how would you do a 9x54R or 358x54R from 7.62x54R?

I've got a wild hair recently to look into making a scout rifle from a Steyr M95 if I can find one at a decent price. It seems the easiest conversion with best ammo/component availability is 7.62x54R. I'm a big fan of the 35s, and I think a straight pull, short barreled scout rifle in 35 cal would be pretty cool, so I started thinking about 9x54R (which specifically for me would be a .358x54R). I know the 9x54R is a real thing in Europe, but I was surprised to find that a google search did not turn up any 9x54R dies. If there are no dies out there, what series of dies would you use to form 9x54R brass and then load it with .358 boolits? I have 35 Whelen and 358 Win dies along with a smattering of others.

i have a few,russial 38,s left from my milsurp collection days in next to ex condition, i may check out the cost of rerifleing to .338x54r. think all you would have to do is put a ./338 expander ball on the stem with the decapping pin./

Choose the caliber you like for your Steyr M95 conversion, it will be a wildcat in some regard no matter what.

Some comments might help:
I did a somewhat similar conversion of M95 to a 416 necked 30-40 Krag. Further comment below.
8x56R brass was offered by Grafs & Hornady. I might limit my problems and find 300 or so pieces (lifetime) and start there.
There are several threads on here about converting M95s. I looked at these years ago before doing what I did. There was a very informative thread on converting a M95 to 30-40 that was started by, or certainly commented on, by a member named "buckshot" if I remember correctly.

After I converted a M95 to a 416 necked 30-40 Krag, and using 405 Winchester dies for the most part (the shorter 30-40 parent case compared to 405 gets the taper to 416 almost perfect, just so for cast at 0.417", not quite w/ a jacketed at 0.416"), with a shortened 416 Remington FCD from LEE for crimping, and a 41 Mag Carbide sizer for special purpose needs (cheaply adjusts sized "neck" diameter for the smaller jacketed bullets), I would say that I learned a couple things I might offer up so others can avoid issues that I had.
Will note that I functionally ended up w/ a 45-70 cousin (External ballistics wise, NOT dimensionally or Load Data wise), and it lays deer down very nicely.

The 7.62x54R parent case is probably a better choice than 30-40 --> the taper and base size is important for feeding unless you want to fiddle around with the magazine clips for the rifle. You Need to use the original clip (modify the Inside of the Clip if you like/need) for feeding multiple rounds.
You want the case to Not be a loose fit at the contact points w/ the clip. If the case is loose inside the clip you will have feed issues. Tight in the shoulder may not be a problem, the clip sides/walls are functionally a spring.
I had to solder brass strips inside my clips at the cartridge base interface area to adjust for different base size diameter.

Review some cartridge drawings to see what dies you can cobble to size Sections of the case you want to end up with.
I had considered a 45-54R for example, and I think I remember that a person might be able to get away with 45 Colt dies for most of the work.
The base of the x54R case is around 0.480 from PPU & Norma brass measurements if I remember, so it is POSSIBLE that some dies for a wildcat off a 6.5x55 Swede MIGHT work for your end conversion (i.e. Might be that a 9x55 "Swede" die will PERHAPS size the front of your case.).
You MIGHT also find that some x-284 Winchester die would work for the front (again, depends on the designed dimensions).

If I did it again, I would do the 45-54R, or a 375x54R / 375x56R.
Due to some limitations of the trigger design, and you goal of a scout rifle, this will not be a long range rig I would think.

You could use 7.62x54 brass and the 358 Win dies and a 54's rim size shell holder. I would anneal the neck, then form the brass with a turned out FL 358 Wiin die set to match the original 54's shoulder height for the 358 Win. If you used a 358 Win die to form the case shoulder/neck so it would fire form, should be fairly simple. If the case body diameter is an issue, the 358 AI dies should solve that. Of course a 358 bushing die body with a 358 busing would also work for reloading.

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Originally Posted by eastbank

i have a few,russial 38,s left from my milsurp collection days in next to ex condition, i may check out the cost of rerifleing to .338x54r. think all you would have to do is put a ./338 expander ball on the stem with the decapping pin./

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Eastbank, I had thought of that, but then it occured to me I'm not really sure of the dimensions of the neck portion of the sizing die. Wouldn't that portion of the die size the neck back down to the external dimension of the original 7.62 round? Or is the neck portion of most dies much larger than the actual neck diameter?

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Originally Posted by TurnipEaterDown

If I did it again, I would do the 45-54R, or a 375x54R / 375x56R.
Due to some limitations of the trigger design, and you goal of a scout rifle, this will not be a long range rig I would think.

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Yes unlikely it would be used past 300 yards. I was thinking a scout rifle configuration but mostly used for woods hunting, driven game, and stalking applications.

You might be able to neck size after fireforming with a set of .38/.357 dies.

If you aren't planning on improving the case, the cheap way to at least try it out would be to cut off a 7.62x54R die at whatever point on the shoulder makes sense.

If everything works out and you want a real set of dies, then there is CH4D and a wait.

Robert

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Originally Posted by atl5029

Yes unlikely it would be used past 300 yards. I was thinking a scout rifle configuration but mostly used for woods hunting, driven game, and stalking applications.

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I do actually like my 41-40 as I call it. Laid out deer nicely, as noted.
Used it on deer for 3-4 years. The one in the picture was typical w/ the Hawk bullet. Bang, flop. Down on the spot.
300 Hawk, 0.025" jacket. 2050 fps. 7.4 lb rifle including red dot & sling. 19" Shilen lightweight tube. 16.5 fps recoil speed, and 31.4 ft*lbs recoil energy. Some people think it pokes pretty good. It is fairly light.

The action is fairly strong I think, the original 8x56R really isn't a cream puff, and even though the gun design is 130 years old the bolt is stainless steel.
The stock is weak though, as inspecting originals will show that lots are cracked around the wrist, and are reinforced w/ dowels at the recoil lug. The recoil lug is fairly narrow.
I "fixed" my stock w/ a yoke around the recoil lug that effectively makes another recoil load absorbing point some 1.5" up the forearm, and when the wrist split after rechambering I drilled and glued 2 coarse screws through the wrist from bottom up. Plugged the holes w/ same wood I made the forend tip from. 500 or so rounds later, all is still OK.

Attachment 315034

I would encourage you to try the original chambering. It’s no slouch. If you want to shoot j words there are a lot of threads about using a Lee sizer and imperial wax and sizing down 338 bullets. Otherwise, there are good molds for an 8x56r. Lastly, LEE makes dies for it and though I’m not LEE’s biggest fan, they work well. Brass is not that hard to find. In recent years it’s been easier to find than 30-40 Krag.