30-40 Krag Ammo
The .30-40 Krag Ammo was designed by Krag Jorgensen and developed by the US armed forces in the early 1890s. It is the first smokeless powder round adopted by the army, and it retained a caliber-charge naming system of the earlier cartridges.
It earned its title of the first small-bore military centerfire cartridge due to its small caliber bullet. All previous metallic military rifle ammunitions were black powder-powered and had large capacity cases. However, in 1899, the US Army requested an improved military rifle with matching cartridge, and the .30-40 Krag Ammo was born. Although this cartridge didn’t last long as the US Army standard cartridge, the .30-40 Krag will remain the first American military rifle designed from the onset to use smokeless powder.
From the beginning, the .30-40 Krag Ammo was famous for hunting and chambered in several firearms. Because of its efficiency, the .30-40 Krag Ammo achieved a higher velocity than was previously possible when it was created. Therefore, hunters jumped at the chance to use smaller caliber lighter and far more aerodynamic bullets. In 1899, someone used it to shoot the world-record Rocky Mountain elk. This record stood till the second half of the 20th century.
The Springfield Amory was known to produce several variants of the .30-40 Krag Ammo for the army till it was supplanted. The first .30-40 Krag ammo ballistics were a 220-grain bullet and 2,00 fps. However, the modern .30-40 Krag ammo ballistics are a 180-grain bullet at 2,430 fps. That’s why it is ideal for hunting games like deer and elk at either a short or medium range.
