Krag Ammo Now Obsolete?! =(

[psteinmayer]

I didn't know original brass/ammo was even produced for the Winchester/Lee. What is the age of the ammo?

By the way... when you heading this way again Paul? Are you going to meet up with Bob and I at Perry? If so, we need to coordinate that!

[Culpeper]

Sure it was produced. It would not be right for Winchester to make all those W-L sporting rifles and not have any ammo for it. I have been told the W-L ammo was discontinued around 1935. The .220 Swift, surprise, was introduced about that same year.

Will have to get back to you. The Winchester is due to be completed on the 8th. Six months is what I was told so I will see what happens on Wednesday.

[chuck56]

When my dad passed away in 2008 I inherited his guns and one is a 30-40.

He also had lot of ammo for but some of it is real old.

Nothing wrong with it I guess but I was wondering if it's safe to shoot?

They are Western center fire cartridges super-x 180 soft point lubaloy bullet.

The others are sportload sta-klean cartridges non-corrosive smokeless powder.

30-40 krag [30 army] 180 gr exp. These have a picture of a ram on it and sears roebuck and co on the back of the box.

In total I have 14 boxes of this old ammo I'm just not sure if it's safe to shoot because of it's age?

[psteinmayer]

Welcome to the forum, and to the wonderful world of Krags!

Can you post some pictures of some of the cartridges as well as the boxes? It really depends on the condition of the cartridges, and how they were stored. My initial inclination would be to not shoot them, as you can never really be certain of ammo that old. Although hard to find, Remington 30-40 Krag ammo is available, and definitely safer to shoot!

[butlersrangers]

'chuck56' - The value of old, complete boxes of factory .30-40 ammo would likely exceed the cost of current factory ammo (around $36 a box, though hard to find).

I have fired 40 to 70 year old ammo at times with no negative results.

However, Brass does harden with age and split necks would not be surprising. If poorly stored, deteriorated primers, powder, and 'hang fires' are likely.

IMHO - If you have some partial boxes of clean, sound looking rounds, I would try shooting those. Inspect each case after firing and discontinue if cases are splitting or ignition is erratic. Count your bullet holes in your target. A 'squib' round can leave a bullet lodged in your bore.

After firing, case necks should be annealed, prior to reloading cases.

[S.B.]

Welcome and I've recently seen where Star Line brass still offers brass for reloading?
Steve

[Tom Leoni]

Hello--I am in the firearms industry and at the last NRA show I made it a point to talk to the Remington ammo product manager about the 30-40. He assured me that the caliber is one of his pets and that it has not been (nor will it be) discontinued.

The only problem is producing it fast enough, with priority obviously going to the higher-volume SKUs.

This, of course, refers to the loaded ammo. As for brass, it's a lot harder to come by.

[psteinmayer]

Howdy Tom, and Welcome to the KCA Forum!

Thanks so very much for bringing the insight into the firearms industry to our forum... and especially the information on Remington, and their continuation of the 30-40 Krag round. There are untold numbers of Krag collectors and shooters who still regularly fire this round (including myself) who would be thrilled to know that Remington is going to continue this round. I personally would like to know if they'll continue to produce the brass for sale also, but I'll settle for knowing that I can still get loaded ammo too!

Paul

[Tom Leoni]

Hi, Paul, thanks for the welcoming words.

I was unfortunately not quick-witted enough to ask the follow-up question about brass, since my elation at the loaded-ammo news had clouded my judgment... 8-) but the impression I got is that it would only be loaded ammo. I'll see if I can track the gentleman down and ask him.

All the best,

Tom

[mr.tickle]

Welcome and I've recently seen where Star Line brass still offers brass for reloading?
Steve

Well I guess my first post will be responding to this post! Excited to join this forum.

Curious where you saw this from Star Line? I have sent them several emails about Krag brass and all I have gotten was crickets... Same for Jamison, no response. I did send an email to Hornady regarding 30/40 brass and they did respond. They stated there is no plans to manufacture ammo or brass but would pass the message along to their research team...