To cast or not to cast 7.62x54r

[1Shirt]

Both my long and short Mosins shoot well, but I have a preference in shooting the M-38. W/16 gr of 2400 and one gr or so of dac fill, under the Lee 155R312, from the bench have no problem keeping a ten shot group in or under 2". Will do the same thing with the 185 Lyman, but that is additional lead. Bought the 38 as a lender, but think I may now hunt it myself. Handy little rifle, and the ctg will do anything that you could ask of a 308, and maybe more with blts. over 200 gr.
1Shirt!

[Ole]

AIM has some of their 7.62x54 ammo on sale as of yesterday.

http://www.aimsurplus.com/product.aspx?item=A76254STR

[Chunky Monkey]

Well, casting is one of the most expensive ways to save money.

Damn that ought to be on a bumper sticker or banner I could put up in the man cave!!!

I currently shoot only cheap surplus out of my Mosins but would like to start casting for them ~ someday!

[Mossy Nugget]

Love this thread, love my $79 91/30 almost as much. My gun patterns like RCB1917's with $89 spam can copper washed russian light ball. Nothing "light" about that recoil! Ordered lee 50 yr. anniversary kit, 7.62X54R die set and case gauge, 100 rds. Prvi Partizan and a rubber recoil pad. I also bought stuff to slug the bore and remove copper. That puts me at about 3X the price of the rifle for ammo and components so far. Once I slug the bore and choose a pot, mould and sizing die, buy powder and primers etc, The outlay to cast and reload looks to be about 5X the price of the rifle. Soooo..... When exactly do I start "saving" money?

[txpete]

I started shooting cast thru my finns years ago when a spam can was 29.99 + shipping.everyone thought I was nuts but I just like to shoot cast boooolits.
M39 VKT finn with red dot


another good load is the lee 160 tl gc with 19.0 grs AA5744.I have tried this load in my sako sky M28/30 and size my bullets in this one at .309 .very accurate load.

the flyer was all me....oops

[THOR5624]

Anyone know some good starting loads with .311 155gr. cast bullets for the mosin?

[Rangefinder]

Anyone know some good starting loads with .311 155gr. cast bullets for the mosin?

When in doubt, go with "The Load"... Otherwise known as 13gr. Red Dot.

The outlay to cast and reload looks to be about 5X the price of the rifle. Soooo..... When exactly do I start "saving" money?

Hehe... Welcome to the casting conundrum! Actually, the savings start pretty quick. In no time you'll be calculating your shooting in terms of cost per primer+cost for a few grains of powder. My Mosin is around $0.08 per shot---$80 per thousand is pretty darn cheap these days.