the scars of removing the metal and remaining magazine-well openings would be concealed.
In rebarreling the Krag, I certainly recommend enough honing and lapping in the front locking lug so that the guide rib will contact the receiver equally with the locking lug. Doing this will definitely make the old Krag action a bit stronger and may possibly prevent the bolt from cracking at the front lug area. I believe it was G&H’s practice to do this lap-in job on the Krags they rebarreled. But even with the two locking lug system, I still do not consider this action suitable for rebarreling to a cartridge such as the 225 Winchester.
In fitting the Krag with a sporter stock, an inside barrel band should be used, placing it about three-quarters of the way up the forend to hold it against the barrel. I also advise routing out grooves in the stock, inletting to the rear of the magazine and glass-bedding this area to evenly distribute the thrust of the recoil. This should prevent the stock from splitting at this point.
Norwegian Krag action open.
Model 1889 Danish Krag rifle.
Danish Krag action open.
The 30-40 Cartridge
Originally known as the “U.S. Caliber .30 Government” or “.30 U.S. Army” cartridge, it was introduced with the Krag in 1892. Today, and for years past, it was most commonly called the 30-40 Krag, or simply the 30-40. The 30-40 designation was given to it many years ago, probably soon after Winchester and other arms makers began chambering some of their sporting rifles for it. For example, the Model 95 Winchester lever-action repeater and the Model 1885 Winchester single shot rifle were chambered for the 30-40 as early as 1896. Beginning back in the blackpowder cartridge era, it was common practice to name metallic rifle cartridges by two sets of digits. The first two figures roughly represent the caliber, while the last two indicated the amount (in grains) of blackpowder used. Although the 30-40 Krag cartridge was developed in the smokeless-powder era, the “40” in the designation merely indicated that its case had a powder capacity approximately 10 grains more than the 30-30 cartridge, and therefore was comparatively more powerful than the latter.
The 30-40 cartridge would probably have been a very popular one even without the Krag rifle because, long before Krag rifles and carbines were released for sale, the 30-40 had proved to be quite adequate for hunting most species of North American big game.
For military use, it was normally loaded with a full-jacketed, round-nosed 200-grain bullet, the muzzle velocity 200 fps. At various times in its long history, it was commercially loaded with full-jacketed and softpoint bullets of various weights, but mostly with 220- and 180-grain softpoints or some other type of expanding bullet.
The Norwegian Krag
Norway adopted the Krag rifle in 1894. The action of this rifle is not much different from the U.S. Krag, and a close study of the photographs will reveal most of the differences. The first Norwegian Krags (20,000 of them) were produced for Norway by the great Austrian arms makers in Steyr, and they can be identified by the word STEYR stamped on the receiver. The rest of the many Norwegian Krags were made in Norway by the Kongsberg Vapenfabrik, a government-owned arsenal in the town of that name. These rifles can be identified by an ornate letter K beneath a crown, stamped on the receiver ring. The date (year) of manufacture is normally stamped on the receiver ring, and they probably were made as late as 1930. According to the The Book Of Rifles by W.H.B. Smith, a few were also made in the late 1940s for target shooting. Various models of the military rifles and carbines were made, as well as a sporting model. Unlike the U.S. Krags, all were made with a pistol grip stock and for the 6.5x55mm cartridge, which has a rimless case.
As can be seen in the photographs of the U.S. and Norwegian Krag actions, there are numerous minor outward differences. For example, the safety is different, and it is retained in the bolt sleeve with a cross screw; the extractor is retained with a screw and has a near-center auxiliary spring; various parts have different contours, such as the magazine gate and receiver, which has a hollow groove milled in the receiver wall. The Norwegian action is several ounces lighter in weight than the U.S. Krag action. Many of the Norwegian Krags have flattened bolt handle knobs, the flattened surfaces checkered. There are also several differences inside the action; for example, the barrel thread is entirely different—it is one of the few rifle actions with a left-hand thread. In fact, there are probably no parts of these two actions that are interchangeable.
Top view of the Danish Krag showing the magazine cover swung open.
Krag-Jorgensen
General Specifications
Type . . . . . . . . .Turnbolt repeater.
Receiver . . . . . .One-piece machined steel forging with slotted bridge.
Bolt . . . . . . . . . .One-piece with single forward locking lug. Guide rib on bolt and base of bolt handle act as a auxiliary safety lugs.
Ignition . . . . . . .Firing mechanism composed of striker rod with integral cocking piece, separate firing pin and coil mainspring. Cocks on opening.
Magazine . . . . .Non-detachable five-shot horizontal hinged-box type.
Trigger . . . . . . .Non-adjustable, double-stage military type.
Safety . . . . . . . .Rotary wing-type built into the bolt sleeve. 180° swing, locking both bolt and striker when in the UP or RIGHT position.
Extractor . . . . . .Non-rotating bar-type, attached to bolt sleeve, has auxiliary spring.
Bolt-stop . . . . . .Locking lug serves as bolt-stop.
Ejector . . . . . . .Pivoting lever positioned in bottom of receiver. Cases eject upward.
As pointed out early in this chapter, the Norwegian Krag action is so made that both the forward locking lug and the guide rib contact the receiver when the bolt is fully locked and closed. This, plus the fact that most Norwegian Krags were made years after the U.S. Krag was discontinued, makes it almost certain that Norwegian actions were made of a better quality steel, and this steel given a more controlled and uniform heat-treatment. All in all, the Norwegian Krag action is superior to the U.S. Krag action, and early Norwegian actions, which reveal the most precise machining and finishing, are even smoother in operation than the U.S. counterpart.
Operation of the Norwegian Krag is the same as the U.S. Krag, and the action is loaded in the same way. Many Norwegian Krag rifles were sold on the surplus arms market during the 1950s, so they are fairly common. No one makes a replacement safety or trigger. William Gun Sight Co., makes a receiver sight to fit the rifle.
While I do consider the Norwegian Krag action stronger than the U.S. Krag action, I would limit its use to the standard
