.30-40 Krag

.30-40 Krag
Type	Rifle
Place of origin	United States
Service history
In service	Army
Used by	United States
Production history
Designed	1892
Specifications
Bullet diameter	.308 in (7.8 mm)
Neck diameter	.338 in (8.6 mm)
Shoulder diameter	.423 in (10.7 mm)
Base diameter	.457 in (11.6 mm)
Rim diameter	.545 in (13.8 mm)
Rim thickness	.064 in (1.6 mm)
Case length	2.314 in (58.8 mm)
Overall length	3.089 in (78.5 mm)
Ballistic performance
Bullet weight/type	Velocity	Energy
100 gr (6.5 g) SP	2,898 ft/s (883 m/s)	1,865 ft·lbf (2,529 J)
130 gr (8.4 g) HP	2,746 ft/s (837 m/s)	2,177 ft·lbf (2,952 J)
150 gr (9.7 g) Nos Part	2,575 ft/s (785 m/s)	2,209 ft·lbf (2,995 J)
180 gr (12 g) SP	2,276 ft/s (694 m/s)	2,071 ft·lbf (2,808 J)
200 gr (13 g) RN	1,974 ft/s (602 m/s)	1,731 ft·lbf (2,347 J)
Source: Hodgdon [1]

The .30-40 Krag/.30 U.S./.30 Army/.30 Government was a cartridge developed in the early 1890s to provide the US armed forces with a new, powerful round to fire from the rifle it was going to select in the 1892 trials. Since the round it was replacing was the .45-70 Government, the round was considered small-bore at the time. The rifle selected was ultimately the Krag-Jørgensen. It was the first round used by the US army designed for smokeless powder.

The rimmed 30-40 round was also known as .30 Army, .30 U.S., or .30 Gov't. The .30-40 Krag was the first smokeless powder round adopted by the U.S. military, but it retained the "caliber-charge" naming system of earlier black powder cartridges, i.e., the .30-40 Krag employs a .30 caliber (7.62 mm) bullet propelled by 40 grains (2.6 g) of smokeless powder. As with the .30-30 Winchester, it is the use of black powder nomenclature that often leads to the incorrect assumption that the .30-40 Krag was once a black powder cartridge.

In 1899, the .30-40 was used to shoot the world-record Rocky Mountain elk. The record stood until the latter half of the 20th century.

Rifles and Handguns Chambered in .30-40 Krag

• Krag-Jørgensen
• Winchester High-Wall
• Remington-Lee bolt-action
• Remington Rolling Block
• Winchester Model 1895
• Ruger No. 1
• Ruger No. 3
• Thompson-Center Encore

A replica of the McKeever-pattern .30 US Army cartridge case.

See also

• List of rifle cartridges
• .30-03 (.30-45)
• .30-06 Springfield
• 7 mm caliber other cartridges of similar size.

References

• Barnes, Frank C; Skinner, Stan (Ed.) (1965, 1969, 1972, 1980, 1985, 1989, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2003). Cartridges of the World (10th ed.). Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87349-605-1.
• .30-40 Krag at The Reload Bench
• .30-40 Krag by Chuck Hawks
• Hornady Handbook of Cartridge Reloading vol I, Sixth Edition; Book by Hornady Mfg Co, 2003
• Cartridge Dimensions at Steve's Pages