Reloading 303 Brit and 7.62x54r

jcuffe6240

jcuffe6240

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Any advice or suggestions on reloading for both of these calibres? I have slugged all my enfields and mosins, and found that they average to around .312 diameter. I have bought some Hornady 174gr RN and was thinking of IMR4895 for each. Any recipe suggestions or reloading data for this? Also, what OAL should these be?
 
One load I use for my 303 is, 175 grain, 36.0-40.0 grains IMR 4895, winchester large rifle primer, works well in mine, make sure you start with 36.0 grains to check for possible issues.
 
My Standard loads in each:

.303 British:
Sierra 180Gr. SP (.311)
41.0 Gr. Reloder-15
COAL 3.075"
Winchester Large Rifle Primer


7.62x54R:
180 Sierra SP (.311)
50.2 Gr. IMR-4350
COAL 3.015"
Winchester Large Rifle Primer

Your mileage may vary of course, but these loads work great in the three rifles I use them in (a #4 Mk. 1*, an M-91/30, and an M-44)
 
I can't help you with the 7.62x54, but my load for .303 is:

Hornady .312 174gr RN, 39.8gr Varget, OAL 3.075.
various brass, CCI BR2 large rifle primers
 
150gr in my Mosin I use 45gr of H4895 (1gr below minimum on hodgdon site)
180gr in my Mosin I use 52gr of H4831 (1gr above minimum seems to give best results)

I tried loading 180gr projectiles with 37gr H4895 loads and my barrel gets really hot, really fast with no performance increase (was trying to simplify it down to only one powder.)

I load .303 British with H4895 if using jacketed projectiles, Alliant Unique if cast.

Also only neck size (not full length resize) your .303 brass if you want it to last more than 2-3 firings. Full resizing pushes the shoulder back and forms essentially a false shoulder which really wears out your brass quickly. Lee Enfield's are hard on brass to start with but with neck sizing I can get 5-7 firings from a case but with full resizing I only get 2-3 before it splits/cracks. With any other rifle I can get 10+ firings from a set of cases (haven't loaded any more than that yet so time will tell.
 
Hi Sam54, I would suggest slugging your bores on your rifles as it can vary. I did all my Mosin's and it varied from .312 to .313 in diameter. My Enfield was the same, so I chose .312 diameter bullets for them all.
 
I tried running cast .311's in my Enfield and it leaded like crazy. I use them in my Mosin and it's only slightly dirtier than jacketed new production ammo. Right now for jacketed in my Mosin I'm using Hornady FMJ .3105's and they work fine. I've never tried .308's in my Mosin but I did in my Enfield and they keyholed badly.

I slugged my Enfield but I can't figure out how to get a measurement from it since it's a 5-groove barrel. Going from one side to the other goes from a land to a groove and comes out at .305 from both my micrometers. I can accurately shoot .312 jacketed and have been meaning to pickup a Lyman 314299 mould which will work from what I'm told.
 
Your bullet choice is good. A flat base is best in medium to poor quality barrels.

Powder is good. I would start at 36 gr and work up to see what groups best. In my rifles it is 39 in the 303 and 40 in the MN.
 
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