"Magic" Load for MN 91/30

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tehweej

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I tried searching and did not come up with much, but I was wondering if there was a load that seems to shoot well out of most MN's? (similar to how the "25grs of 748 behind a 55gr bullet" for AR's tends to be a good shooter- I think that was the load) Just looking for a starting point as I have some freshly prepped brass that needs to be loaded :)
 
The Mosin's vary so much in wear and general condition that I would imagine that they are all unique.
 
Start by slugging the barrel to see what size projectile would work best as a start. I use Hornady 150 gr. soft point that are listed as .303 cal. Theare is load data on the Hodgdon website for free that you can download as a .pdf file

Good Luck
 
When I was pursuing the internet mythical 1" 5 shot group at 100 yards in the 1990's, everyone said they could do it, but for years I never saw anyone do it.

Then at two different ranges on in 1999 and one in 2001, I saw a 1" group.
The first was a Win 70 Coyote .223 shooting Federal Gold match with benchrest shooting rest and rabbit eared rear bag. The guy was at the range every day.

The second was a 91/30 with ancient Fajen stock, home made scope mount, 18X Redfield that was dim, the muzzle was cut off 1/2" and re crowned. The barrel had been hand lapped with a lead lapp, Clover valve grinding compound, and home made bore guide. The bore was frequently cleaned with Outer's foul out to get more rust out. The load was a hot load of Sierra 180 gr and IMR4350.
The bore looked like a sewer pipe.

I felt like I was being played with. I felt tricked somehow. How could that rotten sewer pipe shoot that well?

Now I have an M39 I have scoped and welded the bolt handle. It will shoot that well.
I am using 180 gr Sierra bullets and Lapua brass.
 
[The bore looked like a sewer pipe.

I felt like I was being played with. I felt tricked somehow. How could that rotten sewer pipe shoot that well?
/QUOTE]

I got three 91/30s, two with pristine bores and one you can hardly see light through. Guess which one shoots < two inches?
Click to expand...
 
52gr. IMR 4350 has been my standard for a M91 Westinghouse I have. Killed 2 deer with it. It is topped with a 150gr. Speer .311 bullet.
 
Did some quick loads and testing, and found that 51grs of h380 under a winchester PP 150gr shoots pretty decent. I was just shooting at 25yds, but hope to take it out to 100 this weekend and see how it does. I need to slug my bore again, the last time I did it the rifle just wiped and I did not get the groove measurement, the lands measured .3015.

I am tempted to get some SMK's or A-Maxes and see if I can get some more accuracy out of it. I would LOVE to make it into a minute rifle. That would just be too much fun :)
 
I've been trying to make mine shoot lead boolits. No success so far.

That said, I've had pretty good luck with plain old .308 jacketed bullets. I did slug mine, it reads as .313. My most recent foray consisted of some bulk rem 180 core-loct in .303 designation, they measure .311. At 50 yds, they made a fairly uniform 2 inch group. However it was 8 inches high and a couple inches to the right. Rear sight is all the way down, and I see no way to drift either sight sideways for windage. The crude sights, coupled with my lousy vision,(wait til you get to be 64), do not make for small groups.

Oh, and the bore resembles the sewer pipe Clark alluded to!:barf:
 
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