7.62x54r reloading for accuracy

[ghostntheshell]

Hey folks. I'm looking to start reloading for my two mosins..
I have the Lee 50th anniversary kit.. Anyone who's had some success with loading for the round - please let me know what you've used...

I'm buying a reloading book. Or several.

I'm going to slug my barrels (apparently one them slugs at 309 and I'm not sure what my other one slugs at - but gets good accuracy from PRVI ammo).

I'd love to hear from some guys who've got experience.. What's working for you?

 

[hk33ka1]

I'm starting with mine. I've got some S&B ammo to shoot and Lapua 7.62x53r brass on the way.

Mine came out around .311-312" and I'll be using .311 jacketed and .313 cast to start.

 

[Newmer]

If you use the lee dies, you may need the larger expander. The stock expander in the 7.62x54 resizing die is .308, but if your mosin slugs out larger, thus requiring larger bullets, you will need the british 303 expander. As for powders I've used IMR 4064 with good success. Bullets I used a variety of .303 SP. I found 180 gr to not be as accurate as the 150 gr. Marstar used to stock a .174 grain .311 Frontier game ranger bullet that was the cheapest jacketed bullet around for plinking, but there out of stock.

 

[fiddler]

Owning more than a few Mosins, I only load .312 bullets and find they shoot better all bores, big or small. so: Hornady .312/150gr with about 54 grains of imr 4350.

If your expander actually measures to .308, that is sufficient for loading a .312 bullet and keeping it snug. The bullets will fall out if the expander is the exact same size as the bullet. It needs to be a few thous tighter.

 

[hk33ka1]

I also should have mentioned the expander swap.

I had an old extra Lee .303 die so I changed it out. Most expanders are 1.5-2 thousands of an inch smaller than the bullet to be seated in normal dies.

The Lee 7.62x54r ".308" expander was a surprising .3075" and the 303 one was .309"

 

[SKS50]

I also should have mentioned the expander swap.

I had an old extra Lee .303 die so I changed it out. Most expanders are 1.5-2 thousands of an inch smaller than the bullet to be seated in normal dies.

The Lee 7.62x54r ".308" expander was a surprising .3075" and the 303 one was .309"

If you don't have sufficient neck tension you can always chuck the expander rod in a drill and polish it with some fine sandpaper to increase the neck tension,just don't get to carried away. Check the dia. often.

 

[bearhunter]

Hey folks. I'm looking to start reloading for my two mosins..
I have the Lee 50th anniversary kit.. Anyone who's had some success with loading for the round - please let me know what you've used...

I'm buying a reloading book. Or several.

I'm going to slug my barrels (apparently one them slugs at 309 and I'm not sure what my other one slugs at - but gets good accuracy from PRVI ammo).

I'd love to hear from some guys who've got experience.. What's working for you?

Most of my Mosins, have .309-.313 bores. All of them have excellent bores. Only one has a .313 bore and it's an M38.

All of the rest, except the .309 bore, have .310-.311 bores.

The .309 bore, is on a hex action Finnish rebuild.

It will shoot .308 diameter bullets into 1 1/2 inches at 100 yards, with Hornady 150 grain boat tail FMJ, over 54.0 grains and magnum large rifle primers, loaded as far out as possible.

I'm sure that someone with better eyes, could do much better.

The rest of the rifles, will all shoot the .311 diameter bullets for the 303 British quite well.

The rifle with the .313 bore, prefers .312 diameter bullets.

All of them, really like bullet weights in the 180 grain weight range the best.

Hope this helps.