What you get in a box at auction

[jon_norstog]

22_hornet.png

.22 Hornet.

jn

[Kragrifle]

I think I have one of the 22-3000 rifles somewhere. I bought it with a bag of bullets! Nice, well done conversion. I need to find that rifle!

[1mark]

Thanks Jon, I believe it is chambered for 22 hornet.

[gnoahhh]

Sounds like its a Hornet, or it could also be a K-Hornet. Either way it's pretty cool.

I too love box lots. Afew weeks ago I scored this pile of Krag stuff at an auction, for $25. The spare receiver in another lot cost me another $5:



Wanna make one gun out of your stuff and mine?

Here's what a .22CF can look like in a Krag. In this instance it is a .22 Maximum Lovell (based on the .25-20SS case), built by old Hervey Lovell himself, and with Pacific double set triggers:



It'll shoot: (5 shots, 100 yards)

[gnoahhh]

The neat thing about the complete (minus extractor) action above is the modification someone did to make it an angle eject instead of straight up: (sorry for the crummy pic)





It is a spring loaded blade that passes through the receiver wall and rides in a slot cut in the bolt head, and pops out when the bolt is withdrawn over it much like an '03 Springfield ejector does. The only advantage I can see for it is if one were to mount a scope low over the centerline of the action. Perhaps that was the intent, as the Bold trigger suggests sporterization was under way. At any rate it is indeed a nice job of work- whoever did it was no slouch.

[mhb]

either conversions or custom-built on various actions, used barrels originally intended for .22LR, which usually had groove diameters around .223"; e.g.: the M2 barrels.
When the Hornet was established as a standard commercial round (the R2 was never a commercial cartridge, but was a proprietary type for Griffin&Howe), the groove diameter was established at .224", which has since become the industry standard for .22 CF rifles.
The factory bullets for the Hornet have always been intended for use in either groove diameter, and they shoot very well (and safely, with suitable loads) in the smaller-groove diameter barrels.
In practice, currently available .224" diameter bullets of proper weight (45-46 grains) work fine in the tighter bores, too, though the individual rifle may need a slightly lighter charge weight of a given powder.
I shoot either diameter (.223 or .224") bullets in my Hornets and R2s, several of which do have tight bores, with good accuracy and no signs of excess pressures due to the use of the larger bullet, so long as the loads are kept within proper limits.
I find a very useful powder for both calibers, and with either bullet diameter, is L'il Gun, which produces full velocities with moderate pressures (13 grains of this powder with Rem SRBR primers and 45 or 46 grain Hornet bullets will produce just over 3000fps in my R2 rifles with normal pressures (and I don't want to push the envelope in the 1892 Krag action).
Several of the bullet manufacturers have also produced Hornet-type bullets in both .223 and .224" diameters, and they may still be available. But, as I said, experience shows that this is not a critical factor, though bullet weight should be kept below 50 grains for these rounds (the R2 case is capable of giving good velocities with somewhat heavier bullets, but there is little point in using them, since most existing rifles have the original 16" rifling pitch, and do not do well with heavier bullets).
In looking at the parts which the OP pictured, I'd be reluctant to use the Krag bolt with a heavily welded-on bolt face. The correct treatment of the Krag for a single shot rifle does not alter the bolt face, but only the extractor: the round is loaded directly into the chamber, and the extractor withdraws the case and simply drops it into the receiver. My Krag is made that way, with a wooden filler in the feed port, and case handling is easy. There were some repeater conversions made on the Krag action, which did need a retaining ring on the bolt face, among other alterations, but the bolt shown in this thread is either an unfinished project for such a conversion, or a poorly thought-out attempt at a single shot, crudely done: I doubt it would be metallurgically sound.

mhb - Mike

[1mark]

I was thinking the same thing regarding the bolt. I will dispose of the bolt as I have no way to ensure it is safe after the welding. Now to try and sell the barrel.