I need hollowpoints in 7.62x54R

[MacTech]

This afternoon, I had to kill a coy-dog (Coyote-Dog hybrid) on our property, due to poor shot placement (and perhaps overpenetration) on my part, it took three rounds to dispatch it, first shot was taken at approx. 200 yards, final shot was approx 100 yards or so

I was using Winchester white box ammo, which is a FMJ projectile, and given the small size of the coydog and the power behind the 54R, the projectiles tore clean through the coy

I need either factory loaded hollow points, or a good source of HP bullets I can reload, FMJ are too inhumane to use for hunting

Any suggestions?

 

[armoredman]

Get soft points, far better in a rifle. Check Prvi Partisan or Wolf Gold.

 

[chrisf8657]

A 7.62x54R is overkill for coyotes. A 30 cal or 223 Rem would be more appropriate IMHO.

However, Wolf makes a Soft point in 7.62x54R.

You can also reload the x54R with any .308 diameter 180 grain HP or SP bullet - Sierra and about all the other bullet makers make .308 hollow points.

 

[1858rem]

A 7.62x54R is overkill for coyotes. A 30 cal or 223 Rem would be more appropriate IMHO.

7.62 Is 30 cal, or do you mean carbine?

how about cast or plated flat point at about 1700 fps? ought to expand ok and be REAL cheap, plated 150g at grafs are like 15 bucks/100!
hornady makes 165g jsp for 20 bucks/100 also at midway

 

[MacTech]

Yes, the Mosin is overkill for 'yotes but it's all I have for a decent caliber hunting rifle, what with money being tight for me, and the economy being in the crapper, getting another firearm is not financially feasable, so I have to work with what I have

so, soft points do expand? what about the Hornady "SST" series, looks to be a hollowpoint design with a cap

My only other choice, riflewise was my Ruger 10/22 .22LR with CCI Velocitor, but I had a feeling that the .22 round would not be sufficient for a humane kill, I could use my Mossberg 500 with either buckshot or rifled slug, but I'd need to get closer than I'd care to and would stand a bigger chance of spooking the 'yote

I just need to get a set of carbide dies for my Lee Pro 1000 (Lee #90731) so I can get reloading my 54R's

 

[chrisf8657]

MacTech,

If it's all you got, and it works, no prob!

Yes, soft points expand. The SST polymer tip is a good bullet, it's Hornady's version of Nosler's Ballistic Tip. Basically, it acts like a hollowpoint, with the plastic tip giving it a FMJ profile for better in-flight ballistics, which then (the plastic tip) initiates the expansion once it hits the target.

You could use either and have excellent results, but for cost and cy-ot's I'd go with a Softpoint (Hornady has a 180g SP)

 

[Texas Colt]

I agree with Chris. Go with a soft point bullet. Prvi Partisan makes a factory loaded 150 grain soft point that shoots great in my Mosin. The brass is reloadable too.

 

[1858rem]

federal 150g soft points are not too bad in walmart either at about 15 bucks/20 after tax, im buyin em up to get some brass right now!!

 

[sniper5]

You can also reload the x54R with any .308 diameter 180 grain HP or SP bullet - Sierra and about all the other bullet makers make .308 hollow points.


Uh, the 7.62 x 54R uses a .311 bullet.

 

[35 Whelen]

MacTech if you handload, your solution is simple: load the Hornady 123 gr. SP they manufacture for use in the 7.62x39. First of all, the bullet is .310" diameter which should be perfect for most Mosins. (I've slugged the barrels of a few Mosins and most of them are in the .312" range) Second, this bullet will have been designed to expand optimally when fired at a muzzle velocity of 2300-2400 fps. With your Mosin, you should be able to safely attain 2900-3000 fps. Started at these velocities, the little 123 gr. pill should be an absolute bomb.
The Hornady SST bullets, at least in the larger calibers, are big game bullets. Plus, they don't make one of proper diameter for the larger diameter Mosin bores.
35W

 

[rcmodel]

For the most part, anything you find in a factory loaded 7.62x54R is going to be a big-game bullet.

They won't expand on coyotes either.

If you reload, your best bet would be using a 125 grain SP designed for the 7.62x39.

Out of a 7.62x54R, you will be getting close to 3,000 FPS, and the light bullet will perform more like a varmint bullet.
If not blow up, it will at least expand on a yote size target.

rcmodel

 

[rfwobbly]

These last 2 replies are very good.

I've slugged my son's 1943 Mosin at .313, so a bullet bigger than .308 is definitely required. As per reloading, most of your brass is going to be Berdan primed, so watch what you buy.

 

[fireflyfather]

MOST OF THE TIME, you need to load a .310-312 jacketed bullet, or .312-.314 cast bullet in a mosin. However, there are two major exceptions to this:

1. Finnish mosins sometimes have .308 bores, and need .308 bullets.

2. Using a .308 jacketed bullet in this cartridge may reduce velocity/accuracy/clean burning, but it isn't really dangerous, provided your bore isn't .316 or something. If you ARE going to use .308 bullets, you may want to consider a relatively fast powder like Red Dot or 2400, but (obviously) at a much lower charge weight. Ed Harris claims that .308 bullets in this cartridge using a pistol powder (Red Dot) gives decent accuracy, and suggests it's because the fast powder obturates the bullet to fit the rifling. I have no practical experience with this, but it worked for him.

 

[NCsmitty]

35 Whelen has the solution with the lighter bullet. It will act like a varmint style bullet with rapid expansion. If you get dies, get the set with the factory crimp die. If you pull the bullets on some of the FMJ loads, you can just load and crimp in a .310 dia. 123-125gr soft point. Something to try and check for accuracy.
It should be great coy-dog medicine.

NCsmitty

 

[rcmodel]

Some brands of dies come with both .308" and .312" expander buttons.

You would be better served to use a .308 expander button in your die then trying to use a crimp to hold an undersized bullet in place.

Crimp just can't replace proper neck tension to begin with.

rcmodel

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Generally speaking, softpoints are for larger game (deer, elk, and so on.) Hollowpoints are for varmits. The reason is that softpoints might not expand well on the small bodies of coyotes, ground hogs, and so on. Hollowpoints are more explosive and much more effective on smaller critters like coyotes.

 

[fireflyfather]

Or you could always load a soft lead flatpoint bullet over a charge of pistol powder. Ed harris did a lot of that too. Lee makes a .314 mold in a 90 grain SWC (tumble lube) for .32 cal pistols. That would probably work in a mosin, provided you didn't care about seating near the lands......

Would be pretty damn fast, has a small meplat (flat face), and if you cast it out of air cooled wheel weights, would probably be soft enough to deform a little. It is a plain base mold, however, so you would have to be careful about how fast you pushed it (leading might be a problem since it can't accept a gas check).

I don't know how it would do at 200 yards, though.

I just ordered the Lee 312-185gr bullet, so I'll post a range report here when I get a chance (gonna load it with 13 grains red dot, and test penetration at 25, 100, and maybe 200 yards).

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Try Ed's "The Load," 13.0 grains of Red Dot behind virtually any cast bullet in .30 caliber with case capacity above that of the .30-30 Win. Lee offers two moulds for the 7.62X54R, and one for the 7.65 Argentine Mauser, all of which run 0.312".

But I would go with a handloaded jacketed bullet for this application, perhaps a Hornady .32 caliber 100 grain XTP JHP. Hornady also offers softpoint bullets in .310 (for the 7.62X39) and .312 for the 7.7mm Jap.