Krag-Jorgansen caliber options?

For all that the Krag is one of the world's slickest and smoothest actions, the bolt is only single-lug. That limits the chamber pressure to about 40,000 psi.

To use more modern cartridges, you'd have to download as a safety measure.

One thing you could do is get a replacement barrel with a slower twist so you could load your own with light bullets. The Krag twist rate works best with 220-grain or maybe 180-grain bullets.

Not many options atall.

They are designed to feed & function with the rimmed 30-40 Gov. or Krag cartridge, and similar foreign calibers of 100 years ago.

They also have what is considered a fairly weak action today, and won't handle the pressure of most modern calibers.

Many years ago, when Krags were very cheap, some were converted to single-shot varmint rifles in .22 Hornet and other wildcats based on the 32-20 WCF and 30-40 case.

Frank De Hass, in his book Bolt-Action Rifles says they can be successfully re-barreled to .444 Marlin.

But that plus the cost of a decent Krag rifle would buy you two brand new modern sporting rifles in any caliber you want.

BTW: I believe the 30-40 Krag had a 1/10 twist barrel, same as the later 30-03 and 30-06 Springfield.
As such, it will handle any bullet weight from 110 grain varmint bullets up to 220 grain RN big game bullets just fine..

rc

If you buy a chopped up rifle, keep it in .30-40. No need to rechamber. Then take up the hobby of handloading

Factory Krag ammo is available, but can be difficult to find. The Krag is a very easy cartridge to handload for. Just stay within the max pressure constraints and you'll be fine. Its a great hunting cartridge.

The complicated magazine of the Krag works against converting it to a caliber other than a wildcat on the .30-40 case. There are .25 Krags and .35 Krags, for example. But those are not common 21st century plinking calibers.

Many of the old conversions were to target or varmint rifles with the magazine structure cut away, leaving a single shot bolt action and making for a stiffer stock. Serious gunsmiths would lap in the locking lugs so both the main and safety lugs would bear as equally as possible.

Serious gunsmiths would lap in the locking lugs so both the main and safety lugs would bear as equally as possible.

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But if that is done, the barrel must be set back on the threads -- lapping the lugs so much the safety lug bears creates excess headspace.

Start reloading. The 30-40 is a fine cartridge if you load your own.

For something different the Krag case can be blown out straight and it makes an almost exact match for the .375 Nitro Express (2.25x375 compared to the 2.5 case of the NE). I have loaded this to 2300 FPS with the 235 grain Speer. A real thumper. Can also shoot lead bullets made for the 38/55 for economy.

RCBS makes the 375 NE dies. Any good smith could rebarrel a Krag.

Be wary of Krags. They're nice guns, but the bolt lugs on the US-made ones can be weak. The metallurgy wasn't as good back then and there have been reports of the bolt lugs failing and sending the bolt back into the shooter's eye. I'd prefer a later-made foreign Krag myself, but they're practically impossible to find.

Keep in mind that there are Norwegian Krags out there. They are uncommon and expensive but are chambered in 6.5x55.

Frank De Hass, in his book Bolt-Action Rifles says they can be successfully re-barreled to .444 Marlin

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Even if you did rebarrel to .444 Marlin, the cost of that factory ammo will be sky high also. It would seem like a waste, unless you really want a Krag in .444, IMO.

The krag or any rifle made when victoria was still queen is NOT something you want to be performing caliber change experiments on.

Besides have you seen what a bubbafied krag with foot metal goes for nowadays?

So after readin a little i kinda like the way the krag looks. An I'm thinkin bout lookin for an old butchered one an rechamberin' it for a slightly more common round. What would my options be?

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If the barrel is good the best thing to do is leave it in 30-40 Krag. If the barrel is a sewer pipe, the best thing you could do is buy a CMP Krag Criteron barrel in 30-40 and rebarrel it.

I only started to reload when I found this Krag on the shelves of CMP South



Yes it took about 6 months before 30-40 brass became available, but the wait was worth it.

The 30-40 Krag is the proper cartridge for this action. A Krag will push a 220 grain bullet at 2200 fps. Prior to WWII the Krag cartridge was well thought of as a hunting round and since physics has not changed in the last 100 years, the round should still perform well now.

The metallurgy wasn't as good back then and there have been reports of the bolt lugs failing and sending the bolt back into the shooter's eye.
Yeah, I'm going to call that pretty unlikely. I'm sitting here looking at my 1896 Krag. Yes, there is only one *locking* lug at the front end of the bolt. But when the bolt is turned down, the bolt handle fits into a recess at the back of the receiver, and the bolt handle has about twice the cross section of the locking lug. Also, when the bolt is turned down, the guide rib that is milled out of the bolt body itself is backed up by the rear receiver ring.
If the locking lug failed, the bolt would have to be pushed back hard enough to shear off both the entire guide rib and the bolt handle before going through my eyeball.
Yeah, I suppose if you loaded the beejeezus out of it you might run the risk of cracking a locking lug - the Army did when they tried to build Krags in .30-06. Honestly, though, I think I remember reading somebody - might have been DeHaas, possibly Hatcher? - discussing *grinding* the locking lug off a Krag bolt with no noticeable effect. Not saying you should do it, but there are a lot of old gun myths that float around for years that aren't born out in real life situations.