Mould size question

[KsPete]

Hello everyone, this is my first post here. I’ve been lurking for awhile, trying to gain an education in boolit casting. I’m also new to reloading. All I’ve loaded so far is 50 rounds of .38 special for practice with my .357 snubnose revolver. I haven’t had a chance to try them yet.

I have a Russian M44 that I’d like to reload for. I’ve read posts indicating that the Russian rifles have bores ranging around .309 to .315 and larger. I’ve slugged mine several times and nearly as I can tell with my cheap General dial calipers, the grooves measure out at .309 and the lands are slightly less than .300. Does this sound right?

I would like to buy a 150 or 185 grain Lee mould for it. I also have a couple of SKS’s I’ll eventually be loading for. Would a C312-155-2R, and a .309 resizing die cover both rifles adequately? Thanks.

[kodiak1]

You might want to size one or two thou larger than your slug.
Ken.

[Buckshot]

............KsPete, A hearty welcome to the board. Thanks for finally coming in out of the cold :-)

If your M44 truely goes .300"x.309 you have a very unique specimen there. You may find that a regular 7.62x54R size die may not work real well in the neck area. I believe you can use a 308 Lee collet die (correct me if I'm wrong guys!) with a spacer under the collet sleeve to make up the difference in length.

Once you get the (possible) die issue sorted out you'll be in excellent shape so far as boolit mould sellection goes. With those barrel dimensions you'll be able to use most any 30 cal mould.

.................." I would like to buy a 150 or 185 grain Lee mould for it. I also have a couple of SKS’s I’ll eventually be loading for. Would a C312-155-2R, and a .309 resizing die cover both rifles adequately?"...................

If your SKS's go no more then .312" in the groove that Lee boolit design would be a dandy. Seems most everytone whose tried it in an SKS capable of decent accuracy gets well, .............decent accuracy with it.

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

[KsPete]

Thanks, Buckshot & Kodiak.

I slugged the barrel no less than 5 times, twice with fishing sinkers and three times with 5/16" pure lead slugs I cast in a wooden mold. I came up with the same results for all of them. I might invest in a good micrometer just to make sure. (It would come in handy for other things, anyway.) The rifling in this M44 is well defined, and the rest of the rifle seems to be in very nice condition, so maybe it hasn't been shot much. I haven't slugged the SKS's yet but I plan to.