My First Krag rifle

[Kerry49]

I received my replacement extractor/bolt sleeve today and went ahead and put in on my bolt. It went on fine, but the safety won't allow the bolt to open when it's in the upright position. Since it only assembles one way, I guess the new bolt sleeve may be the issue? I did go ahead and drive out the rivet on the old assembly. Not to bad. Any advice on the safety problem? I'm thinking of putting the old bolt sleeve back on.

[butlersrangers]

'Kerry49' - Unlike the 1903 Springfield and model 1898 Mauser, (which have 'three-position' Safeties), the U.S. Krag only has a 'two-position' Safety. 'Flipped' to the left it is on FIRE. 'Flipped' to the right it is on SAFE and the bolt is locked from opening.

If you have the Safety-Lever pointing 'straight up', there is no detent position (if the parts are As Issued). However, with the Safety Lever pointing "up", the shaft on the Safety will partially engage the Striker Mechanism, holding it from going forward and also locking the bolt.

I have seen several Krag Bolt-Sleeves, where a 'dimple' was created, in the 'groove' at the intermediate (12 O'clock) position. However, this is not considered a safe practice because there is not adequate engagement of parts.

In summary, it sounds to me like your new parts are working correctly. Unless I have misunderstood your description, You don't have a "safety problem".

[Kerry49]

Thanks for all the help BR ! Just used to my mausers, 1903 and 1917. Never occurred to me. Great, looks like a trip to the range is next. Still working on that bore.

[Kerry49]

Attachment 72236Attachment 72235Attachment 72234

I took the Krag out for a first shoot this AM. Good and Bad! As you can see, I have serious problems with the chamber on this rifle. Anyone encountered this before? I guess I have been very lucky on the previous milsurps I have had, as this is the first time I have seen anything like this. With the chamber this messed up, I would assume a re-barrel will be needed if I want to continue to shoot it. So, aside from the crappy bore and bad chamber it shot an 89 on an NRA 100 yard target. Just one sighter to see where it was and then 10 more. Obviously should have been more diligent in brass inspection, but as I said, a total surprise based on previous experience.

[Sentryduty]

That is quite the aggressive fireforming, is it possible your rifle has been rechambered for another cartridge other than .30-40 Krag?

You should post some measurements of the fired casing for comparison, it almost looks like a .303 British casing after firing.

.30-40 Krag


.303 British

[Kerry49]

Attachment 72238
Sentryduty, Well, I got to thinking that it might have been rechambered as well, so I looked in my Lyman's 49th and there are no rimmed cartridges that show a shoulder at about 1.95", Which is the approximate length to shoulder for the 30-06. I show the comparison between one of my shells and a 30-06. Pretty close, but Lyman's doesn't list any rimmed cartridges like that.?? I mean it reformed the shoulder .225". The casing is nice and uniform like it was reamed out. I am no expert, so I will need help explaining this one.

[Sentryduty]

I am only a novice when it comes to reloading, but your fired casings, despite the ruptures are remarkably uniform.

If it were my rifle and I were unsure, I would get some cerrosafe and make a casting, then start from those measurements.

From there you could conclude if this were a result of some extreme wear/erosion or engineered work such as intentional reaming.

While I cannot comment if this is the case with your rifle, I do know of some fellows that have made their own "one-off" experimental wildcat cartridges and if you got some undocumented wildcatter's gun it could be an adventure to discover exactly what caliber you have.

Perhaps someone with more knowledge can recognize the casing or the behaviors of your rifle.

Quite interesting in all.

[Sentryduty]

.303 Epps and others make some similar looking casings, however exact drawing dimensions are lacking on the internet.





303 Epps - Notes on Improved Cases

Just tossing out ideas at this point.

[Doco overboard]

STOP!!!!!! LISTEN TO SENTRY DUTY! Find out what's going on there before you continue, maybe it's just the picture of the spent case next to the unfired one but the base of that cartridge looks bulged at the bottom. Maybe that's why you had extractor problems as well. Looks like you may have some fire-forming going on.

[Kerry49]

The dimensions of the fired case do not fit the 303 Epps theory. The chamber may have been reamed to some ackley improved wildcat or similar. I would then ask why was this done to a 100+ year old rifle? Was it fired using some suped up cartridge? I asked the seller about this but he knows nothing. I have no intention of firing this rifle again with this barrel, even if I find out what this mod is. As far as I'm concerned this barrel is toast. Even the bolt is suspect at this point. But I'm willing to listen to any ideas that fit the facts of my rifle. It would be useful to find out for future reference. I do appreciate everyone's interest and help!, I'm just a little upset right now.