Author Topic: M219 in .30-40 Krag  (Read 2650 times)

Garnett

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M219 in .30-40 Krag
« on: September 19, 2017, 11:12:41 AM »
I know that the R&D department at Savage made at least one M219 in .30-40 Krag and one .45-70.  The Krag was a re-chambered .30-30 and so marked on the barrel.  Has anyone of you had this re-chambering done, and were you happy with the results?  I am thinking of doing that to an extra barrel that I have.  I do know it would need to be restocked with the area where the stock meets the action left much thicker and glass bedded.

Mike Armstrong

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Re: M219 in .30-40 Krag
« Reply #1 on: September 20, 2017, 10:55:08 AM »
 I think I may have mentioned that I once knew a gunsmith/gunshop owner in Moscow ID who used one of these for elk hunting every year.  He had rechambered it because one of his customers had stuck a ruptured .30-30 case in the chamber and then attempted to pry the front half of the case out with a hardened chisel, gouging the front of the chamber so badly that any case subsequently fired in it wouldn't eject (Bubba apparently had a bad temper, among other failings....he simply abandoned the "wrecked"gun in the gunsmith's shop, and wouldn't discuss the fix the 'smith had in mind!).  My acquaintance later rechambered the rifle to the standard .30-40 Krag, which cleaned up the marred part of the chamber, and used it for many years to get his "meat elk."  He liked it because it was light and could be stuffed into his backpack when taken down (he used a Model 70 Win converted to .35 Whelen Improved when hunting for "horns.").  I suspect that the 219 was glass-bedded at the head of the stock but don't know that for sure--it had no cracks.

He used regular Remington"Core-Lokd" 180 gr softnoses, and shot about 1 or 2 rounds a year for the whole time I knew him (around 8 years), so he may have not shot much more than a original box of shells in this converted .30-30. 

I think the conversion is practical and if I remember correctly, Frank de Haas did too. 

I would advise a pullover recoil pad to lengthen the pull of the stock--too short stocks have extra KICK, and soften the recoil.  A cheap, if ugly, solution that doesn't require altering the rifle.

Garnett

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Re: M219 in .30-40 Krag
« Reply #2 on: September 20, 2017, 11:34:33 AM »
Mike, thanks for your input.  If I want to lengthen an original stock on these rifles, I remove the factory thin hard composite butt plate and have my gunsmith install an "Old English" style, solid black recoil paid without cutting the original stock.  This looks good, lengthens the "pull", and gives some relief from recoil.....all without altering the stock.  I also use these pads to restore length to a cut stock.