30-40 brass

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Last Post 17 January 2015

CBA Member

LWesthoff posted this 16 January 2015

Going thru some of my old (VERY OLD) brass stash and noticed some brass headstamped REM-UMC 30 USA, and some headstamped RP 30-40 KRAG. Just curious - does anybody know when Remington quit calling the caliber 30 USA and started calling it 30-40 KRAG?

WES

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CBA Member

RicinYakima posted this 17 January 2015

Wes,

In 1960 Remington changed copy-write to the “R - P” for all their commercial ammo and dropped the “REM - UMC".

There is some discussion among the cartridge collectors I hang out with about how the .30 USA and 30-40 Krag names were used. It is believed by some that the .30 USA was used up until WWII for only the 220 grain straight sided bullet loads. The 180 Core-lock and 220 grain Express bullets that are two diameters, .300” on the nose and .308” inside the case neck (which allowed them to be used for 30/06 and 300 H&H). These were stamped with “30-40 Krag". That would have been in the 1930's, but there is no agreement that I could find.

HTH, Ric

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CBA Member

LWesthoff posted this 17 January 2015

Ric;

Thanks. You answered my question, and created another question.

I bought the Krag sometime around the end of WWII, when I was home on shore leave. How I wound up with some +/- 70 year old brass still in my stash is a question that probably won't be so easy to answer. I didn't start reloading until the middle '50s. Wonder where that stuff came from?

Wes

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CBA Member

RicinYakima posted this 17 January 2015

Wes,

People who used the Krag were thrifty! About 20 years ago, a fellow I worked with, who had spent one career with the Alaska Fish and Game department, moved down south here to Seattle. He brought his fathers and grandfathers Krags and loading gear. That is all they had used from about 1910 till they got Springfields after WWII. Included were 100 un-dated and un-head stamped nickeled cases. My research found that these were made at FA back in the days when they used mercuric primers for reloading by the Military units. I still reloading them with cast bullets. Plus some post-mercuric cases, 2 -02, as in Feb. 1902, that I reload still. It was very good brass. Brass used to be expensive and everybody saved every case. I still have “Super-Vel” cases from the 1960's I got from my time in law enforcement.

Hope it is not raining too bad over there today. We have had almost 0.25” of freezing rain, and it is drowning us over here in the desert.

Best wishes, Ric