Need a .316" mold I think. Ideas?

[Carteach0]

Among what I load for is a 7.62x54 Mosin M44. My 91/30's shoot pretty nice
but this M44 is more like a shot gun that a rifle.

I slugged the bore this evening.

.315"!

Uhh...... I ain't got a thing for this little old Mil-surp.

I'd like to shoot cast from this little beastie but the closest I have is .313"
for my .303 british and 7.62x54 91/30's.

Thoughts?

[mag_01]

:coffee: ------Carteacho----this one is pretty easy---Beagle your mold (aluminum duct tape)---Half beagle or full beagle depending on the size you would like. A .314 die can be opened up to .315 or .316---Thats what I have done for a 303 that wants a .3155 boolit works well---Tape can be found at hardware store about .003 thick--The opened die will still work well after you open it up---Emery paper and steel rod will do the trick---Good luck with your project.--Mag.

[Leftoverdj]

I've got one, relic of a group buy by an unknown group. C316-220-RF without going out to my shop to check. Not interested in selling it, but I'll swap for a GC mould casting around .320 and 200 grains, or I'll lend it out for a couple of weeks.

[JeffinNZ]

Jim at CBE in Australia does at least one.

www.castbulletengineering.bigpondhosting.com

Great moulds.

[Carteach0]

Leftoverdj..... thanks for the offer of the loan, and I wish I had a trade for you.
Have to pass on both for now.

I think I'll try the beagling and see how I do. Lapping the LEE mold got me from
.312" to .3135" and thats as far as I want to try lapping. It's starting to lose
some definition on the bands.

I checked out CBE, and it looks like they some interesting stuff! $100 a pair for mold blocks..... I'll haveto get much more serious before I'll do that. Only paid $90 for teh rifle.

Off to the home supply this evening after I vote!

[sundog]

Seems like the Fatter 30 would be the ticket for this. I cast some a month or so ago, and some more Sunday past. Last year I lapped a Ly .314 H&I out to .316+ and it will just barely shine a spot on the part line of these boolits. They are a snug slip fit in fired .303 cases. Loading with 20 grains 4227 and gonna shoot in the mil bolt match this Saturday. Sailman -- you listening?

Carteach, if you don't have any success elsewhere, I'm sure either me or another one of the fine gentlemen on this board could send you some to try, for the postage. sundog

[kywoodwrkr]

carteach0,
Try shooting the M44 with the bayonet extended.
It is repeated often on the MN forums that these rifles had a tendency to pattern rather than group.
The bayonet extended seemed to correct some of this.
I have not tried this with any of my M44s so cannot speak from experience.
But it doesn't cost anything to try.
FWIW.
DaveP kywoodwrkr

[floodgate]

I shot a newly-acquired M44 with some loads hastily assembled from the 16 grs. Red Dot and #311407's lubed with LA. Remembered you are supposed to leave the bayonet extended, and ended up with a thoroughly lead-plated blade. (Too small diameter, plus only one coat of LA.) It actually took more time and effort to clean the bayonet than to de-lead the barrel. Next up, the "fatter thirty" and proper lubing.

floodgate

[JeffinNZ]

CARTEACH0: don't forget that's a AUD100.00 though not USD.

Still, see your point.

[Buckshot]

...............The very first Mosin Nagant I bought was back in the early 90's from SOG for $39. I was ordering a couple other rifles and the sales being said they had them on sale, so I said ship one. It was a Finn pickup, finger joined stock and counterbored muzzle.

I couldn't get that scudder to shoot really well with anything. Boxer primed brass was an issue then too :-)! Along after all that effort sometime, I decided to try paper patching the Lyman 311284. After having just patched 45 cal slugs those 30's were tiny and hard to work with at first. I forget now how many I patched up, but it was probably only 20 or so.

I have the data in my book, but without going out to check I recall it as being that over worked dimension of maybe 1" at 50 yards? In any regard it was VERY rewarding accuracy and the best I'd ever gotten from ANY milsurp. The slugs had the GC put on and then run into a .309" die just enough to crimp it on. Then they got patched with 9# onionskin. IIRC they measured like .317".

However I wasn't interested enough to spend the time paper patching 30 cal slugs for just general shooting. What it did prove to me was that the rifle certainly had the mechanical accuracy to be a fine shooter. The cast slug I had on hand at that time for such rifles and shooting bare cast lead was the Lyman 314299. Since then I have aquired a couple possibly more useable designs in the recent group buy "Fat 30's" plus Nu-Judge's slug that drops at .318". All those years in between, it has been a safe queen.

I hope it's not the case but it could be that the barrel isn't going to be able to handle a bare cast lead slug. Adding that paper patch puts a very tough skin on a cast slug that will handle many bore issues a naked one won't. With these fatter slugs this rifle becomes another one of those "One of these days" type projects!

..................Buckshot

[Carteach0]

Buckshot,

That Finn mosin is likely worth $2-300 right now. Nice gain on $40!

I tried paper patching once, on a 45/70 H+R. I can frustrate myself
MUCH easier than that!