Krag Brass

[txstang84]

Hello all, I'm a noob to this forum, and to owning a Krag (will take receipt of a '98 "carfle" when I finally get home), but I've seen a few folks asking when and where to find new brass aside from auctions. Powder Valley has some (Winchester) in stock right now...$22.50/50, $108/250, and I can't recall how much for 500, but they do have it-I just checked again 20-30 min ago.

Just thought I'd let some folks know if they needed any...I'll probably post more when I get home, since I can't take any pictures of any of my recent acquisitions out here in the sandbox...also wanted to say I've found a bunch of good info on this and Culver's site for milsurp rifles-I hope and surely will find more as time goes on and questions arise.

Take care all-Happy New Year

Information

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[Mohawk]

Hey Soldier,
Be safe and make it home in one piece. Thanks For Your Service. I hope the New Year is a Great one for You.......From a Retired Army 1SG....

[kragluver]

When you see Krag brass available, snatch it up. I know Remington only makes seasonal runs of it and I think Winchester does as well. The Krag is one rifle that will make you want to handload

Also - thank you for you service!

[txstang84]

Hey gents-Top, the appreciation is mutual, thanks kragluver for the support! I'm just a grease monkey AF guy turned desk jockey (someone's gotta lead my knuckledraggers!), so-thankfully no incoming where I am.

I'm pretty sure you're right on the seasonal runs...I reload for pretty much everything I shoot, so I'm sure the Krag will be no different Hodgdon's load database has some decent info, and I had my brother scan some pages out of his Hornady book for other ideas. I did manage to find some new mfr ammo from Able's made by HSM. I just went for the light loads since they were the least expensive and about the only thing available. I'll probably wind up shooting some lead out of it just to keep wear down. But, until I get casting stuff set up, I thought about going with 180grn flat base bullets, or maybe try some 168 or 175 grn selections from either Hornady or Sierra. Of course, I need to slug it first. Any recommendations y'all may have are more than welcome.

Thanks again y'all, hope to get on here with some pictures when I get home!

[kragluver]

Sounds like you've read up on the need to slug you Krag. I shoot predominantly cast out of mine. I use the Lee C312-185 over 19 gr of SR4759. Its a very mild 200 yd target load and very accurate. For hunting loads, I've tried both the Hornady 180 gr and 220 gr RN bullets with better success from the 180 gr over 44 gr of IMR-4350. I have yet to try 3031 in the Krag, but it should provide good results.

[jonnyc]

I just loaded up another batch of .30-40 to try. My current best load is 32.5 grains of 4895 and Russian surplus .311 yellow tip bullets (about 182 grain). The frustrating thing is trying to find a load that both groups well AND hits POA. I sure wish the Krag sights were adjustable.

[andiarisaka]

OMG, now you've done it! Someone will surely jump on here and tell you, you shouldn't use .311 bullets. That'll cause overpressure, use .308 bullets. Some people have no idea. They're the ones that doggedly go on shooting 4-5" groups at 100 yds using .308 bullets and figure that's as good it gets, or they're the ones that size cast bullets to .308 or .309, then wonder why they get leading. If you don't need a whole lot of windage, you can bend the front sight a little bit. I put a 6" Crescent wrench on mine and give them a little tweaking, opposite the direction you want the POI to move, it only takes a few thousandths to make a significant difference.

[jonnyc]

I tried a few different .308 loads and got big groups. I followed a suggestion to try some .310s I had and that cut the groups in half, without any pressure signs or problems. I might try a little sight bending, but I'm very hesitant to do it.

[kragluver]

I sure wish the Krag sights were adjustable.

You must have one of the early model Krag rear sights that had no windage adjustment. The 1901 and 1902 sights are fully adjustable and great target range sights. However, I suspect that the sight you have would have been a much better battle sight.

[jonnyc]

Mine is an early 1892 rifle cut down to a carbine, with all the original sights. I will have to look into one of those later model sights.