Mosin Nagant Bores/Ammo

lejarretnoir

lejarretnoir

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Just picked myself up a '42 MN 91/30 from Westrifle. A true bargain for $100 and it's all non forced/non electro penciled matching with a good bore. Just slugged it at .303/.314.

What can I expect for accuracy with the Russian milsurp 147gr selling now?
I expect handloads will improve groups, so which bullets shoot well in that bore size?

I just don't want to put money into milsurp ammo only to find it will group 12" or worse @ 100yds.
 
Anything in .312 bullets works better, if you reload. Much better. For commercial loads, LVE and MFS work quite well for about 60 cents per shot, including hunting soft points. Surplus Russian ammo 147gr works better than recent Czeck ammo of the same weight. PRVI and S&B ammo are more common and premium commercial ammo and shoot extremely well.

Three out of four greasy old Mosins shoot very well out of the crate, one is a sloppy bore but gets 3.5 inch groups at 100 yards with .312 loads. Every mosin I own shoots better with .312 loaded bullets.
 
Use Hornady .312, 150grn SP bullets. Best results in my Mosin as well.

For something bigger you will have to go cast.
 
My buddy has an m44 that slugs .315. He's had horrible luck with commercial bullets, but with cast, I believe has had some success with a 32-20 mould. Unfortunately they're flat points and get hung up when loading from the magazine. I think he's going to try beagling a .303 brit mould to see if he can get some in the .315-316 range. This may be your best bet.
 
mwjones said:
My buddy has an m44 that slugs .315. He's had horrible luck with commercial bullets, but with cast, I believe has had some success with a 32-20 mould. Unfortunately they're flat points and get hung up when loading from the magazine. I think he's going to try beagling a .303 brit mould to see if he can get some in the .315-316 range. This may be your best bet.
Click to expand...


.314 is standard barrel groove diameter for a .310 bullet. If you measure one/one thousandth up, then go that much higher on the bullet diameter. You cannot use a bigger bullet than your groove diameter.


I have several rifles that slug measure .315 that have excellent results with a Hornady .312 bullet.
 
With a .314 groove barrel you may need a .315-.316 bullet if using cast. There are molds available online for these sizes and I suggest you check out the Cast Boolits forums.
 
I have 3 Westrifle Mosins. One very nice 39 and 2 ww2 mfg. My 39 gets 7" grouping ar 200 yards with iron sights and would do better if my eyes were any good. My 41 does 2" with iron sights at 100 yards. Both using cheap surplus ammo. These are good groups for iron sights.
My 42 wasn't grouping better than 6" at 100 yards so I just completed turning it into an M38 tonight. I'm not too concerned with the grouping but if I can get it down to about 5" I will be happy.
I cut it down for the fun of it for a wall hanger
 
Points, you make me sick!! ! ! ! :D

I'm doing well to just see an 8.5 x 11 paper size at 200 with my "old guy eyes". Let alone hit it consistently with iron sights. Hell, I'm happy if I can keep all my shots on that size of paper at 100 yards.

... I really need to look at putting some sort of rear target aperature peep sight on my Mosin to give me a fighting chance. The small aperature would sharpen my vision up to that of a young and spry 30 or 40 something guy.... :D
 
Last edited:
fiddler said:
Anything in .312 bullets works better, if you reload. Much better. For commercial loads, LVE and MFS work quite well for about 60 cents per shot, including hunting soft points. Surplus Russian ammo 147gr works better than recent Czeck ammo of the same weight. PRVI and S&B ammo are more common and premium commercial ammo and shoot extremely well.

Three out of four greasy old Mosins shoot very well out of the crate, one is a sloppy bore but gets 3.5 inch groups at 100 yards with .312 loads. Every mosin I own shoots better with .312 loaded bullets.
Click to expand...

Nothing shoots well out of my unissued M44. Right from factory it was 316.
 
BCRider said:
Points, you make me sick!! ! ! ! :D

I'm doing well to just see an 8.5 x 11 paper size at 200 with my "old guy eyes". Let alone hit it consistently with iron sights. Hell, I'm happy if I can keep all my shots on that size of paper at 100 yards.

... I really need to look at putting some sort of rear target aperature peep sight on my Mosin to give me a fighting chance. The small aperature would sharpen my vision up to that of a young and spry 30 or 40 something guy.... :D
Click to expand...

My old guy eyes are getting harder to use. My Parker Hale (#4 mk1) is now getting a scope mounted on it. The rear peep is getting harder to see through on a dull day. I used to say that scopes were for pussies and real men used iron sights. Meow?
 
fiddler said:
.314 is standard barrel groove diameter for a .310 bullet. If you measure one/one thousandth up, then go that much higher on the bullet diameter. You cannot use a bigger bullet than your groove diameter.


