Krag hunt

I spent 3+ weeks in the Bitterroots hunting elk. We went to our old hunting grounds, the area around Mex Mountain. It was the first time we've seen heavy snow during general elk season since, damn, probably 1996-7. We were about the only hunters up there ... imagine a hunting season without constant gunfire. We found the elk but didn't get one. I'll do a writeup in the "gun talk" section here in a while.

Here I am with my Krag, before the snow got real heavy.

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It was a great hunt!

jn

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For the amount of snow showing you aren't dressed very warmly. Not even a coat. Guess it's because the air is a lot drier in your area than here so it doesn't feel as cold?

It was almost sunny that afternoon. so I was down to a t-shirt, insulated shirt and a wool long-sleeve shirt, plus cotton pants over insulated long underpants and 2 pair of sox. And yeah, it is lower humidity than where you are.

jn

Gotta love that Krag!

We haven't had a good snowy elk season in several years. Have 12 pounds of wildflower mix to put out and want at least 8 inches to cover it up.

Glad you had a good hunt; the fun doesn't start until after pulling the trigger.

Jon - Neat adaptations that you made to your Krag!

Who installed the model 70 Winchester barrel? I presume it was shortened at the breech and re-threaded & rechambered for .30-40 caliber?

It had to be a tricky job indexing the barrel to align the sights properly!

That was done by Albuquerque 'smith Roy Bedeaux - Bedeaux l'Arquebusier - a firearms genius. As was his dad, Jim Bedeaux. Jim is long gone and Roy I think has retired. He had an old Model 70 barrel in his treasure drawer and said he would put it on for less than the cost of a new Douglas bbl. He really liked Krags, liked working on them. The barrel I think has a slower twist than the original 1:10 and is pretty accurate with a 180 grain bullet. Less so with the 220s I used to favor. This particular action doesn't feed spitzer bullets at all well, and round noses are becoming an endangered species.

The Redfield sight I bought from a guy on this list. Might have been Red, cannot remember.

I'm an old hunter and this is an old hunter's rifle

jn

"I'm an old hunter and this is an old hunter's rifle"
As am I and my hunting Krag, sadly this is too common, we are a dying breed:(

Thankfully, you guys ain't dead yet!

Jon, thanks for explaining your 'model-70' Krag barrel.


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