Home Forums Reloading Bullet Casting Round nose or flat nose for the 30-40 krag?

I plan on hunting with my old springfield and was wondering what experience you boys have had with flat nose in your Krag. I've shot a bunch of flat nose out of it but don't like the way it bumps and nicks up the flat nose. I shoot 50/50 w.w to pure. Do you think I'd get much expansion or would it pencil through with the round nose? I'm looking at the 314299 for a bullet. Has anyone had any hunting experience with the round nose?

I use both the Ideal #311413, a semi-spritzer, and #311291 rn, both gas checked. Using wheel weight lead. Have been shooting these 2 bullets since '55. Flatten nicely, get the job done!

I have used 311284 RN starting 45 years ago, similar alloy, with reliable expansion when driven at 2000fps or so. I don't fret my flat nosed bullets getting nicked up a bit in feeding, it doesn't seem to effect accuracy. FN bullets do expand a tad more reliably, and as such I believe in them- I just never got around to hunting with them in the Krag, but use 190 grain FN's in other .30's such as a .303 Savage with great success.

To me, the ideal bullet for the Krag would be a 200-220 grain RN, with a hollow point, driven at 1800-2000fps.

Don't sweat damage to the bullet's nose, within reason. The important part of the bullet is the base- it is what steers the bullet in flight.

I went ahead and ordered the round nose. I really like the way it feeds and like Gnoahh said, I can always hollow point it, if I don't like the results. In the end, my end goal is to set an elk down with the krag. An elk is a big enough critter to get plenty of chance for some expansion. Max range will be 150 yards but shots will probably be more like 50.

While I have not owned a .30-40 Krag for many years I do shoot lots of cast bullets in my .35 Whelen. When I was doing load development with cast bullets I tried both RN & FP bullets, both shot equally well. For whatever reason I have settled on the FN nose bullet, for a hunting load in the Krag I would concur with Gnoahh's advice.

I see the water is over the dam already. However, I'll still throw in a little experience I've had. Mostly I've used flat nose bullets when shooting cast into critters and have had excellent luck with them. Nothing has stood around to admire the holes. In my 358 Winchester rifle, the only bullet I have is the Lyman 200 grain RN bullet. Cast moderately hard it shoots quite well at around 1900 fps. A few years ago, the hare population was high and using 22s had gotten old, so I decided to give a bigger rifle a go. One of the bunnies gave me a 50 yard try, so I laid it on his head- to avoid ruining the front half- and set one loose. The bullet drilled him just ahead of his eyes, right under the bridge of his nose. The impact knocked him crazy for a moment, but he soon recovered and appeared to be ready to escape. I could tell I had hit him as he had blood on his head, but I figured it was just an ear shot, so I put a second into him a bit lower. The second shot drilled his shoulders and put him down quite obviously. That, to my mind, pretty much validates what has long been said about the round nosed types of bullets. They slide through. That rabbit has a 35 caliber hole through his head that you could look right through, but it was drilled with very minimal shock value or displacement. If I were to use that bullet on something bigger like caribou or similar, I would certainly aim for bones.

It's all in the hardness of the bullet. So many guys cast relatively hard bullets believing they are needed for the prevention of leading and for accuracy. Sometimes that is the case, but not most of the time. Bullet fit is waaay more important. If the bullet fits the throat (.0005" less than throat diameter) and not groove diameter, and is sufficiently well lubed, astonishingly soft alloys can be used- as a rule. A soft alloy RN will expand plenty in tissue. Not quite as well as a FN, but plenty good enough.