Anyone into MilSurps and reloading for them?

Centurian22 said:

Love Mosin Nagants and just picked up my first couple boxes of reloadable brass ammo for them. I was given a couple of old .308 die sets and have read they can be modified for 7.62x54r. That's one of my over the winter projects. If not a new set of 54r dies will be in my future. Looking forward to making some accurate target and hunting ammo along with some trail boss light loads.

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Dies are cheap, just get them. Just about everything I use is Lee, and I have never had a problem.

Been reloading .303 Enfield for 10+ years, which led to 30.06 for the M1 Garand.

fpgt72 said:

Dies are cheap, just get them. Just about everything I use is Lee, and I have never had a problem.

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If they would sell a 2 die set I'd be all over them. I only crimp magnum and 9mm loads. Don't need to spend extra dough on a crimp die I'll never use.

IMHO handloading for surplus arms represents the greatest challenge and most rewarding one in handloading short of making your own wildcat. You can spend a lifetime wringing all the secrets out of rifle and load combinations. You'll find a hidden history written into these old war rifles. The precision of the Swiss, the practicality of the Red Army, the marksmanship of the Finns. You'll find unexpected elegance in places like Greece and Sweden. And you'll learn that everything is a matter of tradeoffs. The more precise, the more picky. The best can be the enemy of good enough.

Just about everything I use is Lee, and I have never had a problem.

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I agree, Lee 54R dies are plenty good enough. And they're easy to find.

Yes, for .303 British and .308 for the large-ring Spanish FR8 (read several hours studying possible or rumored issues). Being often bored with making holes in paper, most of the reloads are used on chunks of concrete blocks etc.

When I decide to reload for my Garands, those will be used for paper.

I am set up to reload for my .303 No 4 Mk 1, and my 8 mm Turkish K Kale Mauser. As well as my .455 Webley Mk VI.

Anyone into MilSurps and reloading for them?

Most people buy a MilSurp firearm because the MilSurp ammo is/was cheaper than reloading/handloading.

I do handload for my shot-out C96 Mauser; with factory 7.63 Mauser ammo (official bullet diameter 7.86 mm (0.309 in)), patterns were all over the paper (and off) due to loose fit of ammo and worn-out barrel, with some bullets keyholing.

I worked up some handloads with .312" JHP (after trying .32" 00 buckshot) and consistently stayed in the black of the 25 yd pistol target off the bench and in one match I shot this group off hand at 25yards:

If I did not reload/handload ammo to fit, this gun would be a wall hanger only, and where is the fun in that?

I'm reloading 30.06, M1 Carbine, 303, and the 762x54R. Everything else falls into the newer ammo.

I do not own any milsurps as of yet, but if I did Mike Venturino often writes about loading for military arms, both to replicate the original loads and lower velocity cast bullet loads. I find his articles informative and he has done a lot of research that will save the average joe like me a lot of money.

I am getting ready to reload some 3006 military surplus brass and my friend who is the expert on this tells me the powder loads are different for this brass compared to regular commercial brass due to it's thickness and is a lower load. Yet I have fail to find info on that. Can any of you help me?

I am, I got into it from necessity because of my two jap guns, my french gun and now most recently a M95 steyr. the steyr with handloads is right on par with my M1 garand and slightly better than my mosin nagants.

I have yet to shoot the 7.7 japanese enough to warrant reloads, I've just been putting hornady custom through it. it's about as accurate as my 1903 springfield and enfield number 4 though the zero if off and I haven't taken the time to drift the sight.

the 6.5 jap is a tack driver no matter what I put in it. it's a carbine so velocity sucks compared to the long rifles but I regularly ring an oxygen tank at 400 yards with that little gun off sandbags. it is easily the most accurate milsurp I own(second only to a 1903A4 sniper I used to own).

the 7.5 french sucks. it's zero is way off and the only way to adjust it is to get a rear sight with the peep drilled in a different spot which is impossible to find. I never shoot it, I've been trying to sell it for several months... no takers.

I reload for my 8mm Turkish Mauser. The gun is not a tack driver but good enough for hunting deer. It sure is nice going into the garage and making up a box of shells vs ordering online and spending around $40 for some core-lokts after shipping...

