Mosin Nagant shot out?

[ghh3rd]

My son brought over his Mosin Nagant this evening so I could help him slug it. It mic’d at exactly .315”. Worse is that there were only very shallow grooves on the slug.

I hope that he can find some commercial bullets to fit, but it doesn’t seem to me to be a candidate for cast boolits as he was hoping. It must have seen heavy duty.

Anyone had experience getting one like this to shoot?

Thanks

Randy

[nagantguy]

I’ve one that size that shoots fairly well with the lee 312-185, I put a piece of aluminum tape
Between the blocks and powdercoat and size at 315 ,luckily on this one the throat would accept that large a boolit. Or size down to size some 318 boolits . Or maybe go way out and try some
Paper patching

[nicholst55]

NOE offers molds that cast a nominal .316". You should determine what the throat diameter is before investing in a new mold, though.

[ghh3rd]

Thanks for that information, I did just read where somebody is paper patching for their .315 bore.

If anyone would be willing to send some sample boolits, I’d be glad to pay the postage and for the cost of their materials. I’d rather try some out before investing in molds, dies, sizers and gas checks etc., to see if it’s even feasible to shoot cast bullets with his rifle.

I have beagled a mold in the past with success, and have been tinkering with powder coating... both good ideas.

It’s nice to know there still might be hope for him to shoot his rifle with cast boolits .

[ghh3rd]

By the way, how does one check throat diameter.

Thanks

[KLR]

I have one with a horrible bore and a large throat. A .319" bullet fits the throat and the neck of the chamber still has enough room to expand and release the bullet.

So first you need to measure your chamber neck and throat area.

The bullet I use is a Lyman # 319247.

To measure the chamber you can either do an impact cast or get some Cerrosafe and cast it that way.

[303Guy]

I have a rifle (not a Mosin) with a bore like that although the bore is not rough, just worn. It shoots paper patched boolits just fine, with near MOA groups at 100m. That was with a throat fitting paper patched boolit. The boolit base shank fits a fired case neck firmly. The rifle itself is a 18 hundred something Martini 303 carbine barrelled MLE.

I also have a 'rust enlarged' bore SMLE carbine with a sewer pipe bore, something like .307/318 that actually shoots with paper patched. Not exactly bug hole groups but a pig would be in trouble. Mind you, I do have a light boolit and load that would hit rabbits in the head at rabbit ranges.

How does the bore look and measure from throat to muzzle? My Martini barreled carbine bore improves toward the muzzle but washes out a bit at the end.

[Bookworm]

I have a 1930 Hex Izzy 91/30. I slugged the bore at .315.

The bore is dark, lightly pitted, but has good rifling.

Before I cast for it, I used Hornady .312 150gr Spire Point, designed for the .303. I used "The Load", 13gr Red Dot (Promo, in my case). It shot well enough, with 3.5" 10-shot groups at 100yds with iron sights.

I now use the NOE 316-213 RN, which is his version of the 312299 with a larger diameter. I cast with CWW + 1%Sn. They drop at .3165 - .317. Checked and lubed they are 214.5gr avg.

I didn't do a chamber cast, but I do know that any loaded cartridge with a neck diameter of over .338 will not chamber.

I have a few cast, lubed with 45/45/10, sized to .316, checked and lubed with TAC lube.

Pm me your address, I'll send you a couple dozen.

[Les Staley]

Bookworm, PM sent

[ghh3rd]

Thanks for the help Bookworm.. I have PM’d my address.

[am44mag]

Welcome to the world of old milsurps where bore dimensions were just a suggestion. I have a T99 Arisaka with a bore of 0.3165". Still looking for a good mold for it, and thinking of trying to size down some 0.318" jacketed bullets. The bore looks brand new. Shines like a mirror. Not shot out at all.

[jugulater]

Mosins are well known to vary all over the place. Ive had a bunch and they slugged between .312 to .316 for Guns with Good rifling.

The Best Boolit i can suggest for older .30 cal Rifles like the Mosin is the 314-202-RN from NOE Molds, i have one that drops boolits just slightly over .315, some get shot as cast, others get sized for tighter guns like my 1891 Argentine and my 30-40 Krag.

Although that Mold wont do too well in your rifle because of its groove diameter, But NOE offers the same design in .316 (mentioned above by BookWorm) which i also own and use in a 1936 Tula Ex-Sniper with a extremely worn completely, black on the inside barrel. the wear is so bad there is basically No rifling at all in front of the chamber, and Surplus/Factory ammo keyholes and shoots 6 foot groups at 100 yards. I get around 4" groups at 100 Yards out of this gun with the NOE boolit, which im certain is the best it can do due to the amount of action this poor old Mosin has seen. If The mosin you got there has at least decent rifling youll see much better results.