1st time poster....

[fixerupper]

.... longtime lurker.......


I have started to undertake a CB "project" Ive wanted to dive into for a while. Ive got a 1944 Tula M44 Mosin my son uses as his brush gun that delivers acceptable accuracy using jackets, but Ive been curious to what levels of accuracy I could wring out of it with cast.

Bore is shiny, strong rifling, minor throat erosion. Slugs out at .313 groove, .3035ish lands.

To start, I was thinking of casting straight WW into a beagled C312-185-1R or a 314299. (Ideally for an eventual hunting bullet I think scoring a CBE 314190 mold would be the bomb). . . . anyway GC sized and lubed at .314.

Im hoping sizing the necks with RCBS dies using the .311 expander and belling with a Lee Univ Case Exp Die doesnt pose too much difficulty in seating the bullets. I could always machine down a larger expander if I had to.

All of this over 16ish grains of 2400 to start and develop loads from there.

This is my first foray into tailoring cast for a milsurp rifle. I welcome any feedback or potential issues you guys see.

BTW... this is an AWESOME sight.

[Maven]

fixerupper, It seems to me that you're doing everything right. The only thing you may need to do is establish the best OAL (i.e., target v. hunting accuracy) for each CB and experiment with powder charges and perhaps different powders too. Btw, the .311" expander ball is what I use with my 7.62 x 54R's and it barely touches the necks when resizing fired cartridges.

[JeffinNZ]

Welcome to the inside.

CBE's new 316 175 might be worth considering also as they drop from my mould at .3165/.305 in clip on WW. His 313 220 is also fantastic with that big long bore riding nose and the as cast dims are similar to the 316 175. My .303 Brits and .303 Pygmy just love both of them. Both are featured on his .303 bullet page.

http://www.castbulletengineering.bigpondhosting.com/photos/custom_005.htm

If you ask Jim nicely he would probably cut one of each in the blocks. If you do order from CBE don't forget to ask Jim to cut top punches for you also as he uses the same cherry for a perfect match.

[Buckshot]

..................Not to steal anything from CBE, as "We all in the same fraternity" :-), but there is a "Fat 30" group buy happening at the moment.

A hearty welcome to the board too, BTW! Just think, it's all starting out with a M44. Where can it go from here ......................

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

[fixerupper]

A hearty welcome to the board too, BTW! Just think, it's all starting out with a M44. Where can it go from here ......................

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

Thats my fear.....:-D I can see a K98, M1, 7.7 Jap, 3 or 4 enfields and an assortment of other Mosins for good measure all finding their way into the cabinet.....:twisted:

Thanks for the comments and input all!!!!

Fixer

[dmftoy1]

Welcome!!

I'm curious what you find. I"m doing the same experiment right now using a Lyman 314299 that casts out at about 207 grains with a gascheck and lube over 17-19 grains of 2400. I've assembled my first test loads and I'm going to give them a shot once we get above 30 degrees. (-6 here as I type) I think you'll probably have better luck with lighter boolits from what I understand, but I already had the 314299 and it was my "biggest" 30 mold diameter wise so that's what I'm shooting. Hopefully I'll get out Saturday and see what it'll do. Last time I shot it with some Golden Bear 185 grain bi-metal I wasn't even getting minute of berm . . . but the boolits mic'd out at .308 at the widest so I guess that's no surprise there.

Regards,
Dave

[Mel-4857]

The 314299 works well in my 91/30 and a 44 but am looking forward to the fat 30. But the guys are right it won't stop there. Have several 303s including a Martini Henry , several mausers and on it goes,GREAT FUN.My wife loves shooting these old timers too just had to shorten the stocks a couple of inches. Welcome aboard, have fun . Mel

[dmftoy1]

Ok, it was 34 degree's today with a 15-20mph wind but I had to get out and give the M44 a try. I'm pretty tickled with 19 grains of 2400 under the 314299 for my first attempt but I'm a little worried about leading. I can't really see any leading because there are so many tool marks in the grooves in this thing and I didn't see anything obvious when I ran a brush and patches down it, but running some choreboy down on a dry patch I did pull up a little lead (not much). I'm thinking maybe I'll have to back down a little bit . . . . (??)

Anyway, I was able to shoot a 1.22 last 5 shots at 50 yards . . .considering I couldn't even get on paper with commercial (Brown Bear) I'm tickled pink. The one thing I noticed was that I had to set the rear sight to the 600m mark to get just below the bullseye. I didn't think I'd be shooting that low??

So here's the load details for the circled 5 shots: (You can see me trying to walk up the paper by bumping the sights with my first bunch of rounds.)

