Shot my Krag for first time in decades using Remington and Winchester ammo. Case looks like nothing I've seen before. Almost Ackley improved, or bad chamber ream job. Primers are backing out about .015 too.

I'll post more pictures.

Can I expect these to resize properly or are they too deformed?

Head to shoulder measurement, new Remington 30-40

I have a set of Lee dies coming and would like to do some reloading. I have about 100 rounds of NIB ammo I've collected recently at gun shows or off the shelf when I see it.

Any suggestions as to what I can expect while reloading would be greatly appreciated. 

Texas10 wrote on Aug 12^th, 2015 at 8:06pm:

I suspect you're misinterpreting the difference in surface texture between the portion of the case that has expanded to contact the chamber and the solid head that doesn't expand to contact. This is completely normal and benign.

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This visual effect should not be confused with the thin "bright ring" indicating the case wall has stretched somewhere ahead of the web/wall junction.

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Incipient head separations (and a USGI extractor at right).

Thank you Butlersranger for schooling me on the differences of a rimmed cartridge vs. a rimless. I was loving the way it was shooting, but hating what I was seeing after ejecting the brass. I did notice the bolt rib to reciever contact you mentioned, so you're probably right about what the "funsmith" did to the bolt. BTW: That's a great picture you provided. Thanks for taking the time to do that.
I did check Ebay after your post and found plenty of Krag bolts on the market. Something to consider.
I prefer neck sizing only when loading for my bolt guns, and the lee dies I have for my 223 include a neck size only die, so I am hoping the Krag set will also include one. If not, I'll do as you suggest.

Thanks again for sharing your valuable experience.

Psteinmayer, I appreciate you're taking the time to write. I am seeing my primers are backed out 10-15 thou. They don't look particularly flatted, just backed out. Not sure what to make of that. There does not appear to be a crimp mark on the heads so they must have thought it not necessary. Maybe that is a requirement only for ammo shot from semi-autos.

Could this be due in part  the result of my not cleaning all the oil out of the chamber and the brass not gripping the chamber wall enough? Not sure of the mechanics of a rimmed cartridge when it comes to primers backing out.

OK, but if one does separate we're in deep trouble, right? Not really. It seems the short "cup" left behind the break is pretty good at keeping most of the gas where it belongs. Here's a quote from Hatcher's Notebook -

". . . With good strong actions and moderate pressure loads, and especially if the shooting glasses are worn, this trouble is not particularly dangerous, but is annoying and inconvenient. Very little, if any, gas escapes to the rear, because the back end of the cartridge, which remains in the chamber, acts as a seal. In fact, it is just such short brass cups that the Germans have for years used as the breech seals in their heavy artillery . . .

"Our riflemen are used to measuring the headspace of their rifles by thousandths, and are prone to become very much alarmed if the headspace gauges two or three thousandths of an inch more than the normal maximum. This is a good safe attitude to take, but it is something like measuring cordwood with a micrometer. . ."

If you handload for a US Krag with generous headspace, there's no need to mess with bolt swapping - changing the rifle's clearances to yield longer case life. You can control cartridge end play simply by changing technique.

When you fire a new case for the first time, use an improvised spacer ahead of the rim - anything from a precision metal washer to dental floss can work to hold the the cartridge head firmly against the bolt face and eliminate or reduce stretch even if head clearance is significant. Such techniques are useful only if the rifle has excess headspace. With normal headspace, initial stretch isn't enough to worry about.

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After you've fire-formed your new cases they will fill the chamber fully, stopping on the shoulder just like a rimless cartridge. If you neck size, you'll have zero "headspace". If you have to full length size, adjust the die so the cases chamber with just a bit of resistance in the last few degrees of bolt rotation. Cases fitted this way and fired with moderate loads can last for dozens of loading cycles.

'Parashooter': As always - Great explanations and graphics! Thanks.

P.S. - IIRC - A primer projecting to the rear that has maintained its rounded corners ('cup-shape' and not flattened), can be a sign of low pressure in rounds. On Firing, the primer was pushed back to take up 'free play', but, there was not enough pressure to stretch the cartridge case and force the case-head rearward against the bolt face (which would have re-seated the fired primer).

IMHO - If there is no evidence of gas leaking from or stretching primer pockets and cartridge cases are not separating, the brass is doing its job. Use the cases as fire-formed. Just trim brass as needed and Neck-Size.