Model 1898 Krag

[Greasemonkey]

OK, lets go back, way back, back before the M1 Garand was a gleem in Garands eye, before the Carbine was even conceived, even before the M1903, 9mm Luger,.45 ACP and WWI. Lets go back to the Spanish American War. The Springfield Armory Krag .30-40, or the .30 Army. There in total were 500,000 or so made from  1894 to 1907. This was made in 1902 and fires the precursor to the age 'ol 30-06, the .30-40 Krag.  The fit and finish of this 'ol girl is unbelievable, and the action, I have never ran across another rifle as smooth. In my opinion, these old Springfield rifles are highly under valued compared with others. 

[Blicero]

God I love these guns.

A lot of folks give me hell because I rag on the 03 & 03a3. It's clear that America had digressed when they abandoned the Krag in favor of the 03. I'm not sure if our contract expired with the Norwegians or we wanted a home-brewed design but we should have never given up this gun. Of course that's all moot once semiautos became the flavor of the day and bolt actions neared obsolescence.

Guys, if you've never handled a Krag, you need to find a way to. The action on them is the most ridiculously and divinely silky I've ever felt on a bolt gun. It's pure joy shooting these things.

[Greasemonkey]

I'm not really a big fan of the 03 or 03a3 either,  the Krag and M1917 Enfield are my favorite U.S. bolt actions. These became obsolete when we faced the 7mm Mauser and the Mauser magazine, the day of the rimmed military cartridge came to an end in the United States.  So we tried updating to the .30-03, the basis for the original Springfield 1903 rifle, and finally the .30-06 was born.

[Dannyboy53]

Guys I have to agree with you on the Krag. My late Uncle in Montana had one of these, unaltered, and brought down many Whitetail and Mule Deer with it. It's an awesome rifle.

This one is a very nice specimen!

[Phosphorus32]

Hmm, I really need another caliber   
Maybe a Spanish Modelo 1893 and a Krag so I could compare for myself and try to understand the US Army officers concerns.

Really nice looking rifle GM!
 

[Phosphorus32]

GM, what kind of ammo do you recommend for these?  I read about the single locking lug, and that they originally used the 220 grain round nose at a relatively low velocity, and that makes me cautious.  All I see available are the lighter and higher velocity 180 gr Remington Core-Lokt stuff.  Is that modern ammo too hot for an 1898 Krag, or is it okay?

[Greasemonkey]

Disclaimer to begin with ,  one thing I would suggest, if you were to purchase one, have the headspace checked or at least have it thoroughly inspected by a "competent" smith. These things are over a century old, seen who knows how many rounds, and like a .303 Brit, 8x56r Steyr and a x54r Russian, they headspace off the case rim. It's better too know, than it is to blow.

And it's not a good photo, but if you notice in the bottom photo, the bolt handle groove, it more or less acts as a very crude safety lug, as the bolt handle slot is notched into the receiver. Would I bet my life on it, absolutely not, but I also don't ever recall of hearing anyone with a Krag bolt shoved through their skull. 

.30-40 Krag, .30 Army, any modern brand name made ammo should be safe. Modern ammo manufactures load a little below spec because of all the older firearms are still in existence. One of those nasty legal little words known as, liability. Another is the .45-70 Springfield, most run of the mill bla bla ammo is spec'ed for the old Springfield Model 1873 trapdoor. When in reality, you can get .45-70 Gov't ammo loaded approaching .458 Win Mag levels, just god forbid you touch that round off in an old trapdoor rifle. I've used .30-40 Krag 180gr HSM ammo for quite awhile and also used the regular plain Remington 180gr. It's also fairly popular as a handloaded cast bullet round, given the ammo is run in lots or not at all during peak times for other calibers.

Also, these were set up for 220gr bullets like you stated, so it takes some slight site adjusting to accurately fire the 180gr rounds.

 

[Phosphorus32]

Thanks!     The HSM specs I found suggest it is loaded a bit lighter than the Remington so I might lean that way.

I noticed how the bolt slots in tight in the stock, but I didn't notice that it sat in a recess in the metal tang until you pointed that out and I looked closer at the photos.  Thanks for the good information and expert (but non legally binding  ) opinions.

Interesting about the .45-70 too.  My neighbor likes his .45-70 for hunting but I'm not sure what type of rifle he has. I may have to ask him the next time I run into him.