Newbie Needs some help with 7.62x54r

[IT Hitman]

Hello all.

I am a long time lurker and first time poster on these forums.

I have been reloading for 3 years and casting for roughly 2 years. I recently got into the swagging .224 out of .22lr brass and I have a full set of dies for such. Normally i cast for my 45 ACP and my .223 Rem however I have taken on a new toy and I need some help from more experienced people.

I recently decided to bite the bullet so to say and I bought a Mosin Nagant. It was a purchase that was a long time coming however, with my recent promotion I have not had the time to support my hobby. I was talking with a coworker of mine who says you guys are the go to people for info and help so here I am.

I am looking for your suggestions on what mold to get for my Mosin. I slugged the barrel at .312 and i found several different molds that I could use.

Also any of your favorite loads that you would not mind passing along that I could try would be greatly appreciated.

I have several hundred boxer primed PRVI Partizian brass casings that iv picked up at the range over the years in anticipation of this point and iv finally gotten here. I have all the needed hardware to reload these bad boys however I lack the knowledge on the round.

Please help if you can.

Thanks!

[Pb2au]

There is more than one way to skin the cat.
Your slug tells you that your bore is at .312", so it is a safe bet to go over that and target around .313 or better.
Now, head over to the stickies and look up one Goodsteel did on slugging the throat of the gun. Do a bit more research and you will see why that makes a lot of good sense too.
So, short answer, let's shoot for 313" or maybe a bit better to fill that bore and throat. Mosin's can have a long throat, so think maybe of a mold with some length/weight to give you enough meat to see the boolit out a bit to try and get into throat as far as you can.
i hope this is of some help.

[GhostHawk]

I'm using a lee .312 155 and a .312 185gr, SKS seems to prefer the heavier bullets, Mosin's are waiting for a chance to get to the range and do some more load development.

I'm using mostly IMR 4895, nice slow powder, takes advantage of that long barrel.

I do wish that I'd gone a size bigger to .313, but if you do, I think you'll need a custom sizer if your using gas checks.
My Lee push through in .311 I dearly love but I suspect it could be a thousandth or 2 bigger for the Mosin's. Mine also slugged .312.

The Sks seems to really like the bullets set as long as possible, I suspect the Mosin's might also.

[Outpost75]

I use the NOE .314299 in mine with 30 grs. of 4895, 4064, RL15 or Varget. It is important to cast the chamber or upset a throat slug and size to that diameter, and not to barrel groove.

[zidave]

Right now my favorite powder is IMR SR4795. I use a Lee 312-185-1R sized to .311.

[IT Hitman]

ok so the general concensis is to clug the throat. ill look that up tonight and when i get some spare time ill get that done. thanks for the info. im seeing the 4895 pop up a lot in my research. in your opinions is that the way to go? im not looking for military loads just some basic plinker loads. i am planing on using a boolit somewhere in the 170-190 gr range. long enough to seat properly but not to heavy on the pocketbook with cost of powder.

[bruce drake]

welcome to the analog world of shooting and casting ;) Its ok to admit they you enjoy this form of reality...

Look at a Lyman 200gr 314299 mold for your rifle. It casts a .314 diameter boolit and is a great boolit for this rifle.

Bruce

[bruce drake]

nice thing about shooting cast. your powder charges will be smaller than jacketed loads to keep them in the accurate velocity range for lead bullets.
IMR 4895 or H4895 are great powders for the 7.62x54R

[IT Hitman]

thanks. ill take a look. i dont plan on buying anything until i have my throat slugged out like the previous posts suggested. how is the 200 gr on powder? i know (at least from what iv read) that the average load for powder is around 30-48 gr.

using that math im looking at about 29.41/1lb of 4895 here in california. that is just under .5 cents per grain. which sits me at somewhere between 233-145 rounds/1lb depending on the load and a price ranging from about $0.19-$0.26 per round for a total cost of $44.27 for 233 rounds at the 30gr or $37.70 for 145 rounds of the 48gr. at $19.99/20rd current cost of 7.62 in california the equivilent cost would be somewhere between $144.92-$232.88 total savings of over 300%.

sorry if that is confusing....... math kinda comes with my field.

[Outpost75]

If you want a low cost plinker, you can load #314299 without the gascheck using 12 grs. of #2400, 11 grs. of Herco or 10 grains of Unique.

