I am no Norwegian Krag expert here but, form what I have read and heard Krag type actions did take special care for heat treating simply due to their configuration. I assume due to the unique magazine? I have read that some observations are that if a Krag did fail it was often times in the front right corner of the ejection port. It is where the steel is narrower. Some Norwegian Krags had the steel squared out in this front right corner and some of the later Norwegian Krags and Steyr manufactured Norwegian Krags had a radiused corner there. The radiused corner was deemed to be stronger or better I guess from a design standpoint. Supposedly there was a lot of hand fitting done when Norwegian Krags were made but, I don't know for sure. I have put different bolt bodies in my Norwegian Krags and never had two fit exactly the same. That is just my very limited experience.
This is obviously a bit late to chime in but since people were talking about sights for Norwegian Krags, I got lucky a few years ago and was able to buy a Krag "sniper" receiver sight from a seller in Norway on Ebay. It was designed to fit perfectly behind the bolt handle and a local gunsmith that is great at metal work mounted it like it was factory installed. He also removed the military folding rear. The sight is adjustable for windage and elevation like a Lyman 48 but what was really unique is the aperture is adjustable via a rotating button with four different diameters. The widest is still a bit narrow for deer hunting in the thickets of northern of Wisconsin.
The gun has a military stock with the top handguard removed before I got it, great "tiger" figuring, is light and handing. I have been using federal ammo with 140 gr spitzers because it has been so available for a reasonable price at the local farm & fleet, However, I am interested in handloading for it going forward, so does anyone of.264 round nose bullets other than from Hawk bullets currently available?
Last edited by KragLarsen; 02/05/21. Reason: omitted word
Hornady still makes a 160 gr. Interlock. Great for hogs.
Glad you've had good luck with it, but both I and Phil Shoemaker (458Win on the Campfire, and an Alaskan Master Guide) have experienced very erratic results with that bullet on deer.
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.” John Steinbeck
Someone mentioned rebarreling a Norge Krag, I believe they have a left hand metric square thread. Hope your gunsmith has PhD and I don’t mean post hole digger.
Hornady still makes a 160 gr. Interlock. Great for hogs.
Glad you've had good luck with it, but both I and Phil Shoemaker (458Win on the Campfire, and an Alaskan Master Guide) have experienced very erratic results with that bullet on deer.
I wonder if that might not have been a twist problem. The 6.5x54mm Mannlicher Schoenaur was basically designed for 160 grain round noses and IIRC had a 7.5" twist.
Don't blame me. I voted for Trump.
Democrats would burn this country to the ground, if they could rule over the ashes.
I experienced my problems when shooting a M-S 6.5x54 carbine with a measured 1-8 twist, at a muzzle velocity of around 2200 fps. I believe Phil used basically the same rifle, but my memory isn't what it used to be.
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.” John Steinbeck
150-200.000 active shooters used the Krag like this each week for a couple of decades. . Now they, and Sweden and Denmark use the Sig Sauer 200 STR instead.
The US in the last 40 years:
Socialism for big corporations and military industrial complex
Since we have a few Krag fans here...anybody have a "hurtiglader" or two laying around for sale? It's the quick charger used in the above video. I emailed a sporting goods supplier in Norway, but never heard anything back.
Well this is a fine pickle we're in, should'a listened to Joe McCarthy and George Orwell I guess.
Hornady still makes a 160 gr. Interlock. Great for hogs.
Glad you've had good luck with it, but both I and Phil Shoemaker (458Win on the Campfire, and an Alaskan Master Guide) have experienced very erratic results with that bullet on deer.
Mule Deer; Good morning to you John, I hope you and Eileen are well and weathering the winter okay thus far.
With the understanding that my experience with the 160gr Hornady bullets would be close to 30 years back now, there was one particular box of them that made the rounds between 3 of us reloaders back then. The other two chaps loaded them in 6.5-06's and I loaded them in the 6.5x55 I'd modified for my father.
One of us ended up shooting what we'd call a "circus bear" with one when I was present and I want to say at least one local buck as well. Since I was the one who performed the evisceration on the bear, I recall being sufficiently unimpressed with the damage that we stopped using them in Dad's rifle forthwith.
Now somewhere in the mists of time, what I saw and didn't like I just can't recall, but there it is for whatever it's worth from way back then.
In Dad's rifle, until our eldest inherited it and began hunting with the 130gr TSX bullets, the most consistent performance was either a 140gr Hornady Interlock or 140gr Partition.
All the best to you and Eileen for what is left of our winter. We're bracing for a serious Arctic front supposedly landing tomorrow.
Hope you make it through the Arctic front all right. It's already here--woke up to -6 Fahrenheit this morning, and it's predicted to get colder for the next week.
The problem I had with the 160 6.5 was erratic penetration. It broke both shoulders of one deer, and exited. On another it didn't make it to the far ribs on a broadside, behind-the-shoulder lung shot. As I recall Phil saw similar stuff.
Have never killed anything with the 140 Hornady Interlock, but have shot some animals with the 129 6.5, which has always worked very well. The 140 Partition is as reliable as tax bills, but more fun.
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.” John Steinbeck
I've stuck with Hornady Interlock 129's and Nosler 140 Partitions for deer killing purposes with 6.5x55's lo these last 40 years or so since I got my first M94 carbine, up through my current Ruger #1. Accuracy and terminal performance is all I could hope for and want.
These last couple of years saw me expanding my horizons a bit as I laid in a supply of Berger 130 VLD Hunting and Lapua 139 Scenars. (Why, I don't know. There is little to no chance for long range target shooting or hunting where I live and where I hunt.) That was all moot as Covid + personal health issues precluded most of my shooting and all of my hunting last year.
"You can lead a man to logic, but you cannot make him think." Joe Harz "Always certain, often right." Keith McCafferty
The Norwegian Krag I hunted with as a kid never saw a reload. It would put three 139 Normas in to a group the size of a flamboyant sombrero at 100 yds but the 156 RN shot quite well (3moa) and I killed a couple of deer with it. I have used the 160 Hornady on some deer (out of another 6.5x55) and they worked fine but all shots were easy. Ranges were 80 yards or less and the shots placed through the ribs; not a tough test. I like the 160 Sierra a lot better but it's no longer available. I have re-barreled a few Norwegians; one in 7x57. They are a perfect example of an unusual design; done very well. GD
So, Bugger, a year has gone by now. Any updates on your odyssey with your Viking Krag? Have you been trying to get in touch with me to sell it, haha?!
A fellow on the fire wanted that rifle more than I and I let him have it. I cruise the aisles of gun shows looking for uncommon cartridge rifles, uncommon riles. I'll be looking this week-end at the Sioux Falls show. I was still trying to shape the stock when he pried it out of my hands (figuratively speaking)
Gun Shows are a most wonderful place to be unless I don't bring enough cash.
Last edited by Bugger; 02/07/21.
I prefer classic. Semper Fi I used to run with the hare. Now I'm envious of the tortoise and I do my own stunts but rarely intentionally
