Sorry to make this a zombie thread but today i was looking at an old Krag sporter i have and also an Winchester 1895 in you guessed it, 30-40 or 30 US. Yeah that one.
Truth is i havent messed with a 30-40 since i was in my early 20's a couple decades ago. From what i remember it fed and function in the bolt action best with longer and heavier 200-220gr bullets and round nose where smooth operators.
Couple years ago i picked up the winchester 1895 here off this forum. What im wondering is what's a good place to start in bullet weight?
Also, im thinking the 1895 leveraction may be slightly stronger than those old Springfield bolt rifles, so is this more forgiving in driving 220 bullets @2000 fps or is that asking too much? I wouldnt try to turn either one into a 30-06 but im just wondering relative strength and what is the potential. The 1895 is the levergun rifle thats odd to me and i dont have any real time with them compared to the otheres like the Win 1894, 1886, and the Marlins.
FWIW ive got an old book with accounts about hunting grizzly bears in the Canadian Selkirks and in the western US. I believe the author used a Hi Wall 45-100 or something similiar. On one partucular hunt his companion used the then fairly modern 30-40 Krag and in the book it mentioned how impressive the tissue damage was with the 30-40.
