7.62x54R Questions

Sigfan7

Sigfan7

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Okay I am fairly new to shooting and even newer to Reloading. Ive been looking at buying a Mosin Nagant for a while. But I have a dilemma, I can not seem to find Ammo for it that I can shoot at an Indoor range. (Non magnetic, brass cased, Lead/Copper etc.)

Ive decided that the only real way to get that type of ammo is to reload. Ive read on a couple sites that .308 Bullets can be used, Is this accurate?

Also where would I be able to find some 7.62x54R brass? Im sure I can get some of that Prvi ammo, shoot it once or pull the Bullets, but it might be easier to just source some brass.

Thanks.
 
Norma makes new brass for 7.62 x 54R, Sierra makes 174 grain Match Kings in .311 over 54.5 gr of H4350, it is a winning combo in my Nagant.
Slug your barrel to determine bore size.
 
If you buy Prvi Ammo might as well shoot it instead of pulling bullets. You can also buy their brass, as well as Sellier and Bellot ammo. No one locally could order me Lapua brass (almost $1 each) so I bought a bunch of Prvi ammo to start with. Most of those rifles will shoot .311-.312 jacketed well. If shooting cast lead you will want to slug the bore to determine the groove size. Mine was a hair over .311" and shoots .313" gas checked lead bullets well.
 
Any ideas on where I can buy the brass here in Canada? Preferably Alberta?

Also is the Prvi ammo O.K. to shoot at an indoor range? Or is that subjective to the range?
 
The Prvi soft point is lead and copper jacket. I don't know if their FMJ is steel core, but I doubt it.
 
P&D, Milarm, and Pheonix usually carry x54R in soft points for range shooting and hunting. Budget is a good supply of reloading items, but P&D sometimes has .311 and .312 bullets. Westrifle you can buy non-reloadable rounds such as LVE in SP and FMJ for a decent price.
 
Since you are reloading why not go for cast bullet and light charge of pistol/shotgun powder?

Lee makes TL314-90-SWC mold,those bullets need to be tumble lubed only(no sizer needed)
and 3.2-3.5 Gr of Bullseye (no filler or wad needed) will get you right on the paper.

I'm pretty sure your ears will be much better off with this load,even with hearing protection.
I won't mention your shoulder...
 
You can shoot 308 bullets out of a 7.62x54R. I find the 0.310 123g soft point Hornady work best for me, based on my slugged barrels. The 308 don't group as well as the 310's.

Finding a lead free bullet that matches your slugged barrel will not be easy. With that being said, the easy fix would be to use the Hornady GMX (lead free) bullets in 308.

The 308 bullets may be a bit loose in your barrel but I doubt they will decrease your accuracy with open sights in an indoor range ( I am assuming it is not 100 yards).

And if you wondering how to slug your barrel, if you Google it, I am sure you will find step by step instructions. You need a wooden dowel just smaller than the bore of the barrel, a lead sinker slightly bigger than your bore (I use 1/4" and make them wider by squishing them a bit), a mallet and a set of calipers.
 
Prvi boxer primed ammo SP and FMJ made in Serbia uses copper jacket/lead core bullets so your good to go using that at the range,Prvi is also great brass for reloading as well as Wolf Gold line which is made by Prvi Win. white box 54r is actually S & B ammo with the Win. headstamp and there is also Norma and Lapua brass. As other have mentioned slug you bore before purchasing bullets so you get the best bullet to bore fit.

My M44 bore slugged out at .312 groove to groove,my rifle prefers the .311 150 gr. flat base jacketed bullets best,308 dia. bullets work but accuracy suffers as well as MV due to excessive blowby due to the smaller dia. bullet not filling the grooves as well. Depending on the range that your shooting at distance vs. accuracy may not be that much of an issue using a .308 dia. bullet so if you have some give a few a try and see how they do.

Cast bullets are a good option if you want to shoot cheap and extend brass life. In general you will want your cast bullet to be .001 to .002" over your rifles groove dia. For short range indoor shooting cast lead pistol bullet work just fine as donor mentioned the Lee .314 TL314 90 gr. SWC is a great little bullet if it fits your bore. Just cast,lube load and shoot no sizing needed.

If you don't cast you can substitute the the Hornady .314 dia. 90 SWC in it place,the bullet is already prelubed but I add a touch of my thinned down Lee Alox/JPW lube for good measure,probably not necessary but what the neck. Accuracy is excellent out to 50 yds. and the 90 gr. SWC make an excellent plinker/small game load,MV runs around 950 fps. MAX using 3.2 grs. of Bullseye with no filler or is it needed you can increase it up to 5.0 grs. if you like a little faster load.

The same bullet also works well with the same load in X39 and about any 30 cal. rifle up to 06 case size including the 54r. If you want a little stouter load go with any of the Lee .312 dia. bullets from 155 gr. up to 185 gr. these all use gas checks and they can be applied easily with the Lee .314 push through sizer,these three Lee .312 molds tend to cast slightly larger than whats on the box all mine drop right at .314" and work well in my M44,SKS and 300 Sav. rifles. I push all these bullets with either 16.0 grs. of Alliant 2400 or 13.0 grs. of Alliant Red Dot no filler required. These are two standard loads by Ed Harris that work well in just about any military rifle.

How to slug your bore.
http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinSlug.htm

5 shots 50 yds.
303030.jpg

Baseball002.jpg
 
Do NOT use WOOD dowels to slug your barrel. IF they break it can be almost impossible to remove.
 
hk33ka1 said:
Do NOT use WOOD dowels to slug your barrel. IF they break it can be almost impossible to remove.
Click to expand...

Maybe I've just been lucky but I've always used wooden dowels just not one long piece. I use several about 12 to 14" long that best fit the bore. Running an nice loose fitting greased patch and greasing the slug helps as well.

A steel or brass rod will work just fine if you think wood may give you a problem just tape up the end so it doesn't scratch your rifle bore.
 
Big plus of using cast pistol bullets in a rifle is that you don't have to look around for lead.

Since you mention indoor range you are using, all lead you need is already there-just scoop it up.

It will be soft lead-exactly the stuff you need for cast projectile propelled to under 1000 fps.

This way the only expense you will have will be primers and tumble lube.
 
This may sound like an odd question, but I have just slugged my three MN (2 - 91/30 and an M44). The two 91/30s came in at 0.313 groove-to-groove and the M44 was 0.314. Can anyone suggest a good, commercially avialable bullet that would work for all three? Is there a difference in results between a flat base vs. boat tail base bullet?
 
Perhaps Hornadys .312" Interlock 150gr #3120. If trying cast a company in Australia makes larger sized molds for .303 British that you could use. ww w.castbulletengineering.com/default.htm
 
Lapua makes 7.62x53R it's the same as 54R. I bought 2 boxes and use it in my SVT40.

My brass came from Alberta, if I remember correctly. Henry at Budget shooter supply, red banner at the top, can bring it in too.
 
I reload everything in .312 Hornadys regardless of what it slugs out at. They work better in every rifle I own, Mosins, SVTs, or M44s.
 
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