Picked this up a few weeks ago, it's an 1899 Krag Jorgensen Carbine made in late 1900. The Krag replaced the Springfield Trapdoor in 1892 and was itself totally replaced by the Springfield M1903 by 1907, so it had a short service life. In the early 1900's many were sold off as surplus for just a few bucks and were sporterized by civilians with cut down stocks, barrels, checkered grips and the like, so finding an original one can be difficult. Mine is nearly all original; the stock is not cut down nor is the barrel, only defect is someone removed the finish many years ago. It was a dirty rifle but it cleaned up nicely, a patina has developed that actually looks alright, so I plan on leaving it as-is. Bore is decent not great, but the rifling is still there.
The original load was a 220gr round nose bullet with 40gr of smokeless powder, hence the designation .30-40 Krag. I wanted to duplicate that load as closely as I could, so I made some starting loads using 30gr of 4895 and a 220gr round nose Hornady Interlock bullet. Accuracy was nothing to write home about, but I did hit the paper with 10" groups up through 70 yards. I suspect with more practice and a better load using a slightly oversized lead bullet I can tighten up my groupings.
The original load was a 220gr round nose bullet with 40gr of smokeless powder, hence the designation .30-40 Krag. I wanted to duplicate that load as closely as I could, so I made some starting loads using 30gr of 4895 and a 220gr round nose Hornady Interlock bullet. Accuracy was nothing to write home about, but I did hit the paper with 10" groups up through 70 yards. I suspect with more practice and a better load using a slightly oversized lead bullet I can tighten up my groupings.
