Ed,
I haven't used any of the powders you listed however, my best advice is to follow the suggested loads in your manual. I might note that you sometimes find maximum loads different in different manuals but not by much.  I always begin low and work up until I find what I think is the best load for whatever firearm I'm loading for but I never exceed the maximum suggested in any of my manuals. As a matter of fact, I try to stay a bit below any suggested maximum.
Hope I've been somewhat helpful,
Old Chief (aka: Ed Lyman)

Ed, others have advised not to push the old Krag too hard & they are right.  Your load of 44.3 grains of 4320 seems more than a bit too much for me and I would not use that load in a Krag.  I messed about with 4350 and 4831 and 220 grain bullets and wound up cracking a bolt lug.

Most of the older writers, from Ned Roberts to Phil Sharpe to Ken Waters made recommendations on handloading the Krag.  All made reference to maximum loads in some manuals being entirely too hot for Krags. 

The Powley computer gives optimum performance for the cartridge, not for the rifle.  There have been stronger rifles than the Krag chambered for the Krag cartridge.  In the old days, the Remington No. 3 Hepburn and the No. 5 Rolling Block, the Winchester Single Shot and the Winchester 1895 were made for the Krag cartridge.  More recently, the Ruger No. 1 and the Uberti "Winchester" High Wall and maybe others have been chambered for the Krag cartridge. All are stronger than the Krag rifle. 

Get or borrow several different manuals.  Older manuals may have more data on loads for the Krag rifle than newer manuals. Read them carefully, especially where they tell you what sort of test rifle was used.  Then note what starting loads are most often recommended.  Also, you might consider 4895 or 4064 or 3031 powders. 

What are you going to shoot?  Targets?  Just plinking at a few bottles or cans?  Deer hunting?  Going to take a crack at a moose?  Pick a load suited to your intended use.  4831 (and maybe 4350) sometimes work best with magnum primers for optimum ignition, but unless you are after moose, how necessary is that?  Do you really need 2200 or 2400 fps to poke a hole in a paper target?

waterman wrote on Nov 11^th, 2011 at 4:58am:



Ed, I routinely use the Hornady Reloading Manual for my load data.  I load IMR 4064 exclusively for 30-40 in my two Krags (as well as 30-06 for my Garand).  I've loaded 180 grain sp bullets for decades with great results using 38 grains of the 4064, shooting in both my 1898 rifle and my 1898 cutdown sporter.  The Hornady manual (as well as the load chart included with my Lee dies) lists several different powders, and velocity ranges for each powder.  In addition, the Hornady manual lists the max load for each powder.  Normally I stay right around the mid range (usually two below max) and do very well with it.  I no longer hunt so I don't worry about much beyond accuracy.  That said, I now load 165 grain Hornady boattail soft points with 38.6 grains of 4064 and I achieve 2-3 inch groups at 100 yards and beyond in my 1898 rifle with iron sights.  Not too bad for my bad eyes! 

I agree with what everybody else has said... stay below max loads regardless of what powder you use to be on the safe side.   

Ihave always used the assumption that the powder that fills the case the most the better.  That is why I would probably go with
4350 or 4831.  I was curious about 4320 as I have never tried it.  3031 I think would not fill the case enough.  But then again I maybe mistaken.  Thank you to everyone for your input.  These would be loads for whitetail.

Ed wrote on Nov 11^th, 2011 at 6:10pm:


This may or may not be true, but shake a factory Remington or Winchester round (both are 180 grain soft points) and you'll hear loose powder which means that the cases are not filled completely.  In my humble opinion, I think it's better to work up a load that gives the best accuracy and (in the case of hunting) the most stopping power while keeping the pressures reletively low.  You might want to think about a 150-180 grain bullet with a higher rate of shock and expansion while keeping the volecity around 2000 to 2200.  Either way, I wish you the best of luck in your hunt!  Let us know what you wind up using...  Any data is good data for those who follow us to use!

Ed, I scrolled over this string of posts several times and do not see that you ever disclosed what your barrel length is? It is vitally important to track load data by barrel length.

Full-length barrel then. I shot IMR4350 all summer in my 30" Krags using the Hornady "max" of 42.6gr with 180gr bullets with good results. Groups were not as good on hot days (80 degrees or so) but worked well in the 55-70 degree range. Groups also seemed looser in the 40 degree range. Took 3 rounds warmed then in my hand and they shot nearly 6-inches higher. I find that managing ammo & rifle temperature is as important as tweeking the loads. I started several years ago with IMR 4895 in the 37gr range however the load density was poor (shook around in the shell) and the IMR4350 load densities were better.