.303 for 7,62X54R

Zygy

Zygy

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Can I use .303 bullets for reloading 7,62X54R cartridge?
My last Tokarev is the nicest one I ever have and I inspect barrel very
carefully before I bought it,looks like it's in excellent condition but...
It shoots about 6" to the right with wide spread.
I had tried few different reloads with 748 powder and different 7,62 bullets
No real improvement...
With powder charge over 47gn. bullets seems to hit target side way.
So I come to conclusion:
Maybe barrel is little over sized and I should try .303 bullets...

ZYGY
 
Slug your barrel and measure the dimensions.That will tell you what bullet best fits your bore .As to it shoots to the right ,move your front sight to the right in small increments to zero it.
 
First 303 comes in 4 sizes, .3105, 311, 312 and if you can find them 314. I looked in the 5 reloading manuels I have and 2 said .308(sierra and new'ish lyman), 1 @310(lee) and the other 2(nosler and old as dirt lyman) had no listing. But the newer Lyman said to check the bore, as mentioned above.
Clint
 
Original Russian ammo for the Tokarev used bullets from .3105 to .312 diameter.

A friend and myself worked with several Russian rifles over a period of several years, trying to obtain the best accuracy.

EVERY rifle shot better with a .312" bullet, in several cases radically so.

The use of .308 bullets in the 7.62x54R was begun by American reloaders who thought that all rifles about that size ought to be .308. They were confirmed in this by a generation of lazy writers who thought that just because a rifle was non-American, it really didn't matter.

Russian rifles can be as accurate as any other military rifles, but they NEED that .312" bullet.

Hope this helps.
.
 
Surplus x54R ammunition is generally a .311 bullet, but Mosin bore diameter can vary from small to large size bore diameters. I have several Mosins, SVT40s, and M44 to prove this. I always slug the barrel to know what to expect out of a rifle, but as a rule .312 bullets are my go to diameter for reloading this caliber. I will go as far to say that .312 works best in all my X54R rifles.


I use Harnady 150gr in .312 so I can keep the similar trajectory as surplus ammo without resighting my rifle. That said, I also have a lot of good results with soft points in 205 grain bullets for hunting such as LVE or MFS. My next load to work up will probably be a 200gr bullet in .312 diameter if it is available.
 
Zygy said:
Can I use .303 bullets for reloading 7,62X54R cartridge?
My last Tokarev is the nicest one I ever have and I inspect barrel very
carefully before I bought it,looks like it's in excellent condition but...
It shoots about 6" to the right with wide spread.
I had tried few different reloads with 748 powder and different 7,62 bullets
No real improvement...
With powder charge over 47gn. bullets seems to hit target side way.
So I come to conclusion:
Maybe barrel is little over sized and I should try .303 bullets...

ZYGY
Click to expand...


We have several different things going on in one thread here. First the 7.62 x 54r is most commonly seen in Mosin Nagant rifles although it can come in other configurations. The Tokarev is a handgun or sub-machine gun cartridge caliber 7.62 x 25.

The 7.62 mm or .300" more commonly called 30 Cal. is the same in both American and European made rifle and pistol bores. Where the difference is is in the groove to groove dia. that measurement can range anywhere from .308 to as high as .316 in some rifles. In handguns it's generally .308 to .310"

For best results you should slug your bore and measure across the two wides points to get the proper bullet dia. With Jacketed bullets that should be either groove size or no more that .002" smaller I prefer .001" and it give good stability and muzzle velocity as well as keeps you from running into pressure issues with max. loads. There is lots of confusion on proper bullet dia. due to the fact hat groove to groove dia. on Mosinf rifle vary between country of origin like the Fin Mosin which mostly have .309 dia. bores and Russian which are generally much larger.

All my surplus 54r ammo Bulgarian LB 147 gr. and HB 187 gr. and Yugoslavian HB 182 gr. have between .310.5 and .311 dia. jacketed bullet,my M44 bore slugged out at .312" between the grooves in testing I've tried .308 .310 .311 and .312 dia. bullets and found that .311 dia. bullets gave me the best results. Your results may vary.

For the Tokarev cartridge in 7.62 x 25 my CZ likes the Hornady 86 gr. .308 dia. RNSP bullets and the Hornady 90 gr. XTP HP.

Regardless of your weapon of choice if your bullets are keyholing ie impacting sideways on your target either your bullet is to small in dia. to be properly engraved by the rifling and it's not stabilizing or you could have an issues with the crown of the muzzle bore that is affecting the angle the bullet leaves the bore.
 
I shoot .312 hornady and cast .314 in 3 different 7.62 x 54 rifles, excellent accuracy. I have tried .308 bullets they do not shoot wort a darn. You should slug the barrel as mentioned, some of the Finnish mosins had .308 barrels. It's the best way to determine the best bullet for sure.
 
tootall said:
Fedor Tokarev designed pistols and rifles.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fedor_Tokarev

including the SVT rifle in 7.62x54R
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SVT-40
Click to expand...


I know about the SVT rifles but never knew who designed them,those rifle don't exist in any form in this part of the country other than a couple rare examples I've seen mentioned over the past 30 years on a gun board or two. I have no idea who or when those rifles we imported into the US or in what numbers,evidently it wasn't very many.
 
Sorry, I didnt notice that you are from NC.
Yeah, I heard that there is some USA rule about importing former USSR guns into the US.
Thats why we get container loads of SKS and SVT here. Otherwise, the huge US civilian market would have vacuumed up all of them.
 
tootall said:
Sorry, I didnt notice that you are from NC.
Yeah, I heard that there is some USA rule about importing former USSR guns into the US.
Thats why we get container loads of SKS and SVT here. Otherwise, the huge US civilian market would have vacuumed up all of them.
Click to expand...

NP,but my ignorance on the SVT's is no excuse due to where I live and your post educated me on the subject and I appreciate the info.

As far as the Russian rifles go it's kind of complicated but basically it boils down to an agreement/treaty between the US and Russian to ban importation of front line weapons into the US of a certain age and configuration,thats why we get no more Russian SKS,SVT's etc. but there are reviews and exceptions that can be made on a make and model basis which explains why we get so many of the Mosins. There were some financial incentive added by the US government to sweeten the pot as well.

The same goes for the Chinese SKS and other rifles and ammo,there was no agreement between the US and China it was all political they simply banned everything. Lucky for me I was able to obtain a new in box Factory 26 Chinese SKS before they were all bought up by the public. Mine is preban so it still had the bayo attached.

As far as NC goes it's a good state to live in if you like to own and shoot various firearms. There are no restrictions on what your allowed to own firearm wise as along as it's legal to do so,you have to have a permit for concealed carry,$200 tax stamp and registration if you want to own a suppressor and a special class license if you want to own full auto weapons.
 
Thank's for all replays,guys!!
I will try Hornady .312 bullets,from your knowledge it seems like it will be proper bullet
for my rifle.I f it doesn't work i will slug the barrel and go from there.

Zygy
 
My Mosin rifle is a .311" bore. I would use .310-.312" jacketed, but I like to use .313" cast gas check WW boolits.
 
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