often shoot better than 4-groove. 50 % less possibility of error.

[King carp]

The Krag is not that hard to load cast bullets for. I use Lyman no.2 alloy or linotype for casting. No leading of the barrel easy clean up (except for the 2400 powder). With the 03A3 i have shot some of my best groups with jacketed bullets. I will get it to shoot with cast. I can still shoot 30-06 and 30-40 for about 20 cents a pop (I stocked on primers long ago). I hope i can get good enough to shoot in an upcoming match. I better stop texting and get to work.

[waterman]

Has anyone noticed that modern (+/-) 2400 powder is a bit stronger/faster than the 2400 powder of 25 years ago (or further back)? Might this be part of the cleaning problem?

I loaded a few .401 WSL rounds with the standard 2400 load from Phil Sharpe's (1937) Complete Guide to Handloading. Sharpe said the load produced 50,000 psi. I used the same load with modern 2400, batch dated 2005. Tried one shot in my M-1910 Winchester, a blow-back semi-auto. Breech bolt was blown back much faster than with factory load or the standard IMR 4227 load. Tremendous flash out of ejector port. Breech bolt slammed forward, trapping & crushing the fired case.

That ain't supposed to happen. Pulled the rest of my .401 loads.

[King carp]

I learned to back off 10% when i bought a new lot of whatever powder brand i was using. You would work up from there. With a new purchase of powder 20 years newer then the last batch i would give a call to the manufacturer. Some powder is way different than its original recipe. They usually will give you load info. I do not trust a lot of the "experts" on the innerweb.

[Culpeper]

Don't trust any not on the interwebs, too.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Fauci