mosin nagant and lee .312 155 bullet.

[Stearns]

My t53 mosin sluged at .312/.300
After i cast and powder coat the bullet measures .313 on back band and .310 on front band. Nose measures about .301 - .302. It chambers but its a little snug. I dont have to force bolt closed it just is snug. It doesnt matter what my oal is. I have seated some from 2.620 up to 2.776 no diference in how it chambers.
Will this bullet work for my nagant?

[chuebner]

I used that same bullet and the Lee C312-185 in my M44 with excellent results. Those bullets over 12gr. Red Dot or 16gr. 2400 make some nice shooting loads.

Charlie

[Stearns]

I used that same bullet and the Lee C312-185 in my M44 with excellent results. Those bullets over 12gr. Red Dot or 16gr. 2400 make some nice shooting loads.

Charlie

Thanks Charlie! What was your seating depth (oal)

[GhostHawk]

I use that boolit and the .312 185 by lee also. Only I'm using it over 28.5 gr of IMR 4895.

My SKS loves that 185 gr boolit also.

I don't sweat oal that much, if I need to reset the die I check to make sure it will fit in the magazine.
It seems to like them set a bit long if anything.

The only time I've ever had one that didn't want to chamber was when I mixed up brass between the 2 Mosin's I owned and didn't full length resize. I mostly use a Lee Hand press, and resizing was a real pain until I read about lubing cases. Just finished reloading 60 rounds, have another 50 to go, but they are sized, primed, just waiting for a day when I need to "quiet" and calm. Casting or reloading are great for that for me for some reason. Takes the "bark" out.

[LAGS]

I have been shooting the Lee 155 gr for a few years, and just started PC'ing them.
Accuracy was excellent sized to .311 for a .310 bore, and they shot OK but nothing to brag about when I shot them As Cast in a .313 bore.
I was shooting 18 gr of 2400 and now am going to try Reloader 7 , 5744 and H4895.
Just seat them in the crimp groove, and they work just fine.
You really are not going to gain much accuracy out of the short barrel By seating them longer, unless you have a Perfect Chamber and Bore.
Spend your time working up different loads, and trying Dacron filler for more consistant ignition.

[Motor]

Stearns,
Measure the neck diameter of a fired case from your rifle. Then measure one of your loaded cast boolit rounds. Your loaded round should not be larger. This is of course not "the last word" but it gives you a decent idea of where you are.

I load the Lee 160gr 2R TL for my 54R's. With my alloy they drop between .313 and .3135 I use them as cast even in my .3105" GD M39's. I never shot a group at 100 yards with them but they shot 5 in less than an inch at 50 yards and will break clay pigions at 200 with ease.

My "go to" load for super sonic (1850 f/s) is 16gr of Unique. I also use 2400 but I'm still working on that one.

[LAGS]

The reason I say that seating this boolit out longer to just touch the lands, is the boolit is Too Short.
What you gain in stability in the front, you loose in support in the rear.
That is why I went to a NOE 198 gr Spire Point GC and shoot them sized .001 larger than my bore.
I have got less then 1" groups out of both Boolits at 100 yds shot to 1800 FPS.
They could also hit a 24" gong at more than 600 Yards. ( lots of hold over )

[Stearns]

So i gave up on the 155 for now. I think its casting small. I switched back to my lee 185 grain. After cast with ww and pc size to .314 worked awesome at 25 yards over 15 grains 2400 with no gas check. I did multiple loads with the 155 bullet and no good groups at 25 yards and alll over the place. And heavy leading at crown of barell.

[Stearns]

I didnt move out to 50 because ran out of test loads. I have 20 piec3s of brass for the nagant thats it

[LAGS]

I am going to try the Reloader 7 next with the PC'ed boolits.
I am starting with 24 gr with .5gr of Dacron.
I have shot the 200 gr boolit with 26.0 gr already
The Lee 155 have always shot really accurate out of my M-27 with a .310 bore.
I found that rifles that have a looser bore like .313 or .315 tend to like a Heavier Boolit like the 316299 NOE sized to fit the bore.
I think it is because they are a Bore Riding boolit , and the SP boolits dont follow the bore as well.
For sizing, I am using the Lee push thru .314 that I have opened up to .316 for the larger bores.
But I also found that I get more accuracy when I use WW with more Tin added, or Lyman #2 lead.
I think the old rough bores strip off the rifling on the boolit with just straight WW even if you water drop them when casting.
That is one reason I went to PC'ed boolits for the time being for some testing.

[GhostHawk]

You could always try putting a couple of strips of metal foil tape on one side of the mold.

I did this with my .312185 to get it to cast bigger for my Mosin's. It used to drop .3115 or .312, now it drops .3135 or .314.

And it doesn't effect the mold permanently, when you don't need it anymore peel it off.

