7.62X54R Finn .308/.311

[Jeffreytooker]

I have a M/N Finn. The barrel is a new Tikka 44. It lists at .3095". I shoots Polish surp ammo quite well. Were these rifle designed to shoot .311 ammo? The reason I ask is that in the near future I want to start loading for the Finn. I have both .308 and .311 bullets. The reason I ask is that I shoot this rifle in cool weather and I get no pressure signs. On hot summer days the bolt is sticky and it splits a case (steel) every once and a while. I can shoot the ammo in my M/N 44 if it will not work in the Finn.

Jeffrey Tooker
Paynes Ck. Ca.

[Wayne Smith]

I'll jump in here and say to slug your barrel. You can do this with a pear shaped sinker if you have no soft bullets available. If you have a bullet, squeeze it in a vice or bop it on the nose with a hammer a time or two to make sure it is larger than your bore. Oil it and your bore good and tap it into the muzzle with a plastic face or brass face hammer. Get a brass rod from your hardware store that is long enough to drive it through the barrel. DO NOT USE A WOODEN DOWEL. Put a few wraps of duct tape around the rod in a few places to keep it centered in the barrel and ram the slug through. Now you have a negative of your bore. Measure it and make your decision.

[RU shooter]

I have a M/N Finn. The barrel is a new Tikka 44. It lists at .3095". I shoots Polish surp ammo quite well. Were these rifle designed to shoot .311 ammo? The reason I ask is that in the near future I want to start loading for the Finn. I have both .308 and .311 bullets. The reason I ask is that I shoot this rifle in cool weather and I get no pressure signs. On hot summer days the bolt is sticky and it splits a case (steel) every once and a while. I can shoot the ammo in my M/N 44 if it will not work in the Finn.

Jeffrey Tooker
Paynes Ck. Ca. Yes they were designed to shoot Red Army captured ball ammo which was on avg. .310 dia I say average because there was a war going on at the time. Finnish rifles normally have tighter bores than their Russian counterparts but were designed to shoot the same ammo. Steel cased ammo and sticky bolts in the summer are fairly common same with case splits depending on what country made the ammo CZ is famous for sticky bolt syndrome and Polish is known for case splitting among others also. Most milsurp 54R ammo was loaded at or near max. pressures and has copper washed steel jacket with a very thin layer of lead over a steel core ,pressures are normally higher shooting this type of ball ammo as opposed to your standard copper jacket and lead core bullet . If your going to reload commercial .310-.312 dia. jacketed bullets you'll be fine. BUT all this can be rectified by just loading some REAL BOOLITS in that nice Finn ,your shoulder will thank your for it and your accuracy will probably increase dramaticly over the milsurp ball your shooting now

[Jeffreytooker]

Yes they were designed to shoot Red Army captured ball ammo which was on avg. .310 dia I say average because there was a war going on at the time. Finnish rifles normally have tighter bores than their Russian counterparts but were designed to shoot the same ammo. Steel cased ammo and sticky bolts in the summer are fairly common same with case splits depending on what country made the ammo CZ is famous for sticky bolt syndrome and Polish is known for case splitting among others also. Most milsurp 54R ammo was loaded at or near max. pressures and has copper washed steel jacket with a very thin layer of lead over a steel core ,pressures are normally higher shooting this type of ball ammo as opposed to your standard copper jacket and lead core bullet . If your going to reload commercial .310-.312 dia. jacketed bullets you'll be fine. BUT all this can be rectified by just loading some REAL BOOLITS in that nice Finn ,your shoulder will thank your for it and your accuracy will probably increase dramaticly over the milsurp ball your shooting now

RU:

Thank you for all of the good info above. Below is a quote from one of the moderators of the 7.62X54R site in answer to my question.

<<<The Finnish ammo was .310. While typically a thousandth or two over isn't a problem, if you're showing signs of pressure I think I'd look for different ammo. Some of the Eastern Bloc surplus is .310. Check the ammo page and maybe you can find some available and give it a try.

Regards,
Ted>>>

I have just started to shoot the Finn. We have a 24" square at 500M, and the Finn can ring it whenever I do my part. I will have a bullit load before the hot weather. There are those out at the range with their Springfields and Mausers who need a little 500M humility. I will shoot it for a while with J******d bullits. I have already showed them what Boolits will do in a 308W at 300M. There are three of us now setting up to shoot Boolits in ironsighted Springfields. I have not shot Boolits at 500M. But I have a 214 gr Egan in .311 which just might do it. I am really impressed with the Finn. It seems to hold its own with other military bolt rifles.

If the weather clears I will take the rearsenaled 44 to the range on friday and see what it will do. I am having entirley too much fun.

