This is interesting: My neighbor dropped in a couple weeks ago an gave me a box of bullets.I have never seen these before, even at gun shows. They are Winchester ".30 Army Full Patch" "220 grain Full Patch Bullets" "For Krag Jorgensen and Winchester Model 95 Rifles". They are FMJ RN and head stamped WRA Co .30 Army. Other than dusty they are in perfact condition.My 1892 Krag will never see these!!!
.30 Army Full Patch Bullets
- Thread starter Sea Buck
- Start date
Mike Irwin
Staff
That was the standard military bullet for the .30-40 loading. It was also the standard bullet for the .30-03 cartridge, the predecessor of the .30-06.
Yep , what Mike said. I was fortunate enough to drop into an old gun shop that was selling 10 boxes of old Hornady 220gr FMJ-RN for $10 a box. I bought them all. He also had a few more broken boxes which he threw in for free. Said he hadn't sold any in over 20yrs. I load them in my 1894 Krag over 40.5grs of IMR-4350 for a duplicate of the original loading. Very accurate.
Back when I was 15, I got a sporterised Krag. Can't tell you which one it was, at the time I didn't know about the different date models, all I knew was that it was .30-40 Krag, and someone had cut down the stock some to lighten it.
I rode my bicycle the 11 miles to our local gunsmith's shop and asked about ammo for the Krag. He went in the back, and rummaged around a bit, eventually coming out with a coffee can and a box. The box was Winchester 180gr OPE (open point expanding), and the coffee can was about half full of loose rounds. They were .30 USA or .30 Army headstamped and were the 220gr FMJ.
That 220gr stuff kicked a fair bit, and would shoot through a fair size tree trunk! Great stuff! And the OPE dropped a deer the next year, just fine.
I rode my bicycle the 11 miles to our local gunsmith's shop and asked about ammo for the Krag. He went in the back, and rummaged around a bit, eventually coming out with a coffee can and a box. The box was Winchester 180gr OPE (open point expanding), and the coffee can was about half full of loose rounds. They were .30 USA or .30 Army headstamped and were the 220gr FMJ.
That 220gr stuff kicked a fair bit, and would shoot through a fair size tree trunk! Great stuff! And the OPE dropped a deer the next year, just fine.
why? its the ammo made for it! Of course, I can see keeping the ammo unfired as a collectable. But you can at least show your Krag his old food! They'd look good together....
Mike Irwin
Staff
Years ago I fired a Krag with original military 220-gr. ammo.
Had a pretty good thump at the butt end.
Had a pretty good thump at the butt end.
One thing about Krags is that the model year on the receiver might not be the model year of the rifle. Krags saw hard use in those years. They were also continually upgraded , especially the sights. Rifles were returned to Springfield Armory and stripped down , and parts reused. Good receivers , the most complicated and expensive part , were often rebuilt into the current model. I have one whose receiver is marked Model 1894 , but the cartouche on the stock is 1900 , and it has the 1901 rear sight.
