I know it has been done but there seems to be vary little information out there from those who have done it.
I have loaded for and used several different 35 caliber rifles through the years but after noticing some talk on necking out the old 30-40 Krag to 35 It got me to thinking, how would it look and how would it work. One evening at the loading bench produced several Krag cases and a 35 caliber necking up die I had made years ago for necking up 06 cases to the Whelan and in a couple minutes I had the first sample case. It looked good.
I have had a 1899 Krag action around for at least 20 some years and had at one time ran a Zyglo NDT on it and it showed solid with no cracking. A Adams & Bennett barrel ( 1-14) was found on fleabay and away we went. Chambering was accomplished using a Clymer 30-40 Krag reamer with a pilot to fit the bore then a necking reamer was ground up to open the neck. A .100 throat was done using a Clymer .358 throater.
After a chamber cast was done to check the actual cut chamber the cartridge length was selected at 2.250.
Not having any wood I elected to tie down the barrel action into a old tire, aim it well down range and fire it off using a length of cord while hiding behind a wall. Several loads were fired starting what I felt would be light and ending up with a 200 gn. Hornady FTX and a Lyman 358315 both backed up with 40 grains 3031 which should have been roughly the equivalent to a good 35 Remington load. No obvious signs of pressure were observed, the cases were well filled out and all dimensions were what I thought should have been correct.
Have currently been laying out a nice piece of Koa and chips will start flying by the weekend but am slow at stockmaking so it will be a bit yet.
What my questions would be has anyone done this, am sure someone has but what were the loads you have used? The Krag I think is shown for 40,000psi but it might be smarter to hold things at around 38,000 to 39,000 psi max.
I checked the water capacity of a fired case and it is 86 gn. @ 74 degrees f.
I know there are various computer programs out there but I am not much of a computer person.
Any and all help or information you might have would be greatly appreciated.
The molds I have and could use are the Lyman 358315 ( 200 gn. aprox) and the Lyman 358009 ( 280 gn. aprox.) Jacketed bullets would include the Hornady 200 gn FTX and the 200 gn. interloc. Also have some early Barns 300 gn. RN but they might be a bit much for this ctg. Also have a supply of original Remington 150 gn. that was used in the Remington factory loading for the 35 Remington.