Lessee. I'm currently set up to reload:
6.5, 7, 7.65, and 8mm Mauser. 7.5 French and Swiss. 6.5 Arisaka. .303 British. 7.62x39 and 7.62x54 Russian. .45-70, .30-40, .30-06, .308, and .30 carbine US.
-And a few others that I've been considering once I've fired them a bit more.
I always wanted an example of every major shoulder weapon type of the modern era, and the ability to keep them loaded.

I'm not really "into" it but I do shoot an 1891 Argentine Mauser and handload for it. It's one of the most accurate rifles I have now that I have a load worked up for it.

I've got a couple of .303s, a 6.5 Carcano, and a Finnish M-39 I reload for. The M-39 prefers .308 diameter bullets to .310 or larger ammo manufactured for Mosins. One of the .303s is a 1918 Enfield. Both of those rifles are tack drivers. Lots of fun.

1936 mas

I was given a 7.5x54 Cal 1936 MAS my cousin picked up at a yard sale years ago. It had been sportorized by a California company in 1949 according to a stamp on the barrel. It had no bolt at the time. I found an online company that had one and ordered it. Headspace looked okay so my buddy and I went to the woods, mounted it on a rifle rest, tied a string to the trigger and pulled the string. It shot fine. I had originally bought some factory loads I found. After shooting two boxes I had enough brass to begin reloading. I got some soft point 150 grain blemished repackaged bullets from Midway.

They shot good - I was able to hit a gallon milk bottle at 200 yards. I was on a cow elk hunt last November. I told my son if I saw one within 100 yards, I would use the MAS. We spotted one, I put the rifle on a fence post lined up the peep and pulled the trigger. She went right down, thankfully landing on a dirt track that we could pull up to. I would not hesitate to use it again up to 200 yards (peep elevates to 1200 meters!) on deer or cow elk, probably nothing bigger than that.

I have been reloading both 8 mm Mauser and 7.62x54 for six months now. I have 1,000s of surplus x54 in storage that I will never shoot barring calamity. IMHO reloading IS SO MUCH BETTER all around.

palmettokat said:

I am getting ready to reload some 3006 military surplus brass and my friend who is the expert on this tells me the powder loads are different for this brass compared to regular commercial brass due to it's thickness and is a lower load. Yet I have fail to find info on that. Can any of you help me?

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I don't think your friend is too much of an expert....and likely that brass is berdan primed. Pretty much useless in the reloading world...yea you can do it but why on something so common as a 3006.

Since I've been collecting and shooting Milsurps for over 40 years, I load for close to 70 different calibers from 5.45 to .577 to feed arms from Sniders and Spencers to AR-15s and AKs. Were it not for reloading, there are far too many rifles and calibers that I'd never have been able to shoot.

There have been times when the supply of even common calibers has been short to just not available and for the less common and odd-ball calibers, that is the case most often ... or always. Remember some years back when we couldn't find surplus 8 X 57? Remember the day you found out that CMP had burned through nearly all their totally clean .30-06 and annual purchase limits were imposed? How about the days of HXP .303? When have you seen .236 Lee Navy for sale? How about .276 Enfield or 8 X 58R Krag? We have Privi today and while it's not cheap ... it's available! If not for them, where would you find 6.5 and 7.7 Jap or 6.5 and 7.35 Carcano?

Reloading is a godsend and while now may not be the best time to plunge into it because of component, powder and primer shortages ... my thought is that if circumstances permit, you should take a second look at it. It's not rocket science and it's safe! There are reloaders near you, when you're at the range, just ask around. They can help get you started with hands on experience. There are dozens of good books (The ABCs of Reloading and the Lee Reloading book are great sources of basic information) and good, safe reloading data is everywhere.

As an aside, reloading expands your shooting hobby into the off-season (for those of us north of the Mason-Dixon line) and there is nothing quite like taking your first batch of ammo to the range, loading your Milsup rifle and pulling the trigger. The BANG that follows is something you will NEVER forget!

Gotta' go now, I have quite a few boxes of fired brass that need reloading before next Spring!

"I don't think your friend is too much of an expert....and likely that brass is berdan primed. Pretty much useless in the reloading world...yea you can do it but why on something so common as a 3006."


He has some specs on reloading the older military 3006 brass that gives lower specs. So go from there. As to the brass being thicker it is and even by my eye sight can see that.

As to the primer, nope it is not berdan primed. So very much reloadable. He reloads a good bit of it. I will soon be doing the same.