7.62 x 54R 1st loads

[Tom-ADC]

I have some 311466 lyman gas checked boolits and using new brass cases I settled on 12.4 grs of Unique and with the 311291 same powder type & charge. do up 10 each and then 10 each using 2400 311466 boolit 23.5 & 311291 22. 0 grs was going to use 23.5 in both but thats just under max with the 311291 boolit.
Then off to the range.
I do have some of the surplus powder from the pulled bullets, that bullet had 46.4 grs of powder in it so I was going to drop to 30 grs and load a 10 each up.

[Rangefinder]

Sounds like a great start to me. I've played with 2400 on my 173gr. GC boolits, and they weren't bad. What mine REALLY likes is 25gr. IMR 4895. The funnest and most accurate plinking load I have is 13gr. Red Dot.

Looking forward to the range report. ;) :cbpour:

[Boolseye]

I'm gonna get some Red Dot for my next powder purchase. Then I will try that load, RF.
16 grains 2400 over 160 gr. GC boolit = 1600fps and good accuracy (great out of the .308, good out of the 91/30. .308, sized to .309, 91/30, sized to .314, Lee push through sizers also apply the gas checks. 30 grains of Varget is only another 100 fps, +/-

[Tom-ADC]

My old copy of Lyman loading manual 45th edition shows some nice loads using 2400, but Unique & 2400 are the only powders they use for cast boolits.

[res45]

Currently I just shooting the 16.0 grs. of 2400 and 13.0 gr. Red Dot loads in my M44 with the Lee .312 TL GC bullet,accuracy is beyond anything I could have imagined.

I'm going to try some higher velocity loads at some point but it will probably be next spring before I get into that,to many other project on the burner.

Good luck at the range looking forward to seeing your results.

[Tom-ADC]

I settled on 23.6 grs of 2400 for both boolits now I need to get to the range.
Rifle cleaned up nice, I have 400 rounds of Yugo non magnetic 187 grain I'm going to try also.

[res45]

I settled on 23.6 grs of 2400 for both boolits now I need to get to the range.
Rifle cleaned up nice, I have 400 rounds of Yugo non magnetic 187 grain I'm going to try also.

Tom I have about 250 rds. left of the same Yugo ammo,it shot really well out of my M44 groups averaged around 3" at 100 yds. with the iron before I mounted the scope I'm sure they will do much better now that I have a better view. It's a darn shame that the Yugo brass is berdan primed,it's some good stuff made by PPU. Hope more of that stuff comes on the market.

[roots911]

I have been shooting the noe 316299 sized to .315 over 13 grains of red dot in my 91/30 and it holds under 2 minutes at 100 yards all day long. Pleasant to shoot and its fun to watch the other guys on the line shake their heads in amazement that my "relic" shoots as well or better than their expensive iron. I use PPU brass and neck size only. I have probably run over 350 rounds thru it so far.

Good luck with it and have fun.

Frank

[Boolseye]

I'm in the same camp as you guys. I modified my .308 Lee neck size die for the 7.62x54. I have 60 cases, some of which I've already reloaded 4x. I've had the Nagent for about a month and a half :)

[Rangefinder]

Personally, I'm having a kicking time casting for mine--plink all day and it's like popping off with a loud .22lr... I'll tell you where I'm REALLY starting to enjoy it though. I originally bought this one for working up long range with a mil-surp. 1000+ with any of my custom Remingtons is almost boring these days, so I looked long and hard for a mosin with potential to see how far I could push it. I picked up 1000 pulled 147gr. steel cores, weighed them out and separated, and have been toying with them just a little as time allows. Currently I have 46gr. H380 pushing the 148gr-148.2gr lot into reeeeally nice groups. Best so far was a 3-shot at 200 yards that was under 1", worst was only 2 1/4". On 100 yards with the weighed lots loaded it will shoot sub-MOA without even trying. My big challenge at the moment is finding someplace to stretch it out now--the only place I have to get out beyond about 250 is 45 minutes away and can't be accessed at all once the snow flies.

These old Russian workhorses are just too much fun to be had. :D

[Tom-ADC]

Since the press is set up I'm going to do a few with the surplus powder just for grins.