[petroid]

mine shoots 1" 5 shot groups at 50 yards with iron sights using Lee C-312-185-1R cast from COWW sized to .314 then PC with HF Red. Al GC from 338RemUltraMag and sized again. WD from PC oven. 15gr Alliant 2400 with light FCD crimp in top crimp groove. Front sight drifted halfway to left and rear sight on 300. Pete

Oh and I neck size with Lee Loader. don't have a collet die so this works the brass the least

[Outpost75]

I have several, a Finnish M24 with scope, a scoped M28/30, and an M39 put-together "ersatz-Sniper" with PU scope and mount.

All three are 2-1/2" or less at 200 yards with 174-grain Sierra .311" Matchkings with 44 grs. of RL15 or 42 grs. of IMR4895 or Varget over a long series.

The #314299 shoots about 3" at 200 yards with 30 grains of 4095, 4064, RL15 or Varget. The lower velocity gallery loads without the GC shoot 1-1/2" at 100 yards. I size bullets for all three rifles to .314 and use an alloy of 7 pounds Roto Metals linotype to 14 pounds of wheelweights, lubing with 1 part Dexron ATF to 4 parts of beeswax.

[IT Hitman]

Ill deff look into the different options for molds. I know that everyone has their fav brand. What brand do you all recomend?

Currently I have a old lyman .451 SWC for my 1911, a noe #221 GC for my AR15, a noe #301618 GC for my 30-30.

[Outpost75]

NOE, Accurate or Heavy Metal.

[nagantguy]

Well I thought for once I'd be able to shine on a post fer a new guy, sadly once again I'm humbled by the knowledge and kindness of those here and see that they have given enough good solid advice to last you at least a year. Welcome you've come to the right spot.

[bruce drake]

Lyman and RCBS are good mid-range cost molds. NOE, Accurate, MiHec and Heavy Metal are premier custom/small firm mold makers.

LEE makes fine entry molds that will give great long-term service as well

Nagantguy is a good source of info. He's just being a little modest.

Bruce

[MaryB]

I have tried a few using the Lee TL312-160-2R, they drop .314 using my mix 4 pounds pure lead to 1 pound foundry type. Used Red Dot for a low power fun load that wouldn't beat up my shoulder.

[IT Hitman]

I like lyman. My noe molds are the shiznit (excuse my french). I absolutely love the rounds they drop. Perfect .225 60 gr round ready for polycoat and GC/sizing. So i think ill go for NOE. I want to slug the bore a few more times just to be sure. I cant seem to find the stickyon sluging the throat. Is that in this sub forum? Can someone link me to it?

[IT Hitman]

ok so after looking at Goodsteel's thread i seem to have a tiny problem, i dont understand exactly what the concept is. am i looking for the length from case shoulder to rifling? what measurements do i need and what a i looking for?

[MBTcustom]

ok so after looking at Goodsteel's thread i seem to have a tiny problem, i dont understand exactly what the concept is. am i looking for the length from case shoulder to rifling? what measurements do i need and what a i looking for?

The diameters of the case neck and throat as well as the length of your chamber from case head to case mouth, will tell you what size to have the mold cut to.
The length from case shoulder to rifling will tell you exactly how much driving band engagement you need. After all, you want the first driving band to be engraving the rifling, and you want to use as much neck as you can get away with while keeping the gas check inside it and not down in the ignition chamber.

The slug will allow you decide more accurately on an ideal boolit design for your rifle.
1. Fill the throat exactly
2. Fill the neck exactly
3. Engrave the rifling
4. Make sure that you have about 65% bearing surface in contact with the rifling.

That pretty much covers your entire boolit and the only thing left is to decide on a nose design. If you plan to hunt, then make it a flat point. If you plan to shoot long range at targets only, then make it a pointed design, or a small meplat hollow point design (keeps the weight to the rear and helps it slice through the air better with that cushion of air in the HP)

[IT Hitman]

Ok. Ill try and slug it this weekend. Ill probably get a FN and a RN keep both my bases covered.

[MBTcustom]

When you slug the chamber, remember that while you use a massive hammer to drive the slug, you are using very light taps. It takes practically nothing to bump that slug out. The point of using a massive hammer is to make it so that your strokes travel deep into the slug. If you wail on it, you are going to have lots of trouble.

[IT Hitman]

ok. ill keep that in mind. ill post results of the slug when i get it done. been super busy lately. ironically the only time i have to post is when i am at work. XD nothing like a quick forum break between system repairs. after replacing 15 motherboards in a row your hand tends to hurt from the tight space and screwdrivers.