I've always wanted to shoot my Mosin Nagant with good ammo and I finally did it today. Previously, shooting Bell/Igman 150grn and surplus 'heavy ball' 180grn ammo my accuracy was a shotgun patten at 100 yards. Every now and again I'd get lucky and get a good 5" group of 5-10 rounds but it was nothing to brag about. Reloaded Bell cases were a little better but the brass was so tough I couldn't FL resize it and it only lasted about 5 neck sizings before it was discarded.
I suspected the culprit was poor ammo so I took the plunge and ordered some Lapua 7.62x53r brass from Hirsch Precision, $95 total, and used 50 grains of H335 under Sierra 125 grn .311 SPs seated to 2.743 (2.715 minimum). Rifle is a 1939 dated 1891/30 refurb from SIR, import marked and with a refinished BLO stock but the bolt matches the receiver. The bore is sharp but patches never come out clean no matter what I try.
I fired 30 rounds at the last target (posted below) at 100 yards. All the rounds were fired within a few minutes, 10 rapid fire (in about a minute) at a time with a minute or two in between. At the end there was a noticeable heat induced 'haze' around my muzzle. I was using a fairly solid rest made from some 2x4s and spare carpet but sacrificing precision for speed. I'm confident that had I taken my time and used a good rest I could shot a target with a nice 5 shot group within an inch or two. Frankly, my Mosin will never be in 'precision rifle' category and hell will freeze over before I join their ranks and shoot 5 rounds in 10 minutes all for a 1" group and some internet bragging rights. I just wanted to see how the rifle would perform with decent ammo, a tiny bit of effort, and at a relatively rapid speed that the rifle might have been expected to perform at.
I suspected the culprit was poor ammo so I took the plunge and ordered some Lapua 7.62x53r brass from Hirsch Precision, $95 total, and used 50 grains of H335 under Sierra 125 grn .311 SPs seated to 2.743 (2.715 minimum). Rifle is a 1939 dated 1891/30 refurb from SIR, import marked and with a refinished BLO stock but the bolt matches the receiver. The bore is sharp but patches never come out clean no matter what I try.
I fired 30 rounds at the last target (posted below) at 100 yards. All the rounds were fired within a few minutes, 10 rapid fire (in about a minute) at a time with a minute or two in between. At the end there was a noticeable heat induced 'haze' around my muzzle. I was using a fairly solid rest made from some 2x4s and spare carpet but sacrificing precision for speed. I'm confident that had I taken my time and used a good rest I could shot a target with a nice 5 shot group within an inch or two. Frankly, my Mosin will never be in 'precision rifle' category and hell will freeze over before I join their ranks and shoot 5 rounds in 10 minutes all for a 1" group and some internet bragging rights. I just wanted to see how the rifle would perform with decent ammo, a tiny bit of effort, and at a relatively rapid speed that the rifle might have been expected to perform at.
