Feeding the Krag

[boomer656]

Took my Krag 98 Sporter to the range for only the second time this morning. The ammo I have is Winchester 180 Grain Power Point. When feeding from the magazine, the last cartridge lodges in the side plate against the ramp, but doesn't slide up the ramp. It did this the first time I had it out as well. I was hoping the thorough cleaning and buffing of the ramp I did after the first session would have taken care of the problem. Is there possibly something else going on? Is it the ammo selection? Or do I just need to get more aggressive in my polishing of the ramp?

Information

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[rcathey]

Is this the one you posted about a while back?
If so, maybe the rim is hanging up in the slot that was left when the cutoff was removed for the installation of the peep sight. You might check that - sometimes the slot was filled in by cutting off the "stem" of the cutoff. This problem is less likely in the 1898 due to the shorter cutoff slot.
Then again, maybe the spring is weak and that's why it's having trouble feeding the last round.

[boomer656]

Is this the one you posted about a while back?
If so, maybe the rim is hanging up in the slot that was left when the cutoff was removed for the installation of the peep sight. You might check that - sometimes the slot was filled in by cutting off the "stem" of the cutoff. This problem is less likely in the 1898 due to the shorter cutoff slot.
Then again, maybe the spring is weak and that's why it's having trouble feeding the last round.

Thanks for the info. Yes it is the same one I got a few weeks back.. I will check that out. Would that affect the last round in the magazine differently? All cartridges before the 'last' one load without problem .... and very smoothly I might add. I can see why the Krag has the reputation for an easy bolt that it has.

[rcathey]

Would that affect the last round in the magazine differently?

That, I’m not sure of. I could see how that would conceivably be the case. Sort of a combination of hanging up in the cutoff and the magazine spring being near the end of its travel.

The cutoff slot could be filled with a nail of the correct diameter and I have a spring here I’d be happy to send along if you want to try a different one. Just PM me your address if you’re interested.

[browningautorifle]

I'm betting it's because the 180 gr ammo isn't long enough. The originals had a loooong round nose 220 gr. I found nothing but those ran perfectly. Don't be too quick to change the rifle. Try some 220 round nose bullets if you can find them...hornady used to make them.

[boomer656]

Thank you both for your idea's on this. I think my next step will be to put one cartridge in and try to verify if it's hanging up on the front or the rear. I'll then add a second cartridge and see how the alignment of the top cartridge changes.

I didn't see any 220 grain ammo commercially available - just 180 grain Winchester and Remington. Hornady didn't have any 220 grain listed currently. I did, on deeper search, find two providers (Black Dog and Ventura Heritage) I'm unfamiliar with that offer 220 grain at premium prices.

If I become convinced that the problem is overall length, I'll probably 'live with it' as I don't plan on doing anything other than range shooting with this rifle. If it looks like it's a mechanical problem, I'll be more inclined to try to solve it.

Again, thank you both for your thoughts.

[browningautorifle]

220 grain ammo commercially available

No, you'll have to load it yourself...or find some older factory for control ammo... I was lucky enough to have a box of several hundred factory ball come to me at a point...so...that's how I had the chance to figure that one out. It's cartridge length and the profile of the bullet steers the cartridge out.

[rcathey]

Again, thank you both for your thoughts.

Always a pleasure to talk about Krags. I think they’re my favorite US firearm to fiddle with.
Of course, if I could find Garands for $350 in every other gun store, I’d probably like them the best too haha.

[browningautorifle]

Not many around me here, I've had one of each though...school gun, carbine and rifle. Wish I still had them all.

[boomer656]

So I sat outside my camper this morning on an old adirondack chair cycling cartridges in and out of an old rifle. With a good deal of hmmming and haaing and an occasional break to keep the cigar going, I probably made a good picture of Deliverance country.

Anyway, Jim is on the right track. I didn't see any signs of the rim catching on anything. These 3 pictures may help show what is happening.

The first picture shows the top cartridge in the magazine when there are multiple cartridges loaded. When the bolt is closed, the cartridge moves smoothly into the chamber.
Attachment 94520

The second picture shows the magazine with only one cartridge loaded. It's hard to see, but the cartridge seems to be sitting ever so slightly lower.
Attachment 94521

The last picture shows what the cartridge does when the bolt is moved forward. It noses down slightly and the bullet tip plows into the middle of the ramp on the side plate.
Attachment 94522

A jacketed bullet would probably feed better than the lead tipped power point. A longer bullet, as Jim suggested, would get it to the ramp sooner as well. As best I could tell (without a good resource) the length of a 220 grain cartridge is 3.089 inches. The one I measured is 3.035 ... .05 inches would make a world of difference.

Now, having said that, there has to be a lot of people other than me using these cartridges, and I doubt they're all having this problem. Could I be having a problem with the spring in the magazine -- seems stiff enough but I don't have anything to compare it with.