7.62x54R reloads. what do you like to use?

[steeljacket]

hello I've had a Mosin for some time now and have had a blast with it. last fall I started reloading on it and have already had some fun surprises. 165 grain speers hotcore using H414 at 49. grains of powder. I'm used to seeing a difference between reloads and factory ammo but this was by far the biggest eye opener. a hundred yards hit right where I aimed with no rise at all. wheres the factory load by ppu has a lot more rise in it. I'm asking those that have done some tinkering with the 7.62x54R.

What have you found with trajectory and grouping with this caliber?

 

[sentry1]

My buddy has just started reloading for his Nagant. He's using IMR 4064, because that's all he could find on the shelves here, and 190gr Sierra flat base soft point bullets.

Groups with the handloads were consistently better than Sellier & Bellot or Winchester factory ammo, but he didn't have enough reloadable brass for us to try the full spread of charges from min to max and find out what was really accurate. Going to try again once he gets some more brass and see if we can nail down a good load for his rifle.

We slugged his barrel, and it came in around .310 at the lands, if I'm remembering correctly. He wants to put a new barrel on it in hopes that he can get better accuracy with regular .30 projectiles.

 

[Clark]

I made this one minute video of my friend shooting an antelope buck with a Mosin Nagant in Oct 2013.
He is using the Sierra .311" 180 gr Pro Hunter bullet.
He has been hunting with Mosin Nagants for 45 years.

I get the best groups with the same bullet, but lately I have been converting Mosins to other cartridges; 45/70, 30-30, 7mmRemMag, 300WM, and I just ordered the reamer for 25KragAckley.

 

[Sniper260]

Still collecting brass for this one... im gonna try 180 gr tho..

 

[steeljacket]

Thanks for the feed back so far every one. the only difference here between mmost you and me is I actually have yet to reload with true .311. with the same barrel I've been using .308" so far it works great. I'll tinker with the .311 though see what happens

 

[Kirkd]

7.62x54R reloads. what do you like to use?

Thanks for the feed back so far every one. the only difference here between mmost you and me is I actually have yet to reload with true .311. with the same barrel I've been using .308" so far it works great. I'll tinker with the .311 though see what happens

Slug your barrel first. I think the Finnish ones are a true 308. I slugged mine and it was .311. I have a Russian Tula one.


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[Tempest 455]

A .311 would probably be better (if I slugged it) but used what I had.

A .308 168 SMK, Win Brass and 43.0g 4064 is pretty darn accurate out to 500 yards for an old milsurp rifle.

 

[steeljacket]

I have slugged my barrel like advised and also for those that shoot something like the Winchester or even the surplus ammo they are .311 rounds I miked them for kicks and giggles. so far everything is still going good I should have other loads done for this rifle that I hope to see good results from. here's hoping going for more speers hot cor loads. yes i'm using a manual in case your wondering. well at least for reference.

 

[steeljacket]

oh quick thought for those looking for .311 bullets sierra makes an accu bond and though can't find it on the internet I have found that speers does as well . the label says for 303 british. however the diameter is still .311. I understand that the 303 british has some various on their bullet diameter but you can still look at the box to be sure at least with most brands.

 

[biffj]

308 bullets work just fine in the 310-311 bore and there is a lot more variety available in the 308 size. I've run 308 tracers through both the 54R firing stuff and the 303 firing rifles and machineguns with fantastic results. I also used Sierra 168gr Matchkings in a couple of my SVD Dragunov rifles and found that they really can shoot an inch at 100yds with some tuning and reloading. Now that Sierra has the 175gr Matchking its even better for a lot of these older military rifles since they were made to shoot 180gr bullets in the case of the mosin or 174gr in the case of the enfields. A friend out west has been shooting 308 matchkings in his enfield sniper for years and has found its more accurate than when shooting 311 dia bullets. Your mileage may vary of course but don't give up on excellent quality bullets because someone tells you they are 3 thou too small.

Frank

 

[pawprint2]

I've run 168SMK, 180SMK, 190SMK, all with good results, the best bullets I've found for the MN are the Lapua D-166s they are usually for sale at Midway (admittedly not at a bargain price), they are true .310/ and have a very good BC-Vit N-140 and N150 both work well. I don't think your ever going to win a Benchrest match with these old guns, but you can make them shoot very well, and it's a lot of fun. Best of luck to you.