Im the only one I know with a Krag Rifle. All my friends thought the Krag is ugly, old, and incapable of matching the accuracy of their brand new shiny rifles.... until I put them in their place by out shooting every one of them at 200yds open sight at man sized targets. After that, they dont make fun of my ugly, old Krag.

Here in PA we hunt regularly with the 30-06 its a very universal round for bear elk and white tail, I have used the krag for bear, never shot at one yet. However I do prefer it to my remington model six as well as my remington 700LH, both chambered in 30-06. I have amused the idea of hunting bear with my Left handed Sako Custom 7mm mag. but feel its too expensive to traipse through the woods with.

Im not 100% sure, but I believe the ballistic measurements of the Krag very closely match the .308 win. Maybe not the ideal round for bear, but shot accurately, I feel its more than efficient. I also carry a .357 mag. Ruger Blackhawk just in case.

Here we dont have many brown bear, just black bear. A small population of elk, and tons of whitetail.

I usually load my own rounds for all the firearms I have. If you reload, I can give you all the measurements as well as the projectile I use for the Krag. I shoot a 175 grain boat tail with 40.336 (40.5g or higher may damage uncared for parts) grains of charge. Makes it a little faster without damaging the chamber. I get an extra 225+/- feet per second. Matched with the boat tail, it turns out amazing results under 500yds.

The K98 8mm Mauser is also a rifle that can be loaded without taking gloves off. However, the Krag is the only bolt action that can be loaded with a round in the chamber.