Original Krag Bandoleer with 06 Ammo

[Major 2]

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I had posted this in the Mills thread but decided it interesting enough to stand alone;

I picked up a Krag Bandoleer marked 1906 ,  4 pouches are sewn/sealed one  is open has  10 rounds 30 Cal. 1898 Ball Ammo, there are 3 loose rounds in the 6th pouch.

The Bandoleer is marked Frankford Arsenal and in remarkable condition and has Date &  Ballistics numbers stenciled on it as well.

[Major 2]

I examined the 3 loose rounds...
I  notice all three were fatigue split and discovered they were pushed back in the cases rather deep. (Note: the arrow)
On close inspection the bullets pulled out with my fingers with very little effort. 

The bullets,  I believe have Cupro-nickel jackets.
they weight 220.6 - 220.3  & 220.5 all 3 mic @ .309

powder charges were 37 grains ,34.8 & 35.6

The Head stamp  reads   FA   9  06    (Franklin Arsenal  Sept.  1906 )

I just thought it interesting

[Major 2]

Guess not 

[pony express]

Seems like a wide variation of powder weights. Maybe you weren't the first to pull the bullets?

[Pitspitr]

Maybe early re-loads by a not very good reloader? Especially in light of the fatigue splits.

[Drydock]

Frankford was not known at this time for consistant ammunition.  One of the reasons the uprated Krag load failed was that Frankford had way too much charge variation, the high end loads were up in the 60000+ psi range.  This would not be addressed until well into WW1

The handgun ammunition was even worse.  Trying to load smokeless with worn out BP machinery.  Double charges of Bullseye blew up a number of M1909s.  Drove DWM nuts trying to get a Luger to run with it.  One of the reasons for the 1911s dominance later in trials was its ability to digest crappy ammo!

It ended up being a blessing in disguise, with US engineers learning to design systems that would work with later war emergency marginal ammunition, but Frankford was cursed long, loud and in many languages over the years . . .

[Major 2]

Cut and pasted

Regular Issue Krag Cartridges Manufactured at The Frankford Arsenal from May 1894 Until the E.O.P.

This article will only deal with the general issue types manufactured at The Frankford Arsenal and not take into account the many commercial contracts let to companies such as Winchester, Peters, Rem-UMC, Western, or Kynoch. It will also not delve into the experimental cartridges that began as early as 1890, or the high pressure test cartridges.
Early manufacture of Krag ammunition went through many different changes and modifications, mainly dealing with powders, primers, thickness of cases, configuration of bullets. Some of these were:
1. First model case had a balloon head which was changed to a flat head on August 29, 1895. This prevented the bursting of heads.
2. Initially all cases were tinned, but when non-mercuric primers were adopted the tinning officially ceased on May 8, 1900.
3. Originally the headstamp was configured with an “F” at the top, the month at the 8 o’clock year at the 4 o’clock position. In July 1902 this was changed to the headstamp we are more familiar with, and the addition of an “A” ofter the “F”. The headstamp then read “FA” at the top, with the month and year at the bottom, i.e., 03-04, which would be March of 1904.
4. Bullets varied also. Initially they were smooth. A single cannelure was added in August 1896, and two more were added in 1900. The final bullet configuration was the so-called Dr. Cole bullet, which was smooth and put into production in November 1902.
We will then briefly discuss the 8 primary types of cartridges that were issued .
220 gr. Service Ball: Manufactured from June 1894 (F 6 94) until September 1907 (FA 9 07). There was also a very short run headstamped FA 9 09, which may have been for sub-caliber use. There is a very interesting footnote to the ball round, which proves that military records say one thing…but the hardware disproves that. All scholarly writings on Krag ammunition gave the initial date of Ball manufacture, as I have above, as June 1894. In June 1998 a collector in Nebraska came across a Ball round headstamped F 05 94. This cartridge was sent off for examination and Xray and was proven to be authentic at the Woodin laboratory.