'Preston' - Welcome to the KCA Forum.

It would help if you posted some close-up pictures of your bolt, especially, showing the rear of the front locking-lug.

Do you have any brass cartridge cases that have been fired in your Krag? A picture of fired cases will tell a lot.

FWIW - In the old days, some shooters use to 'lap' the bolt lug, so that the bolt would contact the receiver both at the front lug and at the rear of the bolt's 'safety-rib'. The down side of this practice was that it did not really make the action stronger, since it introduced more bolt 'free travel' or 'Head-Space'.

If this has been done to your Krag, new old stock (NOS) bolts are available from 'Movieman630' on ebay for $55.00.

You can check your present bolt's fit by removing the striker mechanism & extractor. Insert the 'bare' bolt into the receiver. There should be (approx. 2 or 3 thousandths) clearance between the rear of the bolt rib and the right-rear of the receiver.

If the rib contacts the receiver, it is likely the front lug was lapped at some time.

Head-Space is probably 'overly worried about', when the rimmed .30-40 Krag cartridge is the subject.

Double-Check your 'Field' gauge and make sure the rim measures .073".

Most of us 'neck-size' only and after a single firing the case is fire formed to the Krag's chamber.

'Preston' - It looks like your 'bolt-rib' may be making contact with the receiver.

This suggests the front lug may have been 'lapped'.

Here are more images of the locking lug.

Measuring the lug front to back it measures 0.4035"

'Preston' - A normal 'closed' Krag bolt, with the striker 'un-cocked' and chamber empty, can be moved a few thousandths of an inch, fore and aft. This movement is quite visible and audible!

If the striker is cocked, movement will seem less and require a lot more effort.

In both cases, a slight gap will be visible and present, between the rear of the bolt rib and the receiver.

(p.s. - movieman630, on ebay, and Grandpa's Gun Parts, through KCA Classifieds, are the same individual. He is the grandson of the late J. DeChristopher. The parts and service are good.

I don't know if his Grandpa's Site is active yet. On ebay, shipping is free and you can pay with 'Paypal').

'Preston' - Because of the 'slope' at the front of a Krag's locking lug, it is very difficult to get consistent measurements of the lug, 'front to rear'. FWIW: two lugs I measured, (one used bolt and one NOS bolt), averaged about .406". It was possible to get widely varying measurements!

In reality, this measurement is probably irrelevant. What is more important is where the recessed bolt face ends up in relationship to the barrel breech (the allowance for rim thickness or head-space).

I see nothing grossly evident in your photographs. The lug may have been lapped.

I would get and try a new bolt, while they cost only $55.

'Preston' - $375 for a nice Krag (and a family heirloom to boot) is a great price!

Wow, I've never had a problem with the small extractor spring on a Krag. Did the part break or just come off the extractor-body?

That spring is a tight fit into the extractor-body and is not intended to be disassembled. (Somebody probably took it off at sometime).

FWIW - You may just want to get a complete extractor with spring attached.

'movieman630' has the extractor-spring for $10 or the complete extractor with spring for $25. You can also find complete extractors even cheaper, from time to time, on ebay and at gun shows.

If your spring actually broke, there is a small access hole to drive the remaining part out of the extractor body.

Just A Thought - I wonder if the broken ejector-spring event could be related to using the OKIE head-space gauge with the striker mechanism still in the bolt?

(Although it has a relief notch, maybe the 'slightly magnetic' gauge shifted and the ejector was excessively pressed upward by the gauge)?

I know this is pretty farfetched, but, failure of this spring (or any Krag part) is a pretty rare occurrence.

Did you use the same gauges that you got for your 7.62X54R Mosin?

It is always good procedure to use a head-space gauge with a 'stripped' bolt and only gentle finger pressure.