Hello to the forum: Even though I have been reloading for 45 years I can count on one hand how many times I bought new brass. I usually had  brass donated or reloaded once fired factory ammo. With the high price of Krag factory ammo I picked up 200 new unprimed  hornady cases. Should I full length size them or just flare the necks a little and load as sized from the factory? I am loading them with cast bullets. Thanks in advance, KC

With the durability, dimensional inter-changability of and generosity of the Krag chamber and head spacing on the rim, I rarely full length size before shooting new brass in my Krags. You can be assured that the brass will be fire formed after shooting it the first time.

Stick with lower or moderately charged loads the first time and I think you'll be safe. Krag brass has always been easy for me to work with.

Good luck. See what other people's experiences have been and give it a try.

I have used 'new-unprimed' factory Brass right out of the bag, without sizing.

Occasionally, a case-mouth may be slightly 'bent' in shipping. I just 'true it up' with the shank of a Philip's-Head screw-driver.

I seat primers with a Lee hand-tool. Load the new cases with measured powder charges and go right to the bullet seating Die.

With Cast Bullets, you will want to 'flare' the case mouth a bit.

Pulled the Hornady brass out of the bag loaded and fired just fine using jacketed bullets ...just neck sizing now. FWIW Winchester brass is about 2/3’s the price of Hornady

Thanks: That's what I was hoping to hear. I will split ithe brass between my rifle and carbine and neck size after firing. When I bought this brass it was the only 30-40 in stock with no wait. Butlers rangers, I also use the Lee hand priming tool. I tried a few other priming tools but found the Lee to work best for me. You are able to apply just the right amount of pressure to feel the primer fully seat. I have some 30-40 loaded in Winchester brass already. I hope the hornady brass is as durable as the winchester.

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The Hornady brass is supposed to be good stuff! 

The only new brass I ever purchased is 200 GRAF cases from Graf & Sons.  I haven't used them yet though because I still have a couple hundred Winchester cases and several hundred Remington cases... some dating back to the early 1980s and with more than 20 reloads on most of it!  I lose a couple cases to neck cracks every year... but most of it is still going strong!

I have gotten many reloads from my 30-06 brass. Almost all my shooting is done with cast bullets. I do not hotrod the loads and anneal the necks when they start spliting. It's good to hear you are getting good service from your Winchester and Remington  Krag brass.  I hope this hornady brass lives up to its price! Thanks and take care.

What mold are you using for the bullets in your cartridges?  I have a couple hundred pounds of WW and eighty pounds of lino I need to get to in the next few years.

Hi Culpepper: I use an old Ohaus mold that casts a 180 gr. Loverin style bullet. My other mold is a N.O.E. 311-222 RN. This mold drops 210 gr. Bullets. This is their version of the Lyman 311-331. I own several older Lyman molds that work fine but have been told their new molds suffer from quality control and poor customer service. I have to say the N.O.E. casts great and the few questions I had were answered quickly by one of their techs in Utah. Take care, KC

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Wow, lots of 'grease grooves' and flat base.

The bullet on the left (the loverin style one) does take a gas check. It can be shot without one at lower velocities.

Because the Krag chamber is usually a mite oversized, I’ve been sizing BRAND NEW brass using the method that the late Ken Waters recommended with the .303 British cartridge. (SMLE’s  also have notoriously oversized chambers!)
To get the most reloads from BRAND NEW, expensive brass, I expand the neck with a 8mm Mauser “M” die, before sizing down the neck with a .30 necksizer. (Size and try, size and try ‘til the case will finally chamber.) The case now “headspaces” between the “new, auxiliary” shoulder and the bolt face.
This ensures the case head is tight against the boltface when fired.
You still get the expansion ring just ahead of the rim, but there is LESS case stretching in this critical area!
Thereafter, when reloading, ONLY NECK SIZING is recommended! (Make that MANDITORY!)
I’ve been using Ken’s method for years on .303 British and .30 Krag, and am reaping the benefit of much longer case life!

There's an easy way -

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I hope I don't sound like a idiot but does the monofilament reduce case head expansion? I had never heard of doing this.

King carp wrote on Apr 4^th, 2020 at 3:57am:

. . . does the monofilament reduce case head expansion? I had never heard of doing this.

The monofilament serves as a spacer between rim and breech face, holding the case head tight against the bolt face. This can greatly reduce the axial stretch that occurs when the case body adheres to the chamber during firing but the non-expanding solid head moves back, taking up any slack due to clearance between case and bolt. (Animation shows stretch/separation on firing with excess clearance and no spacer.)

  (You need to Loginhttp://www.milsurps.com/images/imported/2009/04/headspacestretch-1.gif

Because the spacer is located at the solid portion of the case head, it does nothing to prevent radial expansion of the case body forward of the web. Normally this radial expansion is a problem only with grossly-oversize chambers (or badly undersize cases) and then only at high pressure (see picture below).

More info at   (You need to Login

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Thanks: Would you recommend doing this with new brass?)

King carp wrote on Apr 4^th, 2020 at 4:56am:

Thanks: Would you recommend doing this with new brass?)

Not unless there's a headspace problem.