Mosin reload questions, .311 expander?

[flying pig]

Going to load my first 100 for my mosin in the morning. I have new PRVI brass and Lee dies. The Lees only come with the 308 expander. Is it safe for me to load the .311 diameter bullets into the factory sized brass? I normally just load new cases up then only neck size after first firing?

Thoughts?

 

[purple]

Seating the .311 bullet in the smaller neck may cause the neck to collapse or become distorted. If the bullet does go in it will shave off some of the jacket material. You would be better off to get a .311 expander, made for the .303 Brit, from Lee. Depending on what variant of the MN you have, it may well shoot a .308 bullet just fine. Some MNs have a smaller bore. My M1927 Finn shoots .308 bullets with excellent accuracy. Might be worth slugging your bore to check the actual groove diameter.

 

[flying pig]

It's a '44 Tula PU. I also shoot tons of LEs and Rosses, and have Lee .303 dies. Is it possible to use an expander out of the .303 die?

 

[smellie]

Yes. I do it all the time when I lose something (which I do FAR too often!).

If you don't want trouble with the case-mouths, bevel the inside of them with your chamfering tool. Just a couple of quick twists will do the job.

As long as the INSIDE of the case-mouth has a BEVEL for the bullet to centre itself, pushing the bullet into the casing will force the neck to expand.

If you don't have a chamfering tool, you should have. One is included with just about very start-up outfit..... and they are handy.

The neck below the bullet base might look a bit strange, but it will blow out. Just give it 22 tons pressure and it will be happy to do so!

Good luck!

 

[smellie]

Mis-read your post but the answer is still "yes".

With the case-mouth chamfered you can even seat bullets safely if they are only expanded for a .308 slug. That's what I THOUGHT you asked.

But you can switch about the expanders, too. I just don't bother to.

Chamfering case-mouths is a quick way to save yourself a WORLD of trouble. You really should do it automatically, first time you load ANY batch of brass. The factories don't do it, remember, so you have to do it yourself.

Hope this helps.

 

[flying pig]

Does so Smellie. I'll have to get in the habit of chamfering on the first firing, I always do automatically when doing brass prep after it has been fired but hadn't thought of it or noticed that there was no factory chamfer. I normally up to this point had been buying factory loaded ammo, shooting it, then reloading it after. Thanks!