Best bet.. hunting ammo for 91-30 Mosin

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I want to kill a deer with my Mosin Nagant just to irritate my hunting rifle snob friends.:neener:

I have pumped enough cartridges through this rifle to know that all ammo chambered 7.62x54r is not created equal when you examine the groups. They range from pretty good to pretty poor.

What is a safe bet for reasonably priced (not noma) soft point ammo?
 
I'd expect most if not all commercial hunting ammo to perform a bit better than surplus. Unfortunately, nothings certain. Get a box and see how it shoots is the only way to be sure in your rifle.
Rt
 
The Brown and Silver Bear 203gr soft points group pretty well out of my Mosins and will blow a hole the size of Russia in a deer.
 
I shot a couple of boxes of the Winchester stuff (180 gr. SP) through my Mosins. They grouped reasonably well and any .30 caliber 180 gr. SP ought to turn a deer inside out. If you handload, the Hornady .310" 150 gr. SP has always been super, super accurate in my milsurps.
 
I've had decent accuracy results from Prvi Partizan ammo in my 91/30. I'm reloading the brass now, but the factory stuff shoots well, pretty consistent velocities, and is less expensive than most of the other SP ammo I've found.
 
Prvi-Partizan and Wolf Gold are made in the same facility, and they provide a decent choice for hunting ammo, and good brass for reloading at a good price.
Some of the Winchester ammo for the 7.62x54R is Prvi-Partizan.



NCsmitty
 
I will add another recommendation for Silver Bear 203gr soft-points. They seem to group very well, and are definitely loaded pretty warm compared to surplus rounds.
 
I've seen some gel results on the 203 SP's that show them essentially detonating on impact. I believe they're pretty primitive bullets. The S&B is a better bet if you want more retention. Best of all would be Norma or Lapua, but they cost as much as the rifle. Handloading is another option of course.
 
Go with the Silver Bear 203 Gr SPs. It's good, reliable ammo and I doubt anyone touches their prices.
 
Prvi, Brown and Silver bear... gotcha! Thanks guys...

I bought a couple boxes of Sellier & Bellot a few years ago for an M-44 and I could not keep it on paper. The rifle shoots reasonably well with surplus. Maybe it was just a bad batch or loaded with .308 bullets by mistake. I wish i would have put a caliper on one!

I will just have to see what this gun likes.

203 grain bullets is a bit much for white tail deer, but I can also be careful of shot placement if the gun likes them.
 
Prvi-Partizan 150gr. SP BT load's work great for deer. I would save the larger gr. ammo for Elk, Black bear, Moose size game. Wolf "Gold" is also really PPU, as previously stated, so either one works.
 
I have not been able to locate any of the Winchester 7.62x54R yet, otherwise I would try it. I typically only use Winchester, Blackhills, or Wolf (PPU).
 
I am hitting allot of web stores and seeing "out of stock" on allot of this stuff. I better buy plenty when I find the proper diet for this old lady!
 
Here is another vote for the Brown Bear 203gr soft-points. They seem pretty accurate to me, low priced, and nothing I've shot has complained about getting hit with too big of a boolit.
 
I have three Mosin Nagants...

that will shoot one inch groups, or better, with Privi 150 gr sp. I have had good luck with Wolf 200 gr sp too.....chris3
 
For my 3 Mosins, the Winchester factory stuff shoots 5" groups (3x@100), the Prvi 2-3" and my handloads (.312" Hornady 150g + Varget) in 1.6-3" groups.
 
+1 for privi

I havnt shot privi in a mosin, but I have shot a few in 6.5x55 and I like it.

If all else fails, fix bayonet & charge :evil:
 
If you go to the gunshows they have plenty of choices for 54 R hunting ammo. If you can find the Sellier and Bellot 180 gr SP and Barnaul 203 gr SP, they are the ones to get.

M 39 and S and B gives me 1.5 inch grp at 100 yds
M 91/ 59 and Barnaul , 1.9 inch grp at 100 yds.

Or check with Ammunitiontogo.com
 
i found a few boxes of barnaul arsenal 203-Gr SP several years back. Didn't actually get to shoot at bambi with it, but it performed very well in my M-44 mosin-nagant...less than 2" @ 100 yds
 
Really? It's a mosin..... Go buy some old Russian ammo in a paperbag and shoot a deer.

The same gun/ammo combination worked for against the Germans. Some ammo will perform better but without fancy optics and a pretty special mosin it won't matter much on a deer.

Side note... Czech surplus seems to be of higher quality.
 
Fonzie2k said:
Really? It's a mosin..... Go buy some old Russian ammo in a paperbag and shoot a deer.

The same gun/ammo combination worked for against the Germans. Some ammo will perform better but without fancy optics and a pretty special mosin it won't matter much on a deer.

Side note... Czech surplus seems to be of higher quality.
Click to expand...
It doesn't work like that. And in some places, it's not legal to hunt with FMJ bullets, or so I'm told.
 
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