Is this mold recommended for Mosin 7.62x54R? LEE C312-155-2R

[Walstr]

Lee 2-Cavity Bullet Mold C312-155-2R 7.62x39mm (312 Diameter) 155 Grain 2 Ogive Radius Gas Check

I'd like to reload for my Mosin, but I'm thinkin' J-Words are too expensive for plinking, eh. Anyone have experience with this mold to share; make another recommendation? Thanks much.

p.s. Are gas checks available for this .312 pill?

Wally

[deces]

I would think it's fine given your bore diameter isn't larger than the pill. Yes, gas checks are available for that mold, it uses .30 call checks. You could always make your own with a check die, it's really easy with the 22reloader brand die.

[beemer]

I use this bullet in my Russian rifles, it will work fine if it is large enough. My mold pours a little large so that helps. I also powder coat the bullet and size to .312. Not unusual to get 2 inch groups at 100 yds with a M39.

[Kraschenbirn]

I shoot this one in my all-matching 91/30 (Finn capture from the Winter War) with a .313 bore. 'Beagled' the mold to drop .314, powder-coat, and size back to .3145 (+/-). 2 1/2" groups @ 100 (off sandbags) with military sights at around 1750 fps. I use my homemade .30 cal. GCs (Pat Marlin tool) expanded slightly with a tapered punch cobbled up from an old nail set.

Bill

[Piedmont]

It really would be best if you slugged at least the barrel groove diameter and doing that with the throat would be even better. It is also possible to run into a situation where the neck of the chamber is tighter than would otherwise be best for that throat size. That last is unusual. Most of my Mosins did better with larger than .312". As far as shape and weight you have a whole lot of flexibility with that single column magazine (handles about anything well) and the 1-10" twist will handle the heaviest of bullets but does fine with lighter ones too.

[higgins]

If you happen to have a Finnish M39, and I suppose other models that were rebarrelled by the Finns the groove diameter may be closer to .310ish. My mold drops that bullet at .312.

[TribunusSanGeorgii]

Yup I use the tumble lube version of that bullet in my Mosin.

I have had good success using them unchecked with a small load of BE-86.


I have checked them with regular .30 checks from Sages, but have not loaded those yet.

[Firelock66]

Yes they work in Mosins. Mine drops .313, pc and size to .312.

[405grain]

I got the Lee C312-155-2R for use in 7.62x39, and it works well in that application. This bullet should also work in the 7.62x54R, 303 British, 7.65x53 Argy, and the 7.7 Japanese. I haven't actually cast with this mold in a couple of years now because I discovered that I can take my 30 caliber molds, powder coat the cast bullets, then size them to .312 and use them that way.

[Mr Peabody]

I use Hornady 30 caliber checks on mine

[Firelock66]

I also use Hornady 30 cal gas checks

[Bookworm]

Sort of late to the party here, but in my Mosin applications I prefer the C312-185-1R.
I shoot them in M39s and a 1926 Tula ex-Dragoon 91/30.

I find the Mosins seem to prefer a heavier boolit.

[Larry Gibson]

Agree with Bookworm. I've been shooting cast in MNs since the '70s when I got my first Lee single cavity C312-185 mould (have a 2 cavity now also). Mine drop excellent bullet cast of COWWs + 2% tin at .313+. I GC with either Hornady .30 cal GCs or my own made out of .012 brass shim stock. Have used a lot of Blammer's also. The Lee moulds are cut to use Hornady or Lyman 30 cal GCs. I size my C312-185s in a .314 sizer in a Lyman 450 and lube with 2500+ or NRA 50/50 lube.

I posted this on this forum a few years back, you may find it of some interest.

• Lee's "new" C312-185-1R
05-14-2016, 01:31 PM
Many years ago, back in the mid '70s I picked up a Lee C312-185-1R from a sporting goods store going out of business in then Baker, Oregon. I recall paying $5.95 for the single cavity moulds, I also got my Lee C457-500-FN at the same time for the same price, but that mould is another story for another time. The C312-185-1R served me well for many years using bullets cast from it in a Finn M91 and a M91/28 I had. I also used it in several M911 and M1909 7.65 Argentines that were going through my hands at the time and an occasional 7.7 jap and SMLE .303 that came along. It was a very good bullet in all but the occasional oversized 7.7 and .303s. In the Finn M91 (I subsequently traded for a pristine M91 Argentine) and M91/28 (Bring back from SEA war games) the Lee bullet excelled. I shot many a load with that bullet over 28 gr of various 4895s with a Dacron filler w/o much load development. When I picked up an Izhevsk M91/30 sniper and then the Finn M39 I also picked up a single cavity 311299 which also shot okay in both those but not well in the M91/28. Point is after you get used to 2, 4 and 6 cavity moulds using a single cavity is about like watching slugs race........I got a CBF group buy C314-291, and it is a good mould. I also got a new Lyman 314299 which does extremely well in the Finn M39 and M91/30 sniper. Still, I longed for the old Lee 185 which had done so well so while placing a Midway order a couple months ago I saw the double cavity C312-185-1R was in stock, so I got one.

I really like the new design of Lee's double cavity moulds. The bottom now fits the slot in the Lyman Mag 20 mould guide perfectly. Wasn't long before I pulled the Lee mould out, disassembled it, deburred it, cleaned it thoroughly, lubed it and re-assembled it. While doing that a Mag20 pot of #2 alloy was "brewing". I cast up a bunch and WQ'd them. Using the mould was a dream, I encountered no problems what so ever. The bullets dropped out in excellent condition 2 after 2 after 2 after...........First thing I noticed while doing a visual cull was the new bullet was different than the original. The original had a long GC shank and a shorter nose with longer bearing surface. You can see that on the old cull original C312-185-1R which is the top bullet in the photo. I was somewhat concerned the new bullet wouldn't shoot well. I shouldn't have been concerned. I could find no dimensional difference between bullets out of either cavity nor was there any weight discrepancy. For practical purposes the bullets from each cavity were identical........it just doesn't get any better than that.



Still not being certain about the performance of the "new" C312-185-1Rs I did not weight sort the bullets as I had never weight sorted the "original's" either. I loaded 4 test strings over 28 - 31 gr milsurp IMR4895 with a 3/4 gr Dacron filler. Testing in the Finn M39 with the Weaver T-6 scope did not let me down. The accuracy of all 4 test loads is excellent with the 29, 30 and 31 gr loads in need of further testing at 200 yards. All 3 would have scored 100 on the CBA 100/600 target. I was very pleased with the new bullet and will be doing more testing in the Finn M39 and the M91/30 sniper.

Larry Gibson