30/40 Krag

Powerfisher

Powerfisher

New member
I have recently acquired a sporterized 30/40 Krag. I have been on the internet researching the rifle and all I was able to come up with is...."A little more power than a 30-30 but not as much as a 30-06" and "Don't use hot loads". I do reload so ammo is not an issue. Any info you can give me would be helpful. I want to use this as my deer/elk rifle here in the thick woods of North Western Washington. Thanks.
 
The .30-40 Krag has killed an awful lot of big game over the last 100 odd years. As far as power goes it's not at .308 levels but closer to the .300 Savage.

A 150 grain bullet at 2600 fps or a 180 grain at 2400 is pretty safe in most guns.

While not what most people think of nowadays as a perfect deer and elk rifle it sure will work if you do your job and put the bullet where it needs to go.
 
I had one many years ago and gave it to my BinL, he still kills his deer with it, 180gr RN's were our goto bullet. Early on I did load some Herter's 220gr Banana Peels for it and they worked well also.
 
If the Krag you acquired is one of the old Model 1892 Springfield Krag Jorgensen rifles, and you plan to reload for it, a couple of things to be aware of:

1. Many of those old rifles developed head space issues over the years as will be evidenced by primers backing out a bit when fired.

2. The Springfield action has only one forward locking bolt lug, so even though the action is very smooth, its far from being a modern rifle action with extra safety built in.

In a more modern rifle action such as a Winchester Model 1895 or a Ruger #1, the round can be reloaded heavier and it becomes an even more useful hunting cartridge.
 
I remember learning to hunt whitetails as a small kid.
My memory is a little shaky that far back but it seems it shot flat as a pancake for a hundred yards or so then dropped off like a cannon ball.
 
I had one as a kid I bought it at a garage sale for 8 bucks rusty as heck.used it for years deer hunting.hated the rat trap shell box on the side allways getting my finger caught in it.traded it for a k98 in 8mm.and some money.allso getting shells for 30/40 were hard to get.a old man on my paper route reloaded my 8mm for me using 30/06 brass it was crude but worked for me.
 
That was my first deer hunting rifle and it did it's job well. I've seen ammo showing up at the gun shows lately and it reminds me of hunting with my Dad in the early 70's in west Texas. He passed a short time later. I think of picking one up every now and then, but don't see many of them anymore. Mine had long range sights on it kinda like a M1, I could hit steel at 600yds with it.
 
No real help here. I've thought about getting krag for years, but never though hard enough to pull the trigger. My personal rule of thumb with old guns is to start on very safe loads and move upwards slower than normal. There's no way of knowing what history the gun has or why it was let go. That's for any used gun but the longer it's been around the better the odds it has developed an issue.

A generic load will be pushing 150gr at 2500+fps, BC likely won't be great as the original loads were with a round nose bullet. For deer etc it will be fine. And with modern shaped bullets it will stretch that fine out a bit further.

Depending on your shooting/aiming style (I like MPBR) you're probably in the 200 yard range for deer sized targets and closer to 300 for elk. Energy will be fine for both.
 
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