7.62x54R vs. 30-06

[ke7chv]

While this may bring up a major red flag, I will preface this by saying that in no way do I intend on interchanging ammunition, but simply had a question regarding these two calibers. Could a M91/30 [7.62x54R] fire a 30-06 round? I noticed when I was at the range that the bullets themselves were nearly identical and that the 30-06 round fit in the magazine.

Secondly, I wanted to see if anyone who had purchased a 440rd tin of Bulgarian 7.62x54R found that the rounds had steel cores (not that the casing was steel, but the actual bullet).

[GabbyM]

an 06 is much longer than a 7.62 RUS so I can't see it chambering.
Other way around and I think the .486" base diameter of the RUS round plus that .570" rim would prevent it from chambering. Although I've never tried it.

[Lead Fred]

Long isnt the problem, rimmed cases are.
You would need a different bolt face added to your bolt.

[mike in co]

pressure is way diff.....

length to shoulder is way diff...1.56 vs 1.948, to neck 1.74/2.1 .....

mike in co

[45 2.1]

30-06 no, but there is a little trick with tin foil and the 308. Go to the Surplus Rifles site and do a search.

[KCSO]

Way back when thre was a outfit called, if I remember right, Hunters Specialties. They made a practice of importing cheap surplus rifles and semi sporterizing them and re chambering them for what ever ammo they had the most of. They re chambered the M/N from 7.62 to 30-06 with oversized chambers and an un modified bolt head. They also did M11 Swiss rifles in 308 and i don't remember what the carcano's were, but all were of questionable workmanship. This is where so folks got the idea that you could shoot a 30-06 in a 7.62.

Since the 7.62 delivers a bullet at almost the same velocity as a 30-06 the idea of converting one is somewhat silly now that brass is available.

[3006guns]

I think that was "Ye Olde Hunter".........notorious for some of the stuff they imported and yeah, they punched out some Mosin's to '06 to increase marketability. Not the first time it was done though, and I'm sure there's a few of those potential hand grenades floating around.

The 30-06 has the edge on versatility, but both have proven to be good accurate and powerful rounds. As mentioned, with all the lovely new brass floating around why bother? Feed it what it was designed to shoot!

[NickSS]

Interchanging ammo is a good way to blow yourself up and ruin your whole day. Both the 30-06 and 7.62X54 R are good cartridges that for all practical matters are similar in power (an animal of person shot with one wound not be able to tell the difference). I do know that the Germans issued large numbers of captured Moisons during WWII and some of them were converted by them to 7.92 X 57 Mauser. I also knew that the Germans manufactured Bayonets and scabbards to fit them as they never captured enough bayonets for all the rifles they captured. They also converted a lot of PPSH 41 sub machine guns to 9mm Luger as well.

[WILCO]

Secondly, I wanted to see if anyone who had purchased a 440rd tin of Bulgarian 7.62x54R found that the rounds had steel cores (not that the casing was steel, but the actual bullet).

I've seen rounds with the "steel" core in 7.62x54R. They do exist.

[Multigunner]

After the Soviets threw out thw White Russians a Russian Count in exile in the US formed a small private army in the US and armed them with Mosin Nagants rechambered to .30/06. These rifles were properly recworked, the barrels set back and rethreaded so the freshly cut chamber was not oversized. The magazine sidewalls were straightened as well to avoid binding.

When the US entered WW2 the old Russian Count gave most of the rifles to the National Guard of the state he resided in.

If properly converted the MN can make a good .30/06 rifle, though bore size is usually a bit on the large side.
Converted 7.65 Mausers rechambered to .30/06 also have oversized bores, but shoot well if bullets like the .312 Hornady are used with handloads.

One thing to remember though, if an oversized bullet is to be used you must make sure the chamber neck isn't too tight.

[hcpookie]

Yes you can do it - a Mosin in -06 is one of my "one of these days" projects :)

You can rebarrel a Mosin with a .30-06 barrel and machine the bolt face by removing the existing rim and then machining the recess into the bolt. Modify the magazine by pressing (or hammering) the sides flat. Modify the extractor and that's that.

A company did a quality conversion several decades ago and you can find some of the info on some of the Mosin websites. In fact while researching the topic I was surprised to see that the Mosin has been rebarreled for quite a few different calibers including 45-70. Numrich has a bolt assembly for 12 gauge which is used on some signaling device built on a Mosin action, so even a bolt-action Mosin-12 would not be impossible.

[Three44s]

Myself, ....... I'd just feed the Mosin with Mosin food and get an '06 and feed it with it's grits!

Safer ........ cheaper ....... and less gray hair.

And a .308 is HIGHER pressure .... (I believe) than an '06 ....... so tin foiling a .308 round into a Mosin scares the TAR out of me.


I don't like to wild side anything ........ much less a well used well worn ........ 100 year old rifle made in Russia.

Three 44s