Jeffrey Tooker
Paynes Ck Ca.

[fireflyfather]

wooden dowels cut into sections work just fine. a long dowel uncut is a no-no.

[jack19512]

wooden dowels cut into sections work just fine. a long dowel uncut is a no-no.





Wood dowels is what I use, cut into sections about one foot lengths. Never any problems.

[EMC45]

Wood it is for me too.

[txpete]

the finn's did make a few that were a bit different on bore dia.
the 28/30's used a .3085 and the M-28 sig .3095.
I picked up this minty sig at the gunshow years ago as the old man said the head space was off.said he fired a round of milsurp and had one hell of a time getting the bolt to open.:mrgreen::mrgreen:
the m-28 isn't "D" marked.long story short I have sent a bunch of boolits down range and no signs of pressure:-D.
pete
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/txpete/2007_1222m280010.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/txpete/2007_1222m280002.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/txpete/2007_1222m280004.jpg

[pa_guns]

Hi

We get very concerned these days about bore diameter. It didn't always work that way. WWII MN's come with bores from below .307 to above .314. The bullets used by various sides range from .308 past .311. They made them in everything that was handy.

In military use they didn't blow up rifles. They didn't skimp on loading the ammo. The MN is not supremely strong. They didn't have some magic secret sauce. In terms of *safety* you can get away with some interesting diameter mis-matches. You have to chamber and throat so it will work, but that can be done ...

The obvious problem is that all this is not going to give you the best accuracy. That keeps most people from running crazy long throats these days.

Bob

[LIMPINGJ]

Pete that sure is a nice looking rifle. Have you done any work to the stock to get that finish? My 39 looks new but the stock is very dull, still a great rifle.

[Three44s]

I think you are on the right track ........ ie. baby that Finn! ...... and shoot your "44" with the ammo that the Finn does not like.

Short of using boolits in your Finn ........

I tried this with my first handloads ........

I loaded .308 Win 150 gr. power points in S&B cases and a starting load of Varget. (I am gonna switch to Graffs brass soon)

I shot these in a Ruskie M38.

By the time I got into the middle of the load range (between start and max) ....... I was smacking golf balls at 50 yds with the original iron sights .........!

Nine rounds and my load development was OVER! ..................

So point is that sometimes what the book says ..... this size in this barrel is gospel may well be but this particular time .......... 'ole Murphy was out to lunch .................!

After all pretty is as pretty does!

Enjoy that Finn! ............ and someday when I stumble into the right hole in the wall ....... I will drag my OWN Finn home ............ to go along with the pasal of Ruskies I have already.

Three 44s

[txpete]

Pete that sure is a nice looking rifle. Have you done any work to the stock to get that finish? My 39 looks new but the stock is very dull, still a great rifle.

I haven't done a thing to this rifle but shoot it.:-D I have a M-39 B barrel which the stock is a post war and has a dull finish on it??? and a 42 sako M-39 in a war time stock which is totally different finish on that ol war horse.

B barrel
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/txpete/2007_1016m390002.jpg

sako
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/txpete/2007_1016m390004.jpg

[pa_guns]

....l which the stock is a post war and has a dull finish on it??? ...

Hi

Both of my post war (1960's) Finns have dull finishes on the stocks. Apparently that's the way they did them.

Bob

[Ricochet]

Apparently what they were finished with is a 1:1:1 mixture of turpentine, linseed oil and pine tar, from discussions on the milsurpshooter.net and Gunboards fora. A good source of pine tar in small quantities is farm stores, as it's used for treating horses' hoof problems. The mixture's an old water resistant finish popular for use on and around wooden boats, so they say. People who've tried the 1:1:1 turpentine/linseed oil/beeswax mixture popular for furniture often add some brown dye stain to it to get the color better matched.

[pa_guns]

Hi

I wonder where they would get pine tar and turpentine in Finland? :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Bob

[floodgate]

Cross-country ski shops sell pine tar for the older, wooden bottom skis, as a base for the waxes. We used to have a "pine-tar party" about Thanksgiving every year, scraping down last year's accumulation and re-tarring, ironing it into the wood with an old electric iron or torch with a spreader. The smell really brings back those memories!

floodgate

[Freightman]

Picked this up at a estate sale, it is a Finn capture that has been scoped, not a real sniper but shoots great with cast boolits MOA at 100 yds not as good with surplus and as stated sticky bolt in summer.
I got it for $175 and it came with a wooden case of Russian copper washed ammo.

[pa_guns]

Hi

Looks like you got a pretty good deal there.

Bob

[Ricochet]

If you use the recipe I gave above, you can have a re-tarred Finn Mosin. :mrgreen: