30-40 Krag Reloading Dies

[Culpeper]

There is no way to get rim lock in a Krag. Except maybe trying to load in an un-natural way.

[Clcustom1911]

Beautiful ammo!! Now show us those groups and sounds of ringing steel!

[Mike4MSU]

Finally had a chance to go to the range and try out my first hand loads. This was 10 rounds at 50 yards with 40 gr of H4350 and a 220 round nose using Hornady brass. I started at 50 yards not knowing how shed shoot. Wasn't able to easily throw a target out to 100 yards today as there were quite a few people on the range. I was able to hit steel targets out at 100.

I may try going up and down .2 gr to see if the grouping tightens up at all. I may also try some 175 gr bullets. I guess now the real fun begins...

[Parashooter]

. . . This was 10 rounds at 50 yards with 40 gr of H4895 and a 220 round nose using Hornady brass. . .

Since your earlier post on this topic cited "40gr of H4350 with 220 RN" as your load, I'm hoping "H4895" is a typing or memory error, as that could be a fairly stiff overload.

[Mike4MSU]

That would be a problem. Yes, I used H4350 and not H4895. Perfect example of why I always triple check the recipe and never rely on memory. I think I may have said H4895 because a good friend and reloader shared one of his recipes for Krag and it used 175 gr BTHP and H4895.

Ive corrected the original post to prevent confusion or potential overcharged recipe

[butlersrangers]

Mike4MSYU - It would be "OK" and a good idea to correct the error in the post detailing your load data.

[Parashooter]

Perfect example of why we never accept internet amateur load data without checking reliable sources like manuals and manufacturer websites.

[Mike4MSU]

Thank you Parashooter for bringing the error to my attention. It is now clear to me how an honest mistake could have caused a catastrophic result had the members of this forum not been so diligent.

On a lighter note, I wanted to share and post my results to hopefully learn from the group and improve my results over time. I felt my 1899 Carbine and first attempt at reloading performed pretty well overall. I hope to play around a little with minor changes in charge (within max load limits) and in bullet weights to see if I can improve my initial results. Thanks to all for patience and forgiveness in my mistake.

[butlersrangers]

'Mike4MSU' - That is a nice outing for your Krag carbine and reloaded ammo! I bet you had fun!

IMHO - You should stick with this load for a few more Range sessions and judge the consistency of performance (and also try targets at 100 yards), before tweaking things.

You have laid down a good baseline!

'Parashooter' - thanks for spotting the propellant error.

[FredC]

Is there any concern about the missing "bevel" on Hornady brass that you fellas discovered in the "1898 Feed Issue" discussion?

In a recent thread one new to the forum was having feed issues in a rifle that was to be used in competition. For him adding the bevel fixed the problem. In my 35/40 with shorter than standard rounds I could only get rim lock with the muzzle aimed down, cases loaded with rims the wrong way and snapping the door closed. My cases are beveled Remington. I have not tried the Grafs case yet but the do have a smaller bevel.
On mine with the rifle level or pointed up no rim lock. Others have had the problem and solved it by replacing springs and pushers. A lot of these parts have been modified by various bubbas, so rim locks are not impossible. SA did a lot of work to make the Krag mostly trouble free, little mismatches in tolerances and or worn or modified parts can ruin the magic. Some time back we saw a Krag action and barrel with cut outs for observing the internal movements, with a high speed camera and that demo piece it would be possible to understand what goes on in there when the door is closed.