Hi Rick,

Krags are like women...  each one is unique!  Every Krag likes what it likes and not all like the same ammo.  I shoot Hornady 220 gr RN bullets over 40.0 grains of 4350 and a magnum CCI 250 primer in my rifle for competitions (this is as close as you can get to the original .30 US round).  She seems to like that round best.  I've tried other loads that were recommended to me such as 150 gr RN, 165 and 180 gr spritzers, and even tried 168 gr RNBT Match bullets... but I seem to keep coming back to my standard 220 gr load, as it performs best with those. 

In my cutoff sporter, I shoot cast now exclusively in CBA matches.  I normally shoot a 195 gr .310 NOE 311365 spritzer over 17.0 grains of 5744 and a standard CCI 200 primer.  I can hold an inch or less at 200 yards with these!  Bob Wolfe provides me with these bullets.

The only advice I can give you is: once you find a load you are happy with... stick with it!  Everyone touts their load as the end-all/be-all, but as I said, not all Krags like the same loads.  The other advice I'll give is to be careful to not exceed 40,000 CUP no matter what you wind up shooting.  Krag shooters in the past have tried to push their velocities up to dangerous levels in the hope of achieving better accuracy, and wound up with damaged rifles (cracked bolt lugs, sometimes cracked receivers, and sometimes worse).

Happy shooting, and let us know what you wind up with and how she does!

Any rifle (Krag or not) is a crap shoot as to accuracy, some just do better than others.  Remember the Krag is a battle rifle and not a match rifle, and 2-3 MOA is about par for any rifle in that category.  Unless it is scoped or you have exceptional eyesight I  think you are doing fine.  Remember also that if the barrel is new it is going to get better, tests by Remington during WWII while making the 03 and 03A3 showed accuracy got much better after about 200 rounds, and slowly continued to get better for thousands of more rounds.

Parashooter wrote on Aug 28^th, 2015 at 2:32pm:


LOL Stupid auto-correct!

Make sure your front trigger guard screw is tight and the rear screw is just snug. If you over-tighten the rear guard-screw, it will lift barrel in the stock's barrel-channel.

I adjust my trigger-guard screws with the rear barrel-band loose and the front-band forward (off the stock) and make sure the barrel is laying nicely in the channel.

(I grip the attached hand-guard and stock, with my left hand behind the rear-sight). I install and tighten the front guard-screw first. Next, I adjust the rear guard-screw. Then, I clamp the rear band tight on its swivel and finally slip the front band in position.

This has always worked well for me, when reassembling Krags. (Note - IMHO - It is normal for the rear and front barrel-bands to be touching the Krag barrel. However, when properly 'set-up', there is just contact and the barrel is not 'lifting-up' against the bands).

p.s. Make sure your Krag's hand-guard is adequately to the rear, so that its front edge is not interfering with the rear barrel-band. The band should seat squarely against its stock shoulder. I notice a lot of Krags with the band not clamped squarely in place because the top of the band is held forward by an improperly installed hand-guard.

(photo to show correct install).

This is all very interesting and in some respects very similar to what some do with the 03/03A3's.  The free floating of a barrel has some merit as many rifles use that concept.  Others feel the fore end of the stock must exert 5 or more pounds of upward pressure on the barrel yet the barrel bands must not bear against the barrel.  I have built several USMC sniper clones for guys and my initial test firing is always done without the handguard or barrel bands.  This gives me a real good idea of how the rifle will shoot.  Then I install these items and again test fire the rifle to see if anything has changed.  If so I begin looking for the problem and correct it. 

I may take the extra steps with my Krag and go through the same routine just to see what happens.  It's my personal opinion that a new Criterion barrel should result in 100 yard groups certainly less than 2 inches.  I do know that the barrel bands are  placing a lot of force on the barrel resulting in the barrel being trapped.  Perhaps this isn't a good thing.

Rick H.