[Boolseye]

These old Russian workhorses are just too much fun to be had.
Couldn't agree more. Nice gun for any price, let alone $100. Mine is accurate as hell.

[1Shirt]

"The Load", 13 gr of Red Dot will always work as a start in my experiance!
1Shirt!

[Tom-ADC]

Just loaded 10 up using my steel cases and saved surplus powder from them, 30 grs of powder and 160 gr cast boolit.
Now I just need to get to the range.

[toolz568]

Tom,

I have the same mold and put bullets all over the paper. My rifle is very accurate with BT's and 7N1's, but not with the 311466 gc cast boolits. My Lee C312-155 work better. I am using 16-24gr. of 2400. what is your most accurate load and max COL?

O Gotz

[Tom-ADC]

Been out of town, have all this ammo loaded up but haven't shot a single round yet, soon I hope.

[Larry Gibson]

Tom-ADC

That pulldown surplus powder will probably do better (if the flat squarish european type powder or extruded type) with a 1/2 - 3/4 gr dacron filler with such reduced loads and that light of a cast bullet. You'll get more consistent ignition and thus, probably better accuracy.

Larry Gibson

[odfairfaxsub]

i have never done anygood in any mosin with 2400 over 21.0 grains of powder. usually i do great with 18.0 with a 155-180 gr bullet and 21.0 gr with a 155 alone. in the 91-30- m44- 28-76 types

[Rangefinder]

2400 has not impressed me in my mosin as well. It really likes "The Load" (13gr Red Dot) under the Lee 160gr (mine finishes at 173gr with GC) and 25gr. IMR4895.

[Bodydoc447]

Has anyone tried the NOE 314 129 SP in a mosin yet? I am trying to get to the casting pot towards that end but have not made it yet.

Thanks,

Doc

[reloading noob]

As my names states I am very new to this. Question is has anyone came up with a load that is accurate that also reduces felt recoil? My 8 year old would like to shoot my 91/30 but I know for sure he will land on his backside.

[WRideout]

I used a different case, .300 Sav, but it's approximately the same capacity. In years past, when I had a decent Savage 99, I would load a .22 case full of green dot, no filler, under a 170 gr cast, for plinking. At short range, shooting offhand, I could get cloverleaf groups out of it. Couple of cautionary notes: When using this small of a powder charge, it won't work if the case is very big. A dacron or equivalent filler might help. You will also need to work up the load like usual to be sure the charge will actually get the boolit out of that long barrel. With a charge this light, it could be sensitive to outside temperature, so I would test it under summer and winter conditions, to be sure it won't misfire when it is extremely cold.

Plinking loads are fun, and the kids like them. Recoil is almost nonexistant, but you still get a satisfying "bang".

Wayne

[Larry Gibson]

As my names states I am very new to this. Question is has anyone came up with a load that is accurate that also reduces felt recoil? My 8 year old would like to shoot my 91/30 but I know for sure he will land on his backside.

Get a box of the Hornady .32 swaged lead SWC bullets. Load them over 3.2 gr of Bullseye. That will give 800-900 fps depending on barrel and excellent accuracy through 100+ yards. Recoil with be a total non issue and the noise level is very low. it is an excellent plinking, gallery and small game load. If you fired cases inside neck diameter is .314 or less you don't have to even resize tem. I just wipe the cases off with a rag or paper towel, deprime, reprime, charge with powder and thumb push the bullets in (some will require a seating die). I have fired such cases 50+ times without ever having to resized the necks.

If those bullets work out the Lee TL314-90-SWC is a duplicate. You can cast them out of most any scrap alloy and very lightly tumble lube with LLA for the same results as the Hornadys.

Your 8 year old will love shooting them, you will love shooting them and your wife will love shooting them also. Be warned though you may find yourself on the loading end and not getting to shoot many yourself:holysheep

Larry Gibson

[Linstrum]

Hey, Larry, thanks for posting your low recoil quiet recipes. I see you have had the same experience I have with how to shoot cheap but accurately.

