Care and feeding of the Krag

[River City John]

Bandoliers were manufactured for the Boers, also.

[Lord Eoin MacKenzie]

Is there a current supplier for the Bandoleers?
I can order a Mills belt for the Krag,   But I need something for the Mausers and my Rolling block.
My unmarked civil war cartridge box and a Musset bag could be used for loose cartridges,  but a Bando would look better.

[Drydock]

If you look in places like Sportsmans Guide, or search ammo pouch on ebay, you can find lots of east European mauser pouchs.  4 brown ones lined up on a wide leather belt is a decent approximation of the Spanish colonial rig of the 1890s.

[Drydock]

These, in fact:  http://www.sportsmansguide.com/product/index/4-used-serbian-military-surplus-leather-mag-pouches?a=1744064

[Drydock]

As seen here:  http://www.agmohio.com/LR1896equipment.htm

[River City John]

As luck would have it, I am bringing a 1903 Pattern Martin leather bandoleer as a door prize. Manufactured for IMA, it is no longer offered on their website.

International Military Antiques:
http://www.ima-usa.com/salesperson/result/?q=bandoleer&Trigger=ac


And Liberty Tree is a wonderful source for items:
https://www.libertytreecollectors.com/productcart/pc/ltc-default.asp


RCJ

[Niederlander]

The British P1903 Bandolier is carried by What Price Glory.

[River City John]

http://onlinemilitaria.net/products/4281-UK-1903-Pattern-Leather-Cavalry-9-Pocket-Bandolier/

$98.00, but these people are a joy to work with, and their quality is top drawer.


RCJ

[Niederlander]

I'm amazed by how reasonable their prices are.  Ninety-eight dollars may sound like a lot at first, but my local leatherworker said he probably couldn't even buy the leather and hardware for that, let alone build it.  John's right, their stuff is nice.  I'd have to say they're just about the go-to company for our time period.

[Drydock]

Just an FYI:  I've been loading Lees 312-155 Gas check bullet in my sons 1893 Spanish Mauser Carbine .308 conversion, as it will not feed RNs at all!  This is a 155 grain Spitzer designed originally for the 7.62x39.  It is a rather long nosed bullet, I took a caliper to it and the nose above the crimp groove is .020 shorter than my Lee 200 RN.  HMMMM.

So I loaded a few in my Krag cases.  Threw them into both my Krags, and they feed just fine.  Might even be a tad slicker than my 200 RNs.  Out at the farm they shot under 3" at 100 yards, sights still set at 4.  2 grooves, I still get a greasy muzzle on the infantry rifle. All sized to .311 with aluminum gas checks.

This would save me some lead money, and make loading for my son and I easier with only one bullet to cast.  Donnie wants to shoot his Isapore SMLE in the EEM, and the Spanish Carbine in the main match.  Reason being these are HIS guns, not mine!

But here's a circa 150 grain Spitzer that feeds and shoots just fine in a Krag.

[pony express]

Drydock, is that the "soup can" bullet, or regular lube grooves? I have the tumble lube one, bought it hoping to use it in my various .31 cal guns, loaded up a batch in .303, no luck-bullets tumbled in all three .303s I have, No1, No4 and P-14. Haven't yet tried them in anything else I have.

[Drydock]

Its the regular lube groove one, C312-155-2R.

[cpt dan blodgett]

Sure wish I would have read this thread long ago about 4350 and the krag, but have managed to get varget loads to work just fine.

[Tascosa Joe]

Missouri bullet company has a .309 @ 238 gr.  It is a really long round nose bullet.  Do any of y'all with more experience think this would work for the Krag?  The bullet is manufactured for the 300 AAC or Blackout.

[pony express]

It may work if your bore is tight enough, mine prefers .310.

[Charles Isaac]

   This beater "most of a" Krag just got dropped off by the big brown truck and I got almost all of the parts it needs.  Another one of those "If it's gonna sell that cheap, I'll buy the dam thing!"



  http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=508619479 



    This one has the highest serial number I've personally seen. Bore was all leaded up but looks like it might shoot OK. I'll try it out with some GAF loads first-only gonna have a couple hundred in this one!

[Niederlander]

Good to see you bringing that one back to life, Charles!

[Charles Isaac]

   Yes Sir, I need to get a "Save The Krags" T-shirt!

[Dutch Al]

I have been loading my 30-40 Krag ammo to an overall length of 3.08.  I am using 210 grain round nose bullets, so loading with the bullets seated that far out is no problem.  With the 3.08 overall length, its darn near impossible to get a rim lock.  I checked both my Krags, and found the 3.08 length passes through the action just fine.  I hope you find this information useful.  Good luck.

Regards

Dutch Al

[Tascosa Joe]

One of the most important things we've learned is to make certain the OCL is right. If you use too short a bullet the cartridge won't feed. Scruffy Skippy makes a good 220 gr RN lead bullet. 402-276-1391

Is Scruffy Skippy still making these bullets?