Mosin reloading

[Jeff H]

I recently picked up a Mosin Nagant and while I will probably shoot mostly mil surp stuff, I intend on growing a collection of re-loadable brass if it is cost effective to do so.

A couple questions:

Is the 7.62x54R a .308 or a .311 bullet? and does anyone have advice on a reasonable plinking bullet at a reasonable price?

What is the preferred powder for this round? The manuals give many choices, should I just go with the accuracy loads from Lyman or similar or does someone have a favorite powder?

Anything different about loading this cartridge? I assume I can just neck size, is that correct?

Thanks in advance.

 

[jwr_747]

most folks say the Finnish rifles are closer to .308 diam. where the other M/N's run .311 to .313. I use .311 in all my M/N's with good results.
for a plinking load I use 22.5 grs. of SR 4759 with 150gr. bullet.matter of fact I use that load for all my 30 cal.rifles.
neck sizing makes a round, rifle specific.different chamber sizes make the brass different sizes.but with one rifle and using fired brass from that rifle,neck sizing will work...jwr

 

[sonier]

some people fire .311 in .308 bores some fire .308 in .311 bores. Every mosin ive seen is .310-311 bore, i havnt inspected a finnish model before though, Point is if you do the normal start low in powder and work up too max charges even if the bullet is oversized a little you should be ok

 

[EMC45]

.311. I have one .314 and .312.

 

[Gadzooks Mike]

Jeff, the my M44 slugged to .311 but I'm shooting 150 gr .308 FMJ reloads out of it and they work just fine. Lead is another story. All I've got is .310 and they come out of the barrel about like shot out of a shotgun. I need to find some .312 or .313 lead for it.

I'm still working on a "favorite" powder, but I've found that IMR-4198 works great for a light plinker load with the .308 fmj bullets. That might be too fast to use in a longer rifle, though.

Good luck and please post what you find works!

 

[Naear88]

Here ya go

Have you slugged your barrel?
http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinSlug.htm
I would if you haven't my m44 and m91/30 like .312 HRN 174gr bullets I've been playin with RL-15 Lapua Brass these guns can be very accurate.
Good luck finding the sweet spot load.

 

[sonier]

guess them mosins didnt care too much if they were oversized or undersized lol They kept firing and kept working so who was to complain

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Ball C2 [BL-C(2)] works VERY well in the 7.62X54R cartridge. 4895 works well too but BL-C2 will deliver more velocity.

 

[sniper5]

Have a few MN's but not an expert by any means. From what I understand, tho, the only MN's that were .308 were the early Finn's. Don't know exactly what years. The later Finn's were .310 but would work fine with .311. Russians should all be .311's but they tended to vary widely with wear and manufacturing tolerances, running from .310 to .314. Best way to tell for sure is to slug the bore, not as hard and scary as it sounds.

As far as bullets you can use surplus ammo, altho you will have to deal with it being corrosive. If you are reloading, PRVI-Partisan is not bad in price. Some cast their own, altho that is beyond my area of knowledge.

 

[_N4Z_]

ArchAngelCD, have you worked up any consistent, accuracy loads using the BL-C2?

I've had good to excellent results with H4895, IMR4895, and IMR4350. Not tried BL-C2.

 

[KSCCHTrainer]

I recently picked up a Mosin Nagant and while I will probably shoot mostly mil surp stuff, I intend on growing a collection of re-loadable brass if it is cost effective to do so.

A couple questions:

Is the 7.62x54R a .308 or a .311 bullet? and does anyone have advice on a reasonable plinking bullet at a reasonable price?

What is the preferred powder for this round? The manuals give many choices, should I just go with the accuracy loads from Lyman or similar or does someone have a favorite powder?

Anything different about loading this cartridge? I assume I can just neck size, is that correct?

Thanks in advance.

When I had it, my M44 loved 150 grain .312 diameter Hornady #3120 flat base spire point bullets and the starting load (which was also one of the accuracy loads) out of the Lyman 49th edition. It was 43.5 grains of Alliant Reloader 15. I consistently got under 1" groups at 100 yards with it (Bayonet extended).

My scoped 91/30 shoots better with the 174 grain Sierra .311 diameter Match King boat tail hollow points over 42.0 grains of Hodgdon's Varget (also a starting load from the Hodgdon book). It has turned in a .393" group at 100 yards using that load.

Depending on bore condition, each one of the MN rifles is going to like something different. I got lucky and found a good load right off the bat, you may not. Have fun experimenting, but stay safe.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

ArchAngelCD, have you worked up any consistent, accuracy loads using the BL-C2?

I've had good to excellent results with H4895, IMR4895, and IMR4350. Not tried BL-C2.

I own a 1932 91/30 and it likes 54.5gr BL-C2 under a 147/150gr FMJ bullet. That's not the Max charge but it's accurate enough to be the load I use now. That load is more accurate than surplus ammo without a doubt.

 

[center shot]

I have had good results using Remington Core-lok .311 RNSP over 45 gr. of Varget, and for cast I use a Lyman 311291 sized to .311 with 14gr. of Unique.

 

[Ed Gallop]

I disabled the crimp on the seater die and use the factory crimp die. If the crimp closes in before it seats it will crush the case. You might benefit considerably by checking out this URL: http://7.62x54r.net/ Wonderful source of info. Ed.

 

[Cosmoline]

The bore is somewhat variable. Most Soviet production are .311" or thereabouts, but they got wider as they were sent back to the arsenal with shot out bores. Finnish post-1939 production is mostly .310" and can shoot either Soviet or Finnish ammo. It's only pre-war Finnish production that runs down close to .308" And those are rare rifles.

As far as what your particular rifle likes, you have to experiment. Start by trying a variety of surplus and commercial rounds and fire for effect.

Powder wise mine have liked IMR 4350 a lot, esp. for the heavier bullets.

I assume I can just neck size, is that correct?

Chamber variations can be pretty significant between rifles. So if you plan on shooting the same brass out of other Mosins, you'll want to full length resize. For example one 91/30 I had featured a very high shoulder, and was fire forming the brass to fit it. The difference between its chamber and my current M39 was so great that full length resizing was required to even get the 91/30 fired brass to chamber. And resizing resulted in wrinkles at the shoulder.

does anyone have advice on a reasonable plinking bullet at a reasonable price?

The surplus ammo is the way to go for most plinking. Just remember it's corrosive primed and you'll have to clean when you get back from the range. Barring that, cast bullets over TB can be pretty accurate. You just adjust your tangent up to compensate for the drop.