WLR Primers
Privi Brass
314299 sized to 312 (pure WW's) with Carnuba Red lube
Hornady 30 cal gas check
19 grains AA 2400
COL - loaded so that the top lube groove was just barely covered by the brass.

I think with a smaller "bulls" at 50 yards I could tighten the group down a bit as that target is much bigger than the front sight at that distance.

http://www.fahringer.net/targets/m44-20080126.jpg

Have a good one,
Dave

[Ricochet]

Last week with my M38 I had to set the sight on 600m to get on target at 50 yards with my cast load.

[dromia]

Welcome aboard fixerupperer :-D

The 314299 is my reference bullet for large .30 calibre military rifles you won't go wrong with it tried and tested.

However the fatter/fattest Loverin style .30s work good too, my 6.5 Swedish Mausers love Loverins, so jumping in on Buckshot's group buy would be a smart thing to do too. I'm certainly getting one. :-D

[dmftoy1]

Last week with my M38 I had to set the sight on 600m to get on target at 50 yards with my cast load.


So what setting do you find you need for 100 then? :)

The thing that's got me wondring about this front sight was even with the commercial "Brown Bear" crapola I was shooting it was hitting really low. I did all that shooting at 100 yards and I never got on paper but I could see the divets in front of the berm and target stand . . . .

I wonder if during the factory refurb they put in too high of a front sight or ?? Or were these things made to shoot light ball instead of heavy ball? (would that make enough of a difference?)

[Bret4207]

Welcome Fixerupper. Like your avatar.

[Ricochet]

Haven't yet tried the M38 at 100. Only fired a few cast boolits through it.

They weren't really made for battle use, but for defensive armament of folks who weren't front line soldiers. Dunno how accurate the range settings are. But yes, they would have been calibrated for light ball, as that was what was standard for the rifles from 1908 on. The heavy ball is a machine gun cartridge primarily.

[dmftoy1]

Ok, was able to sneak out today (37 degree's) and shoot a few downrange. (tomorrow the daytime high with windchill is going to be -10)

I was playing with 17, 18, and 19 grains of 2400 at 50 yards under a 314299 sized to .312. The target is below. The first shot is the bottom hole, the next three were cutting the same hole and I had a called flyer of the last shot as I jerked the trigger. (I was getting a bit cold. :) ) I'd have been right at 1/2 inch for the three "good" shots! I think 19 grains is going to be a good range but I'm going to play with 18.5 and 19.5 for the next batch. I did dig one of the boolits out of the berm and the gas check was missing. Is this fairly common or should I be supergluing these things on?

I think on Monday I'm going to order a .313 sizing die from Magma and look at shimming the trigger/sear spring. (the trigger is really tough to work accurately)

Have a good one,
Dave

http://www.fahringer.net/targets/M44-20080209(19_2400).jpg

[fixerupper]

nice shooting there Tex......:Fire:


Shimming up the sear spring definately improves the trigger on the Mosin. While your at it, hit those wear areas with a felt wheel and some rouge. Makes a huge difference.

My boys 44 started out with a (im not kidding) 12 pound trigger. Breaks now at about four.

Someday I'd like to try one of those Huber Concepts triggers in a Mosin... but I just cant bring myself to spend more on the trigger than the rifle.....:mrgreen::mrgreen:

Pop cans and brass shims for now I guess.......:-D:-D

[dmftoy1]

Heck, I think my trigger is about 15lbs! :)

What are you using for shim material? I've been trying to find material for my first "main" shim and I can't find anything near .026.

Regards,
Dave

[fixerupper]

Heck, I think my trigger is about 15lbs! :)

What are you using for shim material? I've been trying to find material for my first "main" shim and I can't find anything near .026.

Regards,
Dave


Pop cans and brass shims...... honest!!!!

For my "main" shim I started with with the top of a Monster energy drink can... I dont remember how thick it was, but worked well. Worked up from there with brass shims until the sear no longer held then backed off by one. Vigorously bump tested the rifle several times for safetys sake.

[dmftoy1]

I was just looking the citi-bank credit card that I cancelled when they screwed over CDNN . ..turns out it's .028 . . . I think it's going to be poetic justice that their cc is going to be my first attempt at a shim. :)

[NSP64]

I was just looking the citi-bank credit card that I cancelled when they screwed over CDNN . ..turns out it's .028 . . . I think it's going to be poetic justice that their cc is going to be my first attempt at a shim. :)

What size were you looking for? I work in aviation and have access to 2024-t3 aluminum in sheets. I'll send you a small piece for a shim if you pm your add and dimensions.