Update Reloading frustrations

[RedLeg0811]

I have three cartridges like that and they all load. Although one is more the cupro.

I also have an Western Super X that has not been shot and it fits fine.

[butlersrangers]

FWIW - Photo of three cartridge cases that will chamber in most of my Krags.

(L to R : old UMC factory round, new WW unfired case, 'fire formed' WW case).

p.s. - I think Madsenshooter is probably correct. Your chamber is 'cut short' (or the taper is tight).

[madsenshooter]

Could be whoever cut the chamber had one of those min spec cartridges and only cut as far as he needed to go to get one of them to fit. Might have been the fellow behind some of reloading dies I get off ebay that have had the bottoms ground on!

[psteinmayer]

Agreed! I think the cartridge on the right looks normal and the one on the left looks short in the shoulder. The projectile is very odd too! I agree with Butlersrangers and Madsenshooter... you most likely have a chamber cut short and not able to accept brass resized with standard dies. Have you tried a modern Remington factory round? (You may have already stated you did... but I can't remember).

[madsenshooter]

I imagine the old exposed roundnose on that bullet made quite a splat! I have one old die that might push the shoulder back far enough that it would chamber in your rifle. It's an old Pacific file trim die and the shoulder on them comes out rounded like an original factory round. Rest of my dies produce an angled shoulder when I size once fired brass.

[reincarnated]

Old loading manuals, esp. Sharpe, make reference to reloading the Krag with 190 grain bullets for the .303 Savage (which was a regular .300/.308 bore for most of its production). They mushroomed a bit more and recoil was not as pronounced. The bullet in the old loads looks a lot like one of the bullets for the old "Savage" load. Try weighing one of the old rounds and compare weights with a new Remington factory load. Could be the old ammo is not factory but an old reload.

[RedLeg0811]

So this is where I stand
Factory rounds load

old UMC rounds will load

Once fired brass in another rifle then resized with (new) RCBS
14701 dies will not load.

Bought brand new 14701 die and same issue.

Found some RP brass in my stash that was new. It loads with a little push at the end to close the bolt.

Friend lent me an (in the old RCBS box) RCBS 14701 die. It loads with a little push at the end to close the bolt.

So still agree that the chamber is tight, but interesting about the old dies.

[reincarnated]

Reamers wear and are re-sharpened. When too small, they get replaced by larger reamers.

Have you tried C-H/4D dies? Phone them (I think they have a website & can find phone number). They are very accommodating. They have come up with some pretty strange dies for me (8x50R Siamese, 8x60R Kropatschek) and have been very helpful.

[FredC]

I would not have thought an original Krag chambered by Springfield would be small, but I guess that is what you have. If you mark one of your cases up with a Marks-A-Lot and try to chamber it, if it like my sporter reamed with too small a reamer, it will have the marks scuffed off just in front of the rim. I reamed mine with the replacement reamer by hand on the assembled rifle. I was very concerned about increasing the head space on the rim so I made a thin brass washer that would stop the reamer from touch the headspace surface. It worked like a champ.
If yours it tight on the shoulder you will have to ream full depth with the reamer, not sure if I would try that by hand on assembled barrel and reciever.
Figure out which it is so we can advise further.
When I get a chance I will post the photos of the tools under the Howto thread in the Sporterized section.

http://www.kragcollectorsassociation.org/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1450216996

[RedLeg0811]

ButlersRanger said it best.
"IIRC - 'RedLeg0811' has a model 1899 Krag action with a barrel of "undetermined" origin. The barrel is 22 inches long, has a 'non-arsenal' muzzle-crown, a Springfield 1905 front-sight, and 'buggered-up' rear-sight screw holes.

Maybe the barrel is not an original Springfield made Krag barrel & chamber."


I have marked the shoulder with sharpie and that is where it is rubbing. The shoulder on the new RCBS dies just don't push it back far enough.

I was thinking of shooting a new factory round to fire form the brass. Then compare it to brass that was resized on the new dies. I then could mill the new dies down, so it pushes the shoulder within tolerances.