Who here reloads gas seal for the 7.62 Nagant?

[Polish-Jack]

I made up 100 pieces of brass from .223 Remington brass and am now looking for a suitable powder. I have heard recommendations of Blue Dot or H110, but the Internet being what it is I thought I might get some advice from you guys. What powders have you managed to get the best accuracy out of this cartridge?

 

[vagrantviking]

I'm in the process of getting a Nagant and know many people including the current owner use short brass such as 32-20 to load for these. The process for making a full length gas seal case would be neat to try. Whats the trim length and what else is done in the forming?

The powders you list are generally used for magnum level loads in handgun shells. Personally I would probably look at Unique or 231in these smaller capacity lower pressure rounds.

 

[ted_dent]

7.62 Nagant is a rimmed case (albeit a very small rim) whereas the .223 is rimless so I'm not sure why you went that route except to retain the gas seal feature which while interesting is not really necessary for the gun to function satisfactorily. I also have some concern how using rimless cases might affect extraction and headspace. Typically Blue Dot is used for magnum pistol and some small capacity rifle cartridges and is probably far too slow for this application. The Handloader's Manual of Cartridge Conversions (great book, by the way) suggests 3.8 gr. of Bullseye for a velocity of 900 fps. .223 brass is much thicker than 7.62 Nagant brass so you may find some case bulging with a .30 cal. bullet (suggested weight is around 100-105 gr.) which could affect chambering. Case length for the 7.62 Nagant is 1.52" while the 32-20 is 1.315". 32-20 works fine & will fire form on the first firing but will not retain the gas seal feature. As for accuracy, it's no target gun and trigger pulls are typically awful so powder selection isn't going to turn it into a tack driver under any circumstances.

FYI Fiocchi and Privi still make 7.62 Nagant ammo so you may be able to solve the brass problem by just buying a few boxes of factory ammo and reloading it. It's a very low pressure cartridge so the brass should last a long time. TradeEx (site sponsor) has Privi ammo available for $32.95/50.
http://www.tradeexcanada.com/content/prvi-partizan-762mm-nagant-revolver-ammunition-98gr-fpj

I don't know if they export but if they do Buffalo Arms in the states carries Privi brass cases at $38/100 or $90/250
http://www.buffaloarms.com/Nagant_Revolver_Reloading_Brass_it-633999.aspx?TERM=7.62 nagant

 

[Polish-Jack]

The base of the 223 brass needs to be trimmed to .360 inches in order to fit in the Nagant cylinder and the removal of the material turns the rimless 223 into a rimmed 223 with out a shoulder trimmed to a length that allows gas sealing.

 

[ted_dent]

The base of the 223 brass needs to be trimmed to .360 inches in order to fit in the Nagant cylinder and the removal of the material turns the rimless 223 into a rimmed 223 with out a shoulder trimmed to a length that allows gas sealing.

10-4. Seems like an awful lot of work, though, when empty cases & loaded ammo are available. To each their own, I guess.