Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Problem with new barrel on springfield Krag

I have a problem after getting my 1898 Springfield 30-40 Krag back from a local gunsmith. I am not sure what to do about it so I thought I�d ask you guys for some input. Input regarding the condition my rifle is in now and if anyone has solutions to the feeding issue that arose after having my rifle rebarreled. Opinions on the safety of shooting a rimmed cartridge the a �half moon � of rim support removed by the smith as part of �his solution� to fix the problem. Opinions of him using welding up the inside of the side plate to give what he thinks is a solution to make it feed better. The fact that the weld inside the side plate is very rough, very uneven and just plain unfinished.
A little background on the rifle I took to the gunsmith. It is an old springfield Krag that was sporterized long before I got it but it still had the original 30� barrel. The action was silky smooth and it fed any factory round I used without a hitch. Remington factory 180s is what I used the most. The original barrel was WAY too long for me and had seen better days. I decided to buy a new barrel from the CMP program in the carbine length. Along with this I bought a reproduction from sight base, reproduction front sight blade and the retaining pin. I took all of this to a local smith here just north of Pittsburgh. He gave me a ball park price for final chambering and fitting the barrel, adding the front sight and rebluing. These guys are regularly recommended on www.huntingpa.com Forums and while the cost was a bit more than I wanted to spend I really wanted to hunt with this gun this year with a shorter barrel. I gave them the go ahead. I was told I�d have the rifle back in a month or so. At this point all was well with the world. I was going to have my old sporter the way I wanted it.
A little less than a week ago I got the call from them saying that my rifle was done. I was pretty excited to stop and get it. My work hours and there operating hours don�t mess well so I picked it up just as they were closing. It was just finished. They had blued it that day. I paid them in full. When I left with it was still dripping with oil. After getting home and cleaning it I saw that the blueing on top of the magazine box had not taken. It was flat back in streaks Like it was not prepped properly. I took it out back to shoot. It would not feed from the magazine unless rammed so hard that it would push the bullet back into the case. It needed to go back. I made the call and they said bring it in.
I took it and was told that there was nothing they could do about the blueing. It was the hardened metal that made the bluing appear that way. I was told that they could blue it again and it would look the same. He said the feeding issue would be addressed. He suggested radiusing the edge. My old factory barrel was still there and its edge into the chamber was worn and not crisp like my new barrel. It sounded like he had it under control.
I picked it up the other day after getting a phone call from them that was pretty rude. I was told that there was no way that rifle ever fed rounds from the magazine�..which is flat out false. It worked fine when I gave it to them. I was told they fixed the feeding problem and they reblued everything. I could pick it up that day.
Upon seeing the rifle I was VERY pleased that blueing was fixed. They redid the magazine box. I noticed that they really beveled the left rear side of the barrel to a �half moon� from the extractor grove down to the six o�clock position. He said they test fired it and it was safe. They welded up built up area inside the side plate to �help� it feed better. I am not a gunsmith but the more I think of what they did the less I am convicted it is safe. Can you remove that much metal that the rim would bear on for a rimmed cartridge? I can�t help but believe that something else is the problem. I gave them a perfect working action and got one back that may not be safe. It is still very far from feeling smooth and working right. It Still jambs rounds, usually the second round through and now does not fully eject all the time. I am not happy.
What are my options here? How should I handle this with the smith that did the work? I am not fully comfortable it letting them work on anything I own�ever again. What are the potential causes of this problem? Is it still possible to have the barrel redone �setting it back a thread, redoing the chamber and threading to make it safe? What can be done to make it feed again? What started as a fun project has turned into a nightmare. This rifle has to function as it did before they worked on it.

Below are some pictures that will help in understanding what was done.

Woof...


This is only MHO, but I don't think that beveling cut is going to hurt anything as far as safety's concerned. Keep in mind the extractor cut for many barrels on the Win M70 also reach a bit into the chamber edge - and the 30-40 Krag is NOT a high-pressure round by any means, comparing somewhat to the 30-30 Winchester in speeds, IIRC..

I'd be more concerned/irritated by that idiotic spot weld. Never saw anything like that before.. And if they reblued everything, why is that receiver opening so unbelievably shiny??

I'll politely disagree. While that "half moon cut" may or may not be safe, per se, it can't help matters any. Note that the extractor cut at 12:00 doesn't intrude into the chamber wall. If the case is going to let go (for example: some unsuspecting soul fires an 80 year old cartridge with brittle brass), that half moon cut is going to facilitate the rupture. Factor that in with the Krag not being designed as well as more modern bolt guns for handling escaping gasses, and I would have gone apoplectic if a 'smith did that to one of my Krags.

Secondly, that elephant turd of weld is unconscionable. Whatever joker thought of doing that ought to go back to 4th grade and finish school. I have played with Krags for 45 years, and know a bunch of guys who are more experienced with them than me, and have never heard of such a thing being done, A Krag that won't feed slick as goose snot with correct ammo, if in original unmolested condition or rebuilt to said same specs, is unheard of.

Obviously those guys don't know their ass from first base, at least with Krags. IMO they wrecked your gun. They should be liable for the cost of having someone who knows what they're doing make the gun right: new Criterion barrel (I know they cost $200+ from the CMP), replacement side plate (not real expensive but they aren't getting any cheaper), and the labor for installing them. How you go about attaining satisfaction from them is not for me to say.

Krag receivers and their ancillary parts are carburized (case hardened) low carbon steel. As such, often they take on weird color combos when hot dip blued (usually a crummy plum color). That's why I feel a rust blue job is the way to with these old girls. Savvy old time gunsmiths knew this about Krags. I learned it 40 years ago when my old timer gunsmith friend tried to talk me out of a hot blue job on a Krag. I insisted, and sure enough, we got a plum color. I then let him strip it and do a proper job of rust blue.

Didn't say it would help.. On standard rounds, neither does the M70.. All true there..

Which is why I said "woof".. True dat.. (nor have I.. ) All true again..

Pictorially evident, indeed!! Ahhh, a small but not insignificant lesson learned there sir..

I've never been happier since I gave up bluing.. Way more a pita than profitable - especially with chemicals now getting very expensive..

They may have warped or bent the action getting a 125 old
barrel out. My Krak feeds like no other action, somthing
bad must have happened. try to find someone that still understands Krags.

Twisting the action during barrel removal/installation would be my suspicion. Probably didn't use a "Krag Nut" which fits into the recess in the bottom of the receiver. It is the correct way to support the sction during barrel removal/installation. Doing the job without one is like the guy who sticks a hammer handle thru a revolver frame when removing the barrel. Result is the same a twisted/sprung action/frame. Sounds as though the guy is a real Bubba, the weld confirms this at least in my opinion! Pretty clueless as to what he's doing.

These rifles never needed welding in their 100 plus year history so I would sue him for the cost of another rifle. As stated above that wannabe smith twisted the action. I own six Krags and none have ever needed welding of any type. I had to have two rebarreled with Criterion barrels by a local smith and neither needed welding of any kind after the barrels were installed. This smith acts like a Yugo mechanic.

Wow! This smith sounds more like a hack. I have changed barrels for many customers over the years and never had a problem.