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No, not the lawyer joke...


Start with some empties.



Primers...



Bullets: .30 cal 220 grainers, not the little 150 grain .30-06 crap. These were shot by men...



Powder: 42.1 grains...



Mix well, and viola...



My first solo forray into pure smokeless stuff. Usually I dabble with black powder cartridges. From left to right (Newest to Oldest): .30-40 Krag, also known as .30 Govt; .45-70 Govt; .50-70 Govt.



Here's the hardware to handle it: The 1898 Springfield...





Hope you enjoyed the show.

ZF-

How many times can you reload a cartridge before it gets too stressed?

I'm not sure offhand. Necked cases tend to go through more stress from the re-sizing process. They tend to stretch over time and have to be trimmed. I know some of our .223 cases have gone through half a dozen reloadings. Straight cases have it easier.

At this point, I would say "several" times. Once you see cracks and such, they're done.

In this case, this is a fairly tame round, but it isn't too much lower on the scale from a .303 British. It does pack more that a .30-30. (cause it's a .30-40, duh!)

ZF-

Have you got any extra 30-40 krag ammo? Always looking for more. PM me if you have some to spare.

Not yet. I've only been loading in groups of 20 or so. My groups were less than fabulous, so I'm trying to tighten them down.

I don't know if I'd ever sell my ammo. Liability concerns and all that. I read a thread somewhere else where an M1 owner bought some realoads to shoot. It pretty much blew the rifle apart. He was lucky to walk away with some scratches.

ZF-

Zad Fnark wrote:Not yet. I've only been loading in groups of 20 or so. My groups were less than fabulout, so I'm trying to tighten them down.

I don't know if I'd ever sell my ammo. Liability concerns and all that. I read a thread somewhere else where an M1 owner bought some realoads to shoot. It pretty much blew the rifle apart. He was lucky to walk away with some scratches.

ZF-

Thanks anyway. The day when I could walk into the Gunshop and buy a box of 30-40 has been gone for awhile. Or maybe I need to find a better shop.
Good luck with your loading!