Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 30-40 Krag... Any fans? Who hunts with the 30-40?

roanmtn,

Yep, all the Gun Gack books are still available! You can ask about or order them by phoning Eileen at 406-521-0273. If I'm around (am frequently hiking with Lena the Labrador) can also provide more details.

John

Thanks John

I've always been interested in the 30-40 Krag. Had never seen one until recently. I suspect the old round(.303 British looking) has just the right velocity and bullet weigh + good shot placement just makes it deadly. A 3" high zero at 100 yds is probably good to 225 to 250 yds. Where I live in the mountains of East Tennessee it is 50 to 100 yards at the very most in the Cherokee Nat'l Forest. On farms in lower flatter land 250 yards is one long shot for us. One would be shooting onto some other person's property. NOT GOOD!

My mechanic in Roan Mountain, TN killed one of the largest 12 point bucks ever killed on the mountain... .308 Win. A little more velocity than the 30-40.

Nice looking rifles you guys have here. They are beautiful.

Roanmtn

The 30-40 is based on the 303 British.

Post and wiki ici.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt.../true/re-a-modern-303-rifle#Post17542405

I occasionally hunt mine. kaywoodie uses his to a much larger degree than I.
Paging kaywoodie!!!

Several years ago a gun head that I know picked up a Remington rolling block single shot in 30-40 Krag. Only one I have ever seen.

Personally I wouldn't stuff 48 grains 4350 behind a 180 jacketed bullet for use in a Krag*, at least not without starting a lot lower and carefully working up, and even then it would give me pause. Hodgdon shows 46 grains as max, with a compressed load, at pretty much the acknowledged safety limit for the Krag. Probably wouldn't shear any bolt lugs by firing a few, but (anecdotally) remember that Ordnance testing 120 years ago found lugs cracking with the "new improved" 2200fps 220 grain load so they dropped back to the original 2K fps load to be safe.

*or was that load worked up for the O/U and the C.Sharps High Wall? I may have misunderstood but don't want to see Mr. Roanmtn hurt himself.

Gary,

46 grains is what I used in my Krag rifles and carbines. Only use 48 in stronger rifles...but also doubt that 48 would harm any Krag-Jorgensen in decent shape. Hodgdon lists 46 grains of at 38,700 CUP with the 180 Speer Grand Slam. The basic rule of single-based powders is that pressure increase at twice the rate of the charge, so 48 grains would be around 42,000 CUP--slightly higher than the pressure of the .30-30.

Yeah, like I intimated, I thought that was the case. But, the OP said he was gonna pass that load on to his brother and the thread starter indicated he was talking about a Krag rifle.

GREAT! GREAT! I will be in touch middle of next week. Hope to speak with you. You and I aren't getting any younger. Perhaps you need to caution your dog to go easy on you on these hikes. HA! I am now 71 and know I'm not 21 anymore. Thanks!

Roanmtn

I have a #4 Lee Enfield which I re-barreled to 30-40, about 45 years ago. That rifle has killed deer, elk, moose, black bears, cougar and coyotes; it has also killed a bunch of ground squirrels. I load 150's to 2700, 180's to 2500, and 220's to 2250. It is a "lucky" gun and I have shot more game with it than with anything else, just because I see more game when I'm carrying it. Go figure. GD

One of the better $500 gun show purchases I made was a Miroku Browning 1895 chambered for same. It's been used to take a few deer over the years. There may have been something other than a 220 RN at some point. It hasn't happened while I've owned it.

Its a capable round, seems like it held the record for elk for many years, which doesn't mean all that much other than it will do the job.
I bought this a few years back and intend to take it for a walk in the moose woods.
Supposedly has a Pope barrel. but unmarked so I am doubtful, it does shoot good.

I killed my first elk, a 5x5 bull, back in 1966 with a sproterized 30-40 Krag that I had borrowed from my Uncle.

That was only me second big game hunt and I was hunting with one of my college roommates north of Craig, CO, where he was from.

I spotted the bull and some cows in a valley a long way below us. The elk were moving toward a patch of timber and I told my roommate that I was going down to get a shot when they got out of the timber. I hadn't gone five steps when my roommate took a shot at them. I sat down to shoot and the front bead of my rifle completely covered up the bull. I tried a head shot. The elk disappeared into the timber.

Twelve more shots and a mile or so later, I finally had my bull on the ground. He had two bullet holes in his antlers, two bullet creases across his back, and I forgot how many in him.

I've never taken a shot at any animal that was that far away since.

I have a Springfield in 30-40 Krag. I don't use it much any longer but it has accounted for mule deer and elk. Neat old round. May need to dust it off and use it again this fall.

I killed a couple of mule deer does with this one and carried it several times moose hunting. No moose cooperated on the Krag days.

For the younger gentlemen on the Campfire, I would suggest finding a copy of "Shots at Whitetails" by the late Larry Koller. It's an excellent read. He liked the .250 Savage and the .30-40 Krag.

Thats a real beauty!

WOW! look at that rifle. I love the rear sights. What yardage can you click up to? Thanks for showing everyone your rifle.

roanmtn

I’ll have get it out and check.

Beautiful rifle. Is that a Stevens 44 1/2? I have one that I had CPA rifles make a .30-40 Krag barrel for. It's a shooter. I've used exclusively cast boolits in it.