I've been shooting 91/30 Mosin-Nagants since 1964 (no, that doesn't make me an expert, just old :>). My two favorite non-full house loads use the Lee C185-312-1R boolit pushed out the bore with 13 grains Red Dot, or a full case of WC860 with 4 grains IMR4895 over the flash hole to get the mummies all burned up. Those two are very good, with the Red Dot load being the cheapest and the WC860/IMR4895 being the most accurate. The accuracy of either is actually pretty darned good, though.

Another favorite of mine in any of the .30 and .31 caliber milsurp rifles is a 0.312" 45 grain round ball pushed with ~ 4 grains of Bullseye, Red Dot, Green Dot, 700X, Unique, or any other of the fast shot shell and pistol powders. No case filler is needed, but I use the muzzle-up before firing maneuver to get consistent accuracy from shot to shot. The point of aim - point of impact is off a bit from where 125-200 grain boolits and bullets normally land. I compensate by painting a new rear sight mark with some copier white out, I recall that the new mark must be to the left of the original rear sight notch. I do that instead of moving the rear sight over because moving the rear sight in a rifle other than a Garand is a royal pain between the hip pockets.

rl 1021

[Janoosh]

I've read Larry Gibson's responses as a lurker and that was a major learning experience. I now shoot a 32 cal SWC pistol boolit in my FR7, 308 Cetme (nato?) with Green Dot and find very good groups at 50yds and NO recoil. Simply done and lots of fun.

[Rangefinder]

I've read Larry Gibson's responses as a lurker and that was a major learning experience. I now shoot a 32 cal SWC pistol boolit in my FR7, 308 Cetme (nato?) with Green Dot and find very good groups at 50yds and NO recoil. Simply done and lots of fun.

Yup, I started putting together 93gr RN from my .32 ACP over 4gr. Red Dot as pest-control for my AK some time ago. It turned it into a quiet, hard-hitting pellet gun that does a quick job of keeping skunk and coon visitors under control. I cast up a pile before I milled down my mold to drop 80gr. and still have a few left, but I'm going to either have to pick up another 93gr. mold or try the 80's... Should be fun either way.

[res45]

+1 on the .314 LSWC I don't have a mold for that bullet so I've been using the Hornady 32 Cal .314 90 gr. SWC bullet a friend gave me a box of over 5 grs. of Bullseye. Accuracy is excellent out to around 25 yds. that's a far as I've tested it.

On a side note I didn't find the 16.0 gr. load of 2400 or 13.0 grs. Red Dot load using the Lee .312 TL 160 gr. bullet had any real felt recoil although velocity is pretty decent,the rifles weight seem to soak it up pretty well and accuracy at least in my rifle with these two loads is better than I could have imagined.

[Pigslayer]

Casting a LEE 312-155-2R gr for the 91/30. Using Accurate 5744. Any pet loads with this out there?

[Linstrum]

Hi, Pigslayer, the Lee 312-155-2R and Lee 312-160-2R are fairly recent newcomers. I got those two molds for my AK47 pretty recently and I haven't had time to try them in any of my several Mosin-Nagants. Should work fine and maybe even carry a bit more energy down range with their slightly better aerodynamic shape.

Check the weight of your particular Lee 312-155-2R, I seem to recall that the actual as-cast weight is up around 170 grains using wheel weights. That doesn't hurt anything as far as being an excellent boolit, but it could help in preventing pressure problems in high-end loads. For practical purposes, cast boolit rifle loads should be around ~ 2000 feet per second, although it is actually pretty easy to get cast loads up around 2800 to 3000 feet per second when special attention is given to powder choice, lubrication, and bore fit in a rifle that has a really nice bore finish AND a long enough barrel. A 91/30 has a plenty long enough barrel - nice rifle, too, I have five of them.

Good Luck!

rl 1,055

[Pigslayer]

My 312-155-2R is dropping bullets at 143.1. Checked against two different beam scales. My bullets always seen to run light.
My mix is 1.5lbs. 30/70 Superhard from Rotometals, 1lb. 50/50 from Rotometals & 7lbs. pure lead. Percentage: 5.26% Tin, 4.74% Antimony & 90% Lead giving me a Brinell hardnes of 14.5. That's real close to a Lyman #2 which has a Brinell Hardness of 15. This is interesting. Just checked & W/W composition is .5% Tin, 3.0% Antimony & 96.3% Lead. That's the reason yours are running heavier.:2_high5: