Reloading for the mosin nagant problem

[carbine85]

I'm finding it difficult to come up with a load that works well in the Mosin Nagant. I believe the biggest issue is matching the bullet to the rifling. The Mosin Nagant has a 1:9.5 twist and based on the bullet size and length the better twist is somewhere around 1:12 - 1:14. The rifling seems pretty fast when compared to other large calibers and long barreled rifles.
I have used this site before http://kwk.us/twist.html to determine the best match ups.
This might help explain the dismal accuracy these rifles show.
So my question is which bullet and powder are you guys using?
I have tried lighting the factory charge and have tried IMR4895 and reloader 15 with Match King bullets. I also tried Match King bullets in surplus ammo.

 

[joustin]

How does the bore look and have you slugged the bore? Mine is. 310, .308 works well but. 310 is more accurate.

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[sellersm]

+1 on determining the bore size first. Twist rate is meaningless if the bullet's not the right size to begin with.

 

[fireflyfather]

Not to mention that some Mosin Nagants have barrels that have been shot to hell, or rusted out/pitted.

Slug the bore, as those above have said. Try bullets made for the .303 Enfield, as they are typically .311 diameter.

If you can go with a cast bullet load (13 grains red dot, etc...), then you can get custom bullet molds in the .314 to .318 range, that can fit your bore diameter.

Can also seat your bullets a bit long.

I'd try these things before messing with buying a bunch of different powders, as they are more likely the cause of your troubles.

Knowing the factory and year your rifle came out can also be helpful. There was at least one case when factory workers picked up rifles they had just finished, walked outside the factory, and started shooting Germans...

Because of this sort of thing, quality control on some of these rifles was sketchy, wartime conditions and all...and I have the bill from the gunsmith to prove it on my 1943 Izzy.

What kind of accuracy are you getting, what are you looking for?

 

[wrench]

What do you want the loads to do? Hunting? Long range? Plinking?
I get super results out to 100y with light cast bullet loads.
Google 'the load' for some load ideas with cast bullets.
First things first, though, slug your bore to see what size bullets to use.

 

[ssyoumans]

I'm shooting Hornady 150gr .312" bullets through mine, driven by Varget. Using iron sights, able to keep a very tight group at 50 yards. The best part is that they hit exactly where I aim out of my M38. So good, I've added the combo into my deer hut rotation for this fall.

My mosin also shoots .308" flat base bullets quite well, specifically, the Speer 150gr SP. It does NOT like .308 boat tail bullets. This would be my second choice. Plenty of load data on hodgdon.com.

 

[firesky101]

IIRC the original loading for 7.62x54r was a 210gr bullet which is why the twist is so fast. God forbid Russia spend money to change the tooling for the rifling that is loser talk comrade.

 

[carbine85]

What do you want the loads to do? Hunting? Long range? Plinking?
I get super results out to 100y with light cast bullet loads.
Google 'the load' for some load ideas with cast bullets.
First things first, though, slug your bore to see what size bullets to use

I use them for 100-300 yard target shooting.
I haven't given much thought to cast bullets.

 

[carbine85]

I'm shooting Hornady 150gr .312" bullets through mine, driven by Varget. Using iron sights, able to keep a very tight group at 50 yards. The best part is that they hit exactly where I aim out of my M38. So good, I've added the combo into my deer hut rotation for this fall.

I looked at these. Do you know what the overall length of the bullet is?

 

[carbine85]

Not to mention that some Mosin Nagants have barrels that have been shot to hell, or rusted out/pitted.

Slug the bore, as those above have said. Try bullets made for the .303 Enfield, as they are typically .311 diameter.

If you can go with a cast bullet load (13 grains red dot, etc...), then you can get custom bullet molds in the .314 to .318 range, that can fit your bore diameter.

Can also seat your bullets a bit long.

I'm using the .303 Match Kings now. I don't recall if I slugged this rifle or not. The others always came out at .311 + or -. The 303 seemed like the best choice.

 

[elwoodm]

slug the bore is first on list most of these gun can use .311s my mosins slug from low .312 to low .314. all shot .311 good. the only real difference in the bores will be from when the rifle was made. my 1931 hex izzy has lands that are narrow and taller than the rifles made in wwll. those rifles have wider and thinner lands. the 1931 likes 180gr sp or rn and the wwll rifles like the 150gr and 174gr sierra hpbt for the 1943 DK prefix sniper. the powders should be medium speed like varget imr 4895 RL 15. one load that i did not expect much from was BLC-2 49gr 150gr speer hcsp cci mlrp col 2.89 was running at 2820 fps from the 1943 DK sniper the poi was the same at 100 yrds and 200 yrds. never had any load do that before. mosin nagants are like a box of chocolates you never know what your gonna get but its always fun looking