I agree with you about the bigger bores liking the bigger boolit.

My 185 WAY out-shoots the 155 in both the Mosin's and the SKS.

[ipijohn]

You could always try putting a couple of strips of metal foil tape on one side of the mold.

I did this with my .312185 to get it to cast bigger for my Mosin's. It used to drop .3115 or .312, now it drops .3135 or .314.

And it doesn't effect the mold permanently, when you don't need it anymore peel it off.

I agree with you about the bigger bores liking the bigger boolit.

My 185 WAY out-shoots the 155 in both the Mosin's and the SKS.

I have put a thick coat of powder coat on 312-155's for my grand sons 54R. Have been able to up size .006 then size back down to what shoots well.

[GhostHawk]

Just for curiousity's sake what kind of accuracy you getting out of those PC'd Mosin's?

I see where it is an easy way to both increase size and decrease leading.

I've been working hard with mine to increase accuracy and it is coming, slowly.
They are no where near MOA yet, but they've gone from minute of garbage can (with flyers) to minute of 5 gallon bucket.
The last time we shot it I had my shooting partners young nephew shoot up all my old stock.
Those went into a group that would fit easily into a ice cream bucket at 50 and most would have been inside a 2# coffee can on end.
So good progress, but not there yet. Funny the more I shoot it the better it gets. And the bore has gone from dark to shiny.

The real winner for me was discovering how much the SKS likes them big, sized big, and set slightly long. ( If they just clear the magazine by an 1/8th of an inch they shoot like gangbusters) She seems to thrive on the .312 185 gr cast of range scrap, and sized .312 with a gas check.

[LAGS]

In the Coating Threads, There should be a preliminary comparrision that I did with PC'ed boolits and Lubed Boolits , and I think I was using my Mosin Nagant.
But those were just first loadings, and by no means any kind of worked up load yet.
But they do look to be a under MOA @ 100yds boolit with the right powder and load.

[leadman]

I'm using Lee tumble lube version of the SKS boolit in my 2 Mosin nagants and my SKS. I coat them with 3 coats of Hi-Tek Red Copper and size to fit each gun.
I am using Alliant 300MP powder and am able to get groups hovering around 1" at 100 yards with the MN that I have a pistol scope on.

The SKS was a NOS Norinco I bought right after the 2012 elections. Even being new and full of cosmoline the bore measures .313". I drilled and tapped the receiver cover and put a 4X mil-dot scope on it. With a healthy charge of H4895 it groups around 2"to 3" at 100 yards.

[Stearns]

cardboard target is 100 yards with iron sights. .312 lee 185gr mold. Powder coated with hf red. Sized to .314 no gas.
check. 15 grains of 2400 Some of this could be human error.
same data on the black target just done at 50 yards.

[GhostHawk]

Actually Stearns that looks like my Mosin at 50 yards with the same mold, but not PC'd.

You might try a gas check just to get a square bottom to pc and for the gas to push on.

[LAGS]

Today I loaded up some 7.62x54R with some Lee 155 gr 2R .312 GC boolits.
I plan to get to the range and test them tomorrow, and if Armoredman Brings his camera, maybe he can post pictures of my results.
I loaded up 10 with 20.0 gr of 2400 and 10 with the same load that are powder coated.
I loaded 10 with 23 gr of Reloader 7 with .5gr Dacron filler and 10 with the same load that are Powder Coated.
I think this will give a good side by side comparrison between Lubed and PC'ed boolits.
The boolits with the Reloader 7 are a Base load, and if I get good results from this powder I will be working them up from there.
But I have worked up a load using Reloader 7 for my other MN with a 200 gr .315 boolit using 26.0 gr with a filler.
But that load is still in the work up stages too.

[GhostHawk]

I can't speak for anyone else, but I need to see the following to give it any credence.

True scientific method throughout.

A Pictures
B 100 yard range
C Impartial witness behind the camera.
D a Picture showing the test ammo side by side with the base.
E Preferably an impartial shooter. NOT the guy trying to make a point.

Ideally Rifle would go into a lead sled type setup, 2 targets, 2 types of ammunition, alternate between.
Targets should be labeled before being shot so no confusion over which target is which.
From 5 yards it should be apparent to all what the group sizes are, and which target is which.

I wish you luck, but if you really want to convince me and the other old school types your method is going to have to be impeccable.
Your results clearly marked, and with an impartial witness willing to back up all the claims your making.

[LAGS]

@ Ghosthawk
You will have to take what you get this time.
Targets were shot at 100 yds
Armoredman was the witness.
And Armoredman will post the pictures for me.
I never thought about taking pictures of the loaded ammo.
I do not have a lead sled, so the groups might be a little Larger than if I did have one in a perfect world.
But let the pictures speak for themselves.
They were all three shot groups fired out of a Warm Barrel