I was resizing some rem. brass I fired in my 1898
rifle and notice the huge difference in the shoulders.
Th one on the right is before resizing, the left is after.
Is there something wrong with my chamber? Thanks

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I'll try a better picture

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It looks normal to me John. I believe you Dies are made to an industry standard that manufacturers adopted in the 1930s. Your Krag was chambered to dimensions decided by the U.S. Ordnance Department in the 1890s.

I suggest you 'back-off' your F.L. Sizing Die one turn and enjoy the virtues of 'fire-formed' brass.

p.s. - Humor me and see if one of the cases fired in your rifle will fit in your carbine, without resizing.

Thanks for your reply, unfortunately I only have 20
rounds of brass and when the first one chambered in
in the rifle I resized them all. I did chamber a resized
one in the carbine and it closed but it was tight. I usually
clean the chamber and bore on new to me milsurps but I
haven't cleaned the carbine yet so maybe it's just dirty.
After I fire these rounds I will try a fire formed case in both.

You'll find some variation in chambers between rifles, but still I'm amazed at the tolerances they held.

Amen to that!

I only resize about 70% of the neck on my 30-40 cast loads. They chamber fine and are very accurate.  They should last longer too as you are working the brass less.  When you take her out to shoot dry out your chamber, it is easier on your lug if the case gets a good grip on the chamber walls.

I anneal my brass and size only enough to ensure easy chambering.  My cases fail when the neck splits which is the part worked by neck sizing.  Even with annealing sooner or later the cases fail, nothing last forever.  You can also neck size with a .308 Win die, adjust it so sizing stops at  or just above the juncture of neck and shoulder.

'Madsenshooter' has suggested using a 7.5X55mm Lee collet die to resize .30-40 case necks. I happen to have a set of these Dies and am giving it a try.

I use a .303 British, Lee collet die. Turn down the mandel if necessiary, using a drill press with emery cloth, to get the bullet tension you like.

I finally was able to shoot my carbine a couple of weeks ago.
A few things. The brass from the carbine will not chamber in
My rifle. The bolt will not even come close to closing. The big problem I found is the magazine will not push the rounds around to the bolt unless I have at least 3 rounds in the magazine. I tried comparing it to the rifle and could not see a difference. Also with 3 or more rounds in the mag, the rounds did not want to lift up to the chamber when you push the bolt forward with out useing my fingers.I know it was designed for a 220 gr round nose but all I have is 178 AMax. Any suggestions?
By the way, the tall front sight that was added on was dead on at 100 yds, no need to file

John: How was the accuracy of your 'carbine'? Do your fired cases appear overly stretched in the Head area?

IMHO - Since your carbine appears to have a more generous chamber than your model 1898 rifle, You should relegate those fired cases to future use in your carbine and neck size only (to avoid needless over-working of the brass). Simply back-off your resizing Die a turn or two.

I find that most Model 1898 Krags are pretty tolerant and will feed a good variety of bullet weights and shapes. Over-All-Cartridge-Length seems important to Krag cartridge feed. Bullets should be seated out as far as practical, allowing for sufficient neck-tension and function through the magazine. The bullet nose contacting the magazine 'feed ramp' helps with directing the loaded round into the chamber.

Many magazine feed problems seem related to dirt, gunk, and dried grease in the feed path or carrier/follower arm assembly. Thorough cleaning and light lubrication resolves this. Another  possibility is a damaged (dented) or wrong (model 1896) side-plate on a model 1898 Krag.

I am attaching a picture, showing how, the follower/carrier extends out of the side of a Model 1898/99 Krag, with the side-plate removed. It also shows the Gate Hinge-Pin, rotated, to expose cam & spring tip for lubricating. You can always try your rifle's side-plate on your carbine to see if it solves the problem.

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I didn't shoot on paper, I just picked out junk on the backstop and was able to hit them. I'll see if extending the OAL will help it feed better. When I only have one or two rounds in the mag. they will roll back and forth like the follower is not pushing them quite far enough. I will try cleaning it and see if it helps.

I worked on the magazine this morning. In the first pic the follower is out when I closed the door. In the second photo I pushed the follower back with my finger and it would hang up. I cleaned it and oiled it well and it is functioning much better. I'm still having problems with the plastic tip on the AMax catching on the feed ramp. I may just have to use a round nose or a flatter nose bullet

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