ojh, if I may, what brand of 7.62x54r is typically available over there? Are there any moderately priced rounds of Finnish manufacture??
Incidently, a German friend asked me the same question some time ago. I'm sure he don't mind, and I hope you don't mind either, if I copy here a slightly edited version of the answer I sent to him.
I think that all "serious" Finnish MN shooters reload, and shoot factory ammo only to get more brass. That's because factory loads using the best target bullets for MNs, Lapua's S405, D46 and D166, are not available. (Some are even using G477 6,5g hollow point bullets, and report excellent accuracy.) Domestic factory ammo is expensive, and all the cheaper foreign stuff is steel jacketed. While it has been told by experts again and again that soft steel jacketed bullets do not cause excessive barrel wear, most Finnish shooters using domestic MN variants, me included, do not like the idea of shooting steel trough their precious barrels.
Lapua Trainer and Sako Range are two very similar light-ball training/target shooting cartridges. They have 8g FMJ bullet, V0 is around 900 m/s. Brass is of course reloadable and of high quality. Of these, Trainer is often considered to have a small accuracy edge. But for some reason I can't find it any more at Lapua's web pages. It's a shame if it has been discontinued. Info about Range is found at
http://www.sako.fi/cartridges_training.php?m=4 .
Lapua ja Sako also produce hunting ammo in 7,62x53R. Lapua loads it with their Mega big-game bullet,
http://www.lapua.com/index.php?id=871 . Sako offers three loads with their Hammerhead and Super Hammerhead bullets, see
http://www.sako.fi/cartridges_superhammerhead.php?m=4 .
Then there are the foreign ammo makers. Sellier&Bellot and PPU (Prvi Partizan) are the two makes that seem to be more or less constantly available.
S&B has 11,7g bullet with tombac-coated steel jacket. Brass is boxer-primed and reloadable, maybe not as high quality as Lapua and Sako but quite good anyhow. Data can be found at
http://www.sellier-bellot.cz/rifle-ammunition.php .
The PPU offering has 11g bullet with copper-plated steel jacket, and cases are non-reloadable (steel, berdan-primed).
Barnaul is also available from time to time. They have a 12g bullet, again with full copper-plated steel jacket. Cases are steel, non-reloadable. Someone must be shooting (or stockpiling) these too, because the lot that arrived last spring was sold out quite fast.
Newest addition to the scheme is Wolf, which has been available this summer. This is also steel jacket, steel case, non-reloadable. Bullet is 148grs / 9.6g.
Foreign stuff is typically 40-50% cheaper than domestic training ammo. Some examples of the prices (all per 100 rounds)
PPU: 40-50€
S&B: 54€
Wolf: 65€
Sako Range: 95€
Lapua Trainer: 135€
