7.62x54r 174gr Varget Loads?

[Joshua M. Smith]

Hello,

I have here some 3031 (I think that's the number) Hornady 0.312" RNSP.

Being able to find Varget locally again, I'm starting loads with that.

Not much data, but the stuff I find is conflicting and for use 0.308" bullets.

My 91/30 rifle shoots well with 0.308" to 0.312" bullets. It slugs at 0.3095" (average of five sluggings). It is tight for a Mosin.

The throat is fine for up to 0.312" but no more.

I figure to start at 42 grains of Varget and work up 0.5grn at a time. I have five 42 and five 42.5grn loads made up, and will fire those tomorrow. Am getting ready to make up some 43grn and 43.5grn loads tonight.

I think I will consider 45 grains max. This is under what Hodgdon lists as max, but it's about 1.5grns under what Hodgdon lists as max with their 0.308" bullets.

Figure there has to be an accuracy node in that range.

Thoughts? And has anyone worked up loads for 174grn bullets and Varget in 7.62x54r? What are the loads you find work best?

Regards,

Josh

 

[elwoodm]

thats about as tight as the finn mosins most of them shoot .308. if the barrel is that tight i would not go over .311s on the loads. the 174gr loads that give me the best out of my dk prefixed 1943 sniper nagant is starting out with 43gr varget .311 sierra 174gr hpbt cci200 lrp col 2.995 @ 2420 fps end up at 45gr varget @ 2530 fps shot at 100yrds all 5 rounds 1 ragged hole. 200 yrds could shoot shot gun clays with ease. my next step with this round is to use mag primers and see if the 4 shot stings get a little closer together in fps. the bore meas. i would check again seems too small

 

[Joshua M. Smith]

I've checked several times. It is right there at an average of 0.3095".

Up to 0.312" is safe; in fact, in S conversion Gew88 rifles, only the throat is opened up. The lands stay at 0.318" to 0.321", and 0.323" bullets are safe if loaded to the correct pressures.

Just acts as a squeeze bore is all.

Regards,

Josh

 

[midnattsolen]

.3095 sounds too good to be true for Russian made rifle. Sounds more like a Finnish made barrel. Are you measuring at the "raised" parts of the slug or the "indents" on the slug. I would be worried about excess pressures shooting .311 or larger bullets through a .3095 barrel. I have a Mosin that slugs at .312 and plan on using .311 bullets for my first hand loads. If you in fact do have a .3095 bore then .308 bullets would be ideal and you have a much better selection of bullets.

 

[Joshua M. Smith]

Hello,

It will shoot all them about the same, o.308 to o.312. I prefer to say with the groove size.

It's pretty common knowledge among us who do such things that, if the throat is large enough to take the bullet, the bullet will simply swage down and pressures won't be higher enough to speak of.

If you're interested, you might look up taper bore or squeeze bore with Google.

Here is what my 91/30 does with o.312 bullets:



And o.311:



o.308 open up just a little from these. Best to just say the bore is o.310 as it's averaging o.3095.

I'll probably try some o.311 174grn Sierra or Speer next. They just tend to be $5 more than the Hornady!

Regards,

Josh

 

[elwoodm]

the tightest bores i have are the 1931 91/30 and 1941 tula svt 40 both at high .312s. the sniper and the two m44s are high .313 all are izzys. lands are measuring at .303 to.304. the hornadys are cheaper and they make one size at .3105 i forget the gr weight 150gr or 180gr i think. maybe give that one a try along with the sierras .311. i dont expect these russians to be like my enfield it meas. right at .312 and might have saw only a little less abuse than the nagants did. all i can say is none of my reloads kick as hard as the factory privi and wolf gold but are far more acc.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Are you sure that rifle isn't a Finnish rifle? Like said above, that sounds too good to be a Russian made rifle. Way to go finding such a good shooter. We all know that are out there but rarely get to see or hear about one!

 

[Joshua M. Smith]

Hello,

It's not Finnish. I wish it were! Just a really good Russian.

Josh

 

[Joshua M. Smith]

All,

Thank you.

I've got loads, five each, from 42 grains to 44.5 grains in half-grain increments. I might load up a few at 45 grains too, just to see, but I think I'll come close to a node or two with these loads, and then I can play with what's in-between the whole and half numbers.

200 yards is a long shot around here and it's long for these types of bullets as far as I'm concerned, anyway. I don't need any great speed but I do like to place my bullets precisely, so the lighter the charge the better.

My money is on 42.5 grains to 43 grains right now.

The biggest problem in getting out to test is the heat. I take precautions so heat stroke is not a problem – a Camelback filled with mostly ice with just a touch of water does wonders to bring about relief from that – but I cannot shoot as well as I might with sweat in my eyes. No matter what I try, it happens. 80+% humidity and afternoon temps in excess of 100° really is not all that conducive to proper shooting!

Thanks all,

Josh

 

[Jeff H]

No matter what I try, it happens. 80+% humidity and afternoon temps in excess of 100° really is not all that conducive to proper shooting!

I'm not very far from you and I haven't been to the range after 12PM in weeks. Way too hot. It is just no fun zeroing a rifle in 95+ temps that we have here. Don't worry, the weather will break soon.

 

[Joshua M. Smith]

From what I'm hearing on the news, there's going to be a cold front followed by violent storms, worse than we've seen thus far.

Should be interesting. Heck, before I lived here where trees can fall on me, I lived with farmland surrounding me.

When a storm was blowing in, I'd set up a target and break out the .22 Marlin 880, 'scoped. It was my first rifle.

I would back up 50 yards and study the effects of wind on bullet impact until common sense told me to get into the basement.

I miss that place, and watching the storms come in!

Still, here has its charm as well, with the rain and the canopy and such.

I know, off on a tangent... but I did get to shoot these, and here's the thread on that:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=8266988

Lots of vertical stringing. I checked a case and looks like about 40 grains is 70% of the maximum case load (to the mouth) so I should be pretty consistent. I do have a light crimp on there... maybe need to go heavier?

Meantime I just ordered some Speer 150 grain soft point. I need more anyway, and they're killer with only 45 grains of Varget!

Help on that thread would be appreciated. I've never dealt with vertical stringing that was load related before. It's always been the rifle.

Regards,

Josh

 

[elwoodm]

the rcbs neck sizer p/n 29030 puts the sized case neck at .3085. makes flat base bullets rough to get in but has got my chrono avg of three shots closer together. i also use lee fcd with light crimp. the last load with imr 4895 44gr 150gr speer col 2.89 was 2555fps 2567fps and 2561fps. much better than in the past when using just the lee dies got 60 to 70fps difference in 3 shots with stringing of 3 to4 inches.