Hi guys, just posted this on the Milsurp forum. I'll post it here as well. Just some background info from Norway. Krags rarely blow up, but when they do, this is the usual pattern.

In the 1970's the norwegian Krag ammo was downloaded to a preassure of 2800 BAR (from originally 3100 BAR). The reason was that some Krags started to develop cracks. These rifles had shot maybe tens of thousands of shots with metal fatiqe on certain spots as a result. The cracks are usually found in the lower right corner, near where the locking lug engages the receiver, and in the upper left corner by the extractors supportspring. On Kongsberg Krags these corners are sharp (90`) , while the Steyr Krags have rounded corners, and are considered stronger. The sharp corner is a more likely starting point for a crack than a rounded corner.

As they say: "Allways have a competent gunsmith check any old gun before you fire it".

Faulty ammo can blow up any rifle. And this Krag blew up in the usual pattern. The cut for the extractor is the weakest spot around the case, and when it burst, this is where the gasses go. The extractor and top of the receiver ring is blown off as a result.

This link to a norwegian forum shows a Krag that were blown up on purpose. The guy loaded a full case of N110 or N340, tied it to a tree, and pulled the trigger with a string.
It looks pretty much identical to the UK incident.

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