1898 Krag-Jorgensen trap door.

[Niner Delta]

The family of my daughter-in-law has a Springfield Armory 1898 Krag made in 1902. It is a family heirloom and the metal is in
very good shape, the wood is a little rough but not awful. Since I am always looking for a project, I offered to clean it
up as it hasn't received any attention for ... like forever. ... ... It is all original, never messed with.
After watching many videos on how to take it apart, I got it broken down, what a mess. It took a long time to get out what
almost seems like the original cosmoline ... .... Some of it had to be almost chipped out it was so hard. Once I got it cleaned,
it is in excellent working condition, the bolt is the smoothest action I have ever seen and the bore has no real wear.
I would not be afraid to shoot this thing anytime. They had 15 rounds of really old commercial ammo that I would be afraid to
try, so I bought a 20 round box of new Hornaday .30-40 ammo for it, $67 .... holy crap. Not sure if it will ever get shot, but it
is there if my son ever tries it out. Even though it cycles so smooth, I can see why the soldiers at the time were not impressed by
how slow it is to load one round at a time into the magazine when the Spanish were using Mausers with stripper clips.
Many of these were converted to hunting rifles, luckily this one is all original. Wish it were mine, maybe I'll forget to give it back. ...

.

[Niner]

That is interesting. I've seen them on display behind a class wall before...recently actually... however, never handled one with my own two hands. Ammo seems a bit over the top. I've got some really old ammo given to me by a friend in 303 that, after cleaning up a bit, I tried to fire. But didn't go bang with any attempt. Guy at the range got to figure out what the proper thing to do with the rounds I had as I handed them to him to dispose of.

[DuncaninFrance]

Nice one Vern.
As you know, I am first and foremost an Enfield man but when I exchanged a Webley revolver for a Danish Krag I was very surprised at just how smooth it is.
I will be taking it to the UK in June along with a M-H Mk.IV, Snider Mk.II and a Lee Speed No.4 in .303 to a Victorian Riflemen Historic Shoot with 100 rounds for each.

[Niner]

Duncan if you take that arsenal and hundred rounds each to England, from France, what's the chance the British version of homeland security won't put you in that prison where they got Julian Assange for jumping bail? In the US if you took that assortment to California they would probably put you in jail and toss the key. Now if you went from Alabama to Kentucky.. they'd just say "come in and visit a spell friend. Glad you are visiting and brought your own guns and ammo with you. Although we would have loaned you some but nothing like bringing your own".

[DuncaninFrance]

It's all about jumping through the right hoops in the right order Robert!

Most important piece of paperwork is the Invitation to Participate.............
With a Visitors Passport from the UK I can legally take them into the UK for that set amount of time.

Obviously travelling with them is different for me because I am ttravelling between 2 Countries not States and having to use a ferry to do it. That means passing through 2 lots of Customs - Twice!

If it was inside the EU then I have a European Shooting Passport which allows me to take those guns registered on it anywhere within the EU.

[Niner Delta]

Duncan .... I'm guessing there is a big price and time difference between the ferry and the chunnel?

I see some difference between the Krags, a different cocking pull shape and magazine handle. Does yours have the lever
on the left side to change between single shot and magazine fed rounds? I think that is an interesting addition.

.

[DuncaninFrance]

The Tunnel takes about 20 minutes and a ferry at best 1½ hours but with the tunnel you drive on and stay in your car, much better way to travel! Cost is about 100€ more but that is a'moveable ticket'

Yes, my Krag has the single selective lever on the left. The ammo feed is different. The cover hinges at the front and pulls right round, not down as on yours.

I had a hell of a time trying to work out how to remove the bolt but finally managed it after searching YouTube!

Although my Krag is 8 x 58 RD Danish I can't get Boxer cases for it and the old ones I do have are Berdan primers. I use 8 x 56R Manlicher cases instead by PPU and they work just fine.

[Niner Delta]

Next time my son comes here, we may go shooting if weather permitting. He is going to bring the Krag
and we will test it out. So I bought another box of 20 Hornady rounds, and surprised that the price has actually
gone down by $3.00. Although it's still about $3.20 a round, yikes. ...
I wonder how long Hornaday will keep making them as they are the only ones I know of still making that round?


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[DuncaninFrance]

Thats where doing your own reloading comes in Vern.
I can't get 8 x 58RD for my Krag but reloading 8 x 56 R Manlicher is easy, available and shoots very well.

Lots of info here

https://www.facebook.com/groups/3917084 ... &ref=notif

[Niner Delta]

As I have mentioned before, reloading is not for me. I don't shoot enough rounds to justify the expense
of buying the equipment, nor do I have the space to dedicate to loading. But most importantly, I have absolutely
no desire to do any of it. Plus I stocked up when ammo prices were much cheaper and now have a lifetime supply
of all the common sizes I use. If I have to pay silly prices for the oddball rounds, still cheaper than buying equipment
to reload.


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