I have several rifles that slug measure .315 that have excellent results with a Hornady .312 bullet.
Click to expand...

You have to go bigger than bore Dia when using cast. + 0.001" is standard. Pure lead will slug up but the harder alloys used in modern rifle calibers require a slightly oversize bullet.
Jacketed bullets on the other hand are 0-0.001" smaller than groove dia.
 
BCRider said:
Points, you make me sick!! ! ! ! :D

I'm doing well to just see an 8.5 x 11 paper size at 200 with my "old guy eyes". Let alone hit it consistently with iron sights. Hell, I'm happy if I can keep all my shots on that size of paper at 100 yards.
Click to expand...


If I'm firing test loads or groups with iron sights, I do it a 50 yards. There is too much eyesight error at 100 yards. Once I'm confident of my groups or test loads, then I will move further away or shoot for the gongs.
 
mwjones said:
My buddy has an m44 that slugs .315. He's had horrible luck with commercial bullets, but with cast, I believe has had some success with a 32-20 mould. Unfortunately they're flat points and get hung up when loading from the magazine. I think he's going to try beagling a .303 brit mould to see if he can get some in the .315-316 range. This may be your best bet.
Click to expand...

32-40 mold,165gr,semi RN flat point actually.
Shoots better than;
Cz surpluss (.312 fmjRBT 147gr)
Privi Partizan (.312 SPBT 150gr)
.311 speer SP 150gr
.311 speer RN 180gr
(List is from bad to worst in decent)
I found a 316 mold! Its 180gr RN....8.15x48 Russian Mauser mold from BUFFALO ARMS. But yes was going to beagle a 314 lymann gas check mold...still might iff I could find someone with one who is willing to sell a few cast bullets for me to load up.
Also thinking about swaging down 8mm jacketed bullets.
 
Did you go to the range yet?

AL


lejarretnoir said:
Just picked myself up a '42 MN 91/30 from Westrifle. A true bargain for $100 and it's all non forced/non electro penciled matching with a good bore. Just slugged it at .303/.314.

What can I expect for accuracy with the Russian milsurp 147gr selling now?
I expect handloads will improve groups, so which bullets shoot well in that bore size?

I just don't want to put money into milsurp ammo only to find it will group 12" or worse @ 100yds.
Click to expand...
 
ciphery said:
32-40 mold,165gr,semi RN flat point actually.
Shoots better than;
Cz surpluss (.312 fmjRBT 147gr)
Privi Partizan (.312 SPBT 150gr)
.311 speer SP 150gr
.311 speer RN 180gr
(List is from bad to worst in decent)
I found a 316 mold! Its 180gr RN....8.15x48 Russian Mauser mold from BUFFALO ARMS. But yes was going to beagle a 314 lymann gas check mold...still might iff I could find someone with one who is willing to sell a few cast bullets for me to load up.
Also thinking about swaging down 8mm jacketed bullets.
Click to expand...
Out of curiosity, i just slugged my polish M44 tonight and gaged at .313. I did the mesurement severals time and its a .313 bore:) I will try to shoot it soon as possible, should be quite accurate i think.
Jocelyn
 
When shooting rifles with oversize bores, keep in mind that you can improve things a good bit with a SOFT bullet and a FAST powder. If your rifle has a large bore or groove diameter, use no powder slower than 4320, with preference to 4895, 4064 or 3031. In Hercules powders (now Alliant) give their RL-7 a try: fast and you don't use a lot (doublebase powder).

For CHEAP shooting, cast your own .312 bullets out of wheelweight metal, fit them out with gas-checks and shoot with the C.E. Harris UNIVERSAL load: 13 grains of Red Dot shotgun powder. Gas check will help the slug to obturate, solving your problem for you. You get about 1850 ft/sec (which is mild), low recoil....... and generally about 2 MOA. BUFFDOG uses these in a .303 for 250-yard gopher assassinations and hasn't had any complaints from the targets.

Hope this helps.
.
 
lejarretnoir said:
J Just slugged it at .303/.314.

What can I expect for accuracy with the Russian milsurp 147gr selling now?
I expect handloads will improve groups, so which bullets shoot well in that bore size?

.
Click to expand...


.303/.314 is very good. if you have any issues with groupings, its more likely a crown or barrel fitting issue. Three or four inch groups with Russian 147gr surplus would be reasonable, and tighter with LVE, S&B, or PVRI.
 
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