Patching for7.62x54R and .30-06?

[jkpq45]

Anyone ever patch for 7.62x54R? Any pitfalls in getting a 150-grain, air-cooled COWW projectile up to the standard 2700 to 2800 FPS using, say, IMR 4895?

Planning on sizing to .309, then patching and sizing to .310, .312 or .314, depending on the rifle. Do you think a LLA/JPW mix is going to be OK for the patch lube? What about straight Olive Oil (too thin??)

Thanks!
jkpq45

[dnepr]

I have been playing with patching for my mosin , I am working with a lee 200 gr I have tried a couple groups but nothing good yet I can,t get the patch past the ogive and keep the base above the shoulder with this long of a boolit so a lighter/shorter boolit may be the answer , considering my mosin does its best with Russian light ball the lighter boolit may work well. I am sizing to .303 and patching to .314,my bore is .3015 -302 / .312. I am getting 2350 fps over the chrono with 47 gr of H4350 but pie plate groups at 25 yards , more work to do yet

[Nobade]

Try slower powder. I am having great results with WW780 in the Nagant and the 30-06. Almost a case full with a little BPI shot buffer on top to make a compressed load. 200gr. Lee in the 30-06, 165 gr. Ranch Dog in the M-N. Both sized to .303", M-N uses printer paper to make .315", 30-06 uses onionskin paper for .309". Oh, and magnum primers.

[geargnasher]

PP likes SLOOOOW powders, ones at the slowest burn rate listed for equal-weight copper-jacketed bullets or even more slow than that. This is where the surplus .50 powders and magnum cartridge powders excel. The surplus powders are a lot cheaper to shoot, and you can go through a lot of it at 50-60-grains a pop.

Gear

[pdawg_shooter]

As said above, the slower the better. I get my best results with a powder that gives as near as possible to 100% load density. This calls for slower powders than are normally used with cast. If you can find a powder that will give you the velocity you want at 100% load density you are well on the way to the perfect load.

[jkpq45]

Hi pdawg et all, thanks for all your advice.

When you say "100% load density," do you mean "choose a powder that fills the case?"

If so, I think I'm tracking with you. Rel17 and Alliant 4000-MR are on my bench...

[edwin41]

still in the development of my load , but im getting decent results with 19.5 gr of aa 5477 powder in my 6.5x55 mm .
maby its worth a try?

[pdawg_shooter]

I prefer a powder that requires a bit of compression by the bullet (105% or so). Get the best accuracy that way. My most accurate 30-30 load is near 110% of 4350 with a 210gr bullet. Not real fast but scary accuracy.

[dnepr]

I prefer a powder that requires a bit of compression by the bullet (105% or so). Get the best accuracy that way. My most accurate 30-30 load is near 110% of 4350 with a 210gr bullet. Not real fast but scary accuracy.

and probably go through a moose stem to stern!

[yeahbub]

PP is just about the only thing that goes thru mine. The boolits used in my Mosin (.311 groove) are the Lee 163gr TL for the 7.62x39 and an old H&G 175gr spitzer that only shoots well when paper patched, since the PP support functionally shortens the unsupported ogive length. They are quenched WW, sized .309, patched with two wraps of 100% rag drafting vellum from halfway up the ogive to the heel and glued paper-on-paper with laundry starch (won't stick to lead) or a touch of wood glue. Tumble lubed with LLA and a few drops of Meguiar's Carnauba (liquid, no cleaners), which keeps them from being tacky/sticky to the touch when dry and sized .312 which yields .313 dia. The load is 48gr of Reloader 15, slightly slower than IMR 4895. I had gone as high as 50gr, but they seemed to be more accurate with the gentler load. They shoot to the point of aim at 125 yards, so I have to believe they're near ball ammo in velocity. IMR 4895 will do the same job, no doubt.

I've never used straight olive oil, though some BP scheutzen guys seem to favor it. I have no idea how smokeless propellants would respond to it or how long it will be lubricative in loaded ammo.

[dnepr]

Well picked up a pound of H-4831 so once my reloading gear gets moved to the new house I will be trying some of that for pp 7.62x54r ,

[Hardcast416taylor]

I have only done 2 boxes of PP loaded M/N 7.62 ammo. I used H-4831 powder entry level loads for similar weighted jacketed bullets to start. I am using an RCBS .30 cal. 180 gr. FN bullet. I size to .308 then wet wrap with 20# copier paper. After drying I put a light coating of JPW on the jacket before running them nose first thru a .315" sizer. No further lube is put on the jacket from loading to firing. I determined seating depth by seating a bullet in an empty case and chambering it to seat the bullet at the rifleing. I back off this depth several thou. and try chambering again. If I get a snug fit closure I load the ammo at this setting, if I have to jump on the bolt to close it I will back off the seating a tad more. Using CCI std. primers I am getting 8 - 10" groups at 100 yds. at the present. Load developement may shrink this grouping.Robert

[singleshot]

Why aren't you guys sizing to bore diameter or just over and patching to groove?

[singleshot]

Hey Nobade, did you give up on Cream of Wheat? What's the advantage of shot buffer?

[dnepr]

Why aren't you guys sizing to bore diameter or just over and patching to groove?

I am pretty much , I don't know if it is super important but that is what I am sticking with for now

[Nobade]

Hey Nobade, did you give up on Cream of Wheat? What's the advantage of shot buffer?

Hi there!
Nope, I still like the COW. But I have been informed that some unfortunate folks live where there is actually moisture in the air, and eventually the COW will form a hard plug. So I began trying the shot buffer, and like it perhaps a bit more. It is more of a lubricant and seems to flow through a bottleneck case a bit better than COW, though it will still clump up if the pressure is too high and the bottleneck too extreme.

My next thing to try, per Veral Smith's suggestion, is used coffee. Dry it in an oven after it is brewed, and use for filler. I am curious to see how it behaves, but have every reason to think it should work quite well. Plus I bet it smells better than COW when it burns. We shall see.