range rep / best ammo in x54r?

[_N4Z_]

Took my m39 back out today and shot 20 rounds of 1985 Russian surplus 147gr fmj from arsenal 60, and 20 rounds of 200+gr new commercial Barnaul soft point hunting rounds.

The hunting rounds hit low @ 100 yards and the 147's hit a bit high. Best group of 5 shots measured 3.125 inches. The rest of them all had a flyers that pushed into the 5+ moa range @ 100 yards. Was fun but I am looking for a consistant better showing. Also, not all of that ammo went for grouping. Half was used ringing the 200 yard 11" gong. The Russian went 3 out of 5 twice, not so great with the Barnaul - but that was my first time using it and the poi is different.

So that aside, I want to hear from those with Mosins what they like to shoot, and what gives them the best results.

To date I've been able to try only a limited assortment.

Russian lightball
Hungarian heavyball (yellowtip)
and Barnaul heavy softpoints.

What works well for the rest of you guys??

 

[Kymasabe]

I've been getting decent results with some mid-80's Polish and Russian surplus I have. Nothing to get excited about though. Plain old Wolf has been pretty good, consistant, fairly accurate, especially in my unissued '48 M44. I tried Wolf Gold and couldn't even get it on the paper. Switch back to Wolf , no prob. Go back to Wolf Gold and again, no hits on paper...don't ask me why, I have no idea.

PS...the only time I've had cases split and bulge were with Albanian ammo. Was the nastiest, dirtiest crap I've ever fired. Might not be your best choice if looking for cheap surplus.

 

[grimjaw]

I have tried:

Light ball
--
Albanian FMJ
Russian FMJ
Wolf bimetal FMJ
Czech silvertip FMJ
Igman JSP (commercial brass-cased)

Heavy ball
--
Brown Bear FMJ
Silver Bear JSP
Winchester JSP
Yugoslavian FMJ

The answer is: it depends on the gun/ammo combo.

I really like the Russian '80s surplus I picked up and bought as much of it as I could at the time. It shoots well (meaning I ring gongs with regularity) out of at least two of my rifles, and doesn't exhibit feeding or extraction problems.

The Albanian I've run across wasn't stored very well and the tins are rusty enough to have lost vacuum seal. It's brass-cased and extracts fine, but it's typically dented with irregular rim sizes causing problems closing the bolt when chambering a round. It stinks, literally. It's some of the most unpleasant smelling ammo I've encountered. It's been surefire for me, but unless I got a super deal on it (less than $0.10/round) I wouldn't buy it again.

Wolf bimetal does everything the Russian surplus does, but with better groups. The cost reflects this.

I haven't been through much Czech silvertip yet. The lacquered cases were more difficult for me to extract. I was able to ring a 300 yard gong with no problem, 15 out of 20 rounds, first try.

I'm hoarding my Igman until the day I find a M38 that shoots consistently enough for hunting. I've been through half a box out of a replica sniper and groups were acceptable (2-3 MOA) at 100 yards.

The replica sniper -*loves*- Brown Bear FMJ, but I don't love the price. I believe it's a lacquered case, but I don't have extraction or feeding problems with it.

I haven't fired enough Silver Bear to know much about consistency, but it feeds and extracts fine.

Winchester is good if I want reloadable brass afterwards. Otherwise, I avoid this; too expensive and other softpoints are available.

I was hoping for more from the Yugoslavian, but I haven't tried it out of all the guns yet. Typical for brass-cased ammo, it feeds and extracts great. With a lead core and copper jacket it's allowable at most any centerfire rifle range. Consistent accuracy is still a question mark for me.

HTH, jm

ps. this is also a good resource: http://www.7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinAmmo.htm

 

[rangerruck]

try silver bear, it is a new , not reloaded nickel washed round. that works well for me, but proly the best i've used is wolf. they make 147's, 185's, and 205's. at 100 yds, the diff in poi , between the 185's and the 147's is negligible, and they shoot very nice groups as well.

 

[Koobuh]

It always depends on the particular rifle. I have found that light ball typically doesn't do well from my M39; an exception is the Polish light ball (which we have blessed few rounds left of )
On the other hand it really, really likes Wolf softpoints (~200 grains) and does pretty OK with Hungarian yellow-tip heavy ball. D-type ammunition is what most M39s were chambered for, and a yellow painted tip is the visual identifier for 7.62x54R 'D'.

Grimjaw, just a tip; Winchester is just reboxed Sellier & Bellot. Save a couple bucks and get S&B instead- pull a bullet on one of your Winchesters if you'd like, you'll most likely see S&B's cartouche on the back of the bullet.

 

[.45Guy]

It always depends on the particular rifle.

That is so annoyingly true! I just picked up a case of Hungarian steel core heavy ball for cheap! The only problem is my M44 absolutely hates it! I have a few rounds of the Hungarian ammo with no paint which it does exceptionally well with, but not the ammo I bought in bulk...:banghead:

 

[Cosmoline]

The answer is: it depends on the gun/ammo combo.

This is esp. true of the M-39's. Try an array of light and heavy ball plus the commercial loadings and handloads if you will. All the ones I've owned have shown a decided preference for one type or another. Most tend to shoot better the closer you get to the famous Finnish D166 load, so if you can handload that by all means do so. Midway sells the Lapual D166 bullets.