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HAMMER1DOWN
October 10, 2008, 07:18 PM
while i was out shootin jacks with a buddy i found an empty casing half buried in the dirt at first i thought it was a 30-30 but when i wiped the dirt off it said 30 ARMY with W.R.A.Co also stamped which i am pretty sure means Winchester repeating arms co. but my curiosity has been peeked so any info would be appreciated. Thanks!!!

Technosavant
October 10, 2008, 07:38 PM
(edited... wasn't even close)

Scattergun Bob
October 10, 2008, 08:02 PM
.30 Army = 30 - 40 Krag, a US service rifle just before the 1903 Springfield 30-06. You are right, kinda looks like a pregnant 30-30, a black powder loading that made it into the smokeless world.

The rifle has a very short service life, made famous by the battle of San Juan hill in Cuba. I owned a Benicia arsenal converted carbine, loved it.

HAMMER1DOWN
October 10, 2008, 09:09 PM
Thanks for the info it was kind of drivin me nuts. So one more question i live pretty much right on the canadian border in montana so how would this case get here or was militery surplus ammo sold to civilians?

Scattergun Bob
October 10, 2008, 09:58 PM
It was a very popular big game rifle for a while, but to answer I have no idea.

Good Luck & Be Safe

44 AMP
October 10, 2008, 11:22 PM
The case you found is the .30-40 Krag. The .30-40 was the first US military smallbore (.30cal) smokeless powder round. As a civilian round, it kept the blackpowder cartridge type of name (.30-40) as did the smokeless .30-30 cartridge a couple of years later.

Chambered in the Krag rifle, the military knew it as the .30 Army (or .30 US Army), and featured a FMJ 220gr RN bullet @ 2200fps. There was also a civilian loading with a 180gr rn @ 2440fps.

Rifles firing the .30-40 Krag are the military Krag (also known as Krag-Jorgenson), with rifle and carbine models, dating 1892 through 1898. The Winchester 1895 lever action, various winchester single shots (high wall), and their reproductions. Also the Ruger No.3 rifle was produced in .30-40 Krag caliber for a time.

Waaay back when I was about 15, I got a Krag rifle, and rode my bycicle the 11 miles (I was too young to drive) to our local gunsmith's shop looking for ammo. He rummaged abound in the back of his shop for a while, then came out and gave me a coffee can about half full of .30-40 ammo. Some of it was R-P commercial stuff (quite old), and most of it was even older, and was headstamped either .30 Army, or .30 USA, and had long round nosed FMJ bullets. It all shot just fine. recoil was substantial, and the penetration was phenominal! This stuff would shoot through trees a couple of feet thick!

Krags in original military trim are spendy collectors items nowdays, and sporterised ones are often in not such good condition. The newest ones are over 100 years old now, and many have not aged all that well. The Krag bolt action has only a single locking lug, so it is not as strong as contemporary Mausers.

The .30-40 Krag has always had a special place in my heart, due to my childhood memories of it (and it is quite capable of killing anything that walks in North America), and I have wanted another one for years. I recently got a Ruger No.3 in .30-40 Krag, dies and brass, and while I haven't put together any loads yet, I will be able to scratch that particular itch soon.

Arquebus
October 12, 2008, 01:34 AM
Hammer1down asked: was militery surplus ammo sold to civilians? Yes it was, but that WRACo. case you have would be a commercial loading. As mentioned above, quite a few sporting rifles were available in that caliber. I used to have a Winchester Model 1895 'Flat Side' that was made in 1896 chambered for the .30 U.S. (aka Krag). As a matter of interest, the Win. '95s were also chambered for the .30/03 & .30/06 Government rounds, chambering sporting rifles for the current military-issue ammo was common then like it is now.

fbrown333@suddenlink
October 12, 2008, 02:10 AM
I have a friend who still shoots a 30-40 for hunting deer here in West Virginia. He gets his limit every year with it. He also has a 32-20 lever action rifle he uses also, it is a sweet shooter for coons and such.