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Old August 5, 2012, 07:38 AM   #20
Bart B.
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Join Date: February 15, 2009
Posts: 8,927
Ideal Tool mentions:
Quote:
When the U.S. army adopted the new .30-03..they found that the older .30-40 Krag beat them at long range. Their answer? The krag was not permitted to compete against the new Springfield. It wasn't until the 06' round came out that the Krags accuracy was bettered.
At the 1902 Palma Matches in Canada, the US Palma Team had 6 members using the .30-40 Krag and 2 using prototype 30 caliber rifles based on the Mauser 98 action design (royalties were paid to Mauser). It shot 220-gr. 30 caliber bullets out at 2300 fps and later would be dubbed the M1903 and the cartridge was the .30-03. They didn't shoot as accurate as the Krags and the US team lost the match. The team from Great Britain won the match with their .303's.

In 1903, the United States team again used the Krag-Jorgensen in the Palma Matches in Great Britian, but with different bore dimensions. The rifles were barreled by legendary persnickety gunsmith Harry Pope and used a rifling twist and bore configuration that was not the same as the issue rifle. As a result, although the United States bested the Brits by a 15 point margin, the match victory was under a shadow because the United States used rifles that did not meet service rifle specifications. Not wishing to damage the reputation of the match the United States returned the Palma Trophy to Great Britain. The British refused to claim a victory, and simply held it until the next Palma.

The .30-40 Krag with standard service barrels was again used by the US Palma Team to win the 1907 Palma match held in Canada; they were more accurate than what any of the M1903's .30-06's could produce at the time. It wasn't until 1912 that the US Palma Team used M1903's with the .30-06 cartridge.

Last edited by Bart B.; August 5, 2012 at 08:48 AM.
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