Anyone handload for their Mosin Nagant?

[lakota]

Is it safe to use published loading data in surplus Mosin Nagants?

The local shop has a few of the long ones for 99 bucks and they look like they would be neat to play with, but not if I would be dependant on factory or surplus ammo.

[WILD_WEASEL]

Lakota,

YES, working up published data is safe.  I reload for my Mosin Nagant M44 and soon a MN 91/59 using Hornady and Hodgdon (on line) data.  Start out with Winchester Metric 7.62x54R 180gr soft point (SP) and full metal jacket (FMJ) ammo.  In my M44, with dark worn bore, the soft points grouped around 3" at 50yd while the FMJ scattered at 6"-8" at 50yd.  By the time I shot up x100 rounds of Winchester factory ammo my reloading supplies arrived; special Collete (sp?) for my Forster case trimmer, RCBS dies, Lee shell holder for my auto prime, and a couple MTM 50 round ammo boxes.  Since I already load for a couple 303 Enfields I had a supply of .311 Sierra and .312 Hornady bullets on hand, along with IMR 4350 and Hodgdon VARGET powder.  So far my M44 shoots best with the Hornady .312 150gr SP bullets and 48gr of VARGET powder set off by a Winchester Large Rifle Primer (WLR), 2" at 50yd.  .311 bullets scatter like the Winchester FMJs did, same powder and primer.  But, if your reloading for the longer 91/30 rifle 4350 may be a little better since it is slower burning than VARGET.  The down side is that a box of x100 bullets ($24.00) costs more than x100 rounds of surplus ammo ($22.00), not including the cost of your time, powder, and primer.  I pick up my 91/59 Carbine, with excellent bore, Saturday and hope to take it to the range Sunday.  I've loaded up x25 rounds using 48gr of VARGET with .311 Sierra 150gr SP and x25 rounds using 48gr of VARGET with .312 Hornady 150gr SP.  At 2600fps these loads are close to the original military loading.  If the bore on your rifle is worn, dark, tired, etc. .312 Hornady bullets weighing 150gr to 180gr, with IMR 4350 powder, will probably be your best bet to develop an accurate load early on.

Cheers,
George

[Dixie Dude]

I have a carbine, 1947 model, looks like it was never used.  I shot S&B ammo 180 gr to test at 50 yards and they touched about an inch high with iron sights.  I would like to get into reloading eventually, but this is just a toy gun for plinking cheap surplus ammo, or for a loaner.  You can get a good one sometimes. 

[cbxboy]

Have all the Equipment but have not done them myself just yet.

On a Mosin I would advise you TO SHOOT surplus for plinking and handload for accuracy or hunting.  See above posts for economic reason.

Surplus/corrosive ammo is VERY simple to clean in a Mosin...it doesn't get much easier.  Flush the bore with warm water and swab with a patch a few times.  Let dry and oil.  So, in a nutshell I do recommend getting a few cans of good ole surplus, if the Czech Silvertip can be had it is great ammo.

I lucked into 800 rounds of JMS 02 headstamped x54r awhile back, I was mad at paying .25 a round delivered BUT non corrosive, non magnetic and Boxer primed   If you can find a deal on ammo buy it up.

If you do get Milsurp ammo treat ALL of it as corrosive I don't care how it is advertised.  If you feel you want a better description Email me off boards or Pm or whatever.  I recall being afraid when I started with Milsurp....thought I'd screw up cleaning somehow.  We come to the boards for help and many can offer help.

[WILD_WEASEL]

If I shoot surplus ammo I swab the bore with a mixture of 1 part Ballistol to 9 parts water to dissolve and remove corrosive salts.  I carry an 8 oz. bottle of this fixture in my shooting box when I go to the range.

[torpedoman]

a patch saturated with Windex will neutralize the salts that cause corrosion (ammonia)

[Troyboy]

I'm under the impression that hopps#9 works on corrosive ammo

[anweis]

Is it safe to use published loading data in surplus Mosin Nagants?

The local shop has a few of the long ones for 99 bucks and they look like they would be neat to play with, but not if I would be dependant on factory or surplus ammo.

Do a really good cleaning first, with an electrode bore cleaner, JB bore paste on bits of scour pad, etc.
Lapua cases, CCI primers, 46 gr. of IMR 4064 powder, and Hornady spire point 150 gr. .312 bullet.
1" - 1.5" groups at 100 yards.
However, have in mind that Soviet soldiers cleaned their rifles from the muzzle, with the supplied steel rod.
It is rare to find one of these rifles with a bore that whas not well damaged at the muzzle. I had to cut off the last 4 inches of the barrel and recrown. I also bedded the action and the first 3 inches of the barrel, with steel putty.
Of the surplus, which cleans easily with ammonia and bore cleaners, the light ball Czech silvertip was outstanding, 2.5"-3" groups, but only after i chopped the end of the barrel.

[lakota]

Thanks to everyone for the info. I took the plunge with an M91/30 today!

[cybin]

I have had a 91/30 russian for about 11 years now. All I ever shoot in it is military surplus. For cleaning I swab the bore with a soapy mixture one time, then plug the end of the  barrel with a plastic cap (from a hydralic fitting) the fill the bore with windex and let it lean against the reloading bench for about 10 minutes or so. Only takes about 2 ounces of windex. Then I run dry patches through and then a patch soaked in oil, followed by one time through with a dry patch. Never have had any problems, and my ammo is corrosive for sure. My rifle shoots great, usually I get around 3 inches at 100 yards. For a military rifle this old and with this type of ammo--I think that is very good. Of course the barrel seems like it is a quarter mile long compared to my marlin 30-30.

cybin

[1911crazy]

First congrats on your purchase i'm sure you won't be sorry you did it.  But you may want to get more too.

I picked up some russian barnaul 7,62x54r 203gr soft point ammo for my mosins.  It shot pretty accurate out of my svt-40 tokarev.  The winchester "metric" ammo is manufactured by sellier & bellot.  The wolf gold ammo is manufactured by priv-partizan.  You will see the FNM brand is manufactured by Priv-partizan too. Anyhoo the yugo brass is awesome for reloading.  Its a soft brass and resizes really easy.  They also say it lasts a long time too so it can be reloaded many times.  With any reloads is you load it hot the life of the brass is much shorter.

For reloading for plinking ammo i see that www.wideners.com  has some .311" FMJ pulled bullets. (cheap too)

I can understand why you want to reload for the mosin but is there alot of choices for bullets weights in the .311" to .312" bullets?

I know there isn't much for the 8mm mauser(.323") too.

For cleaning i used hoppes for many years with shooting corrosive ammo.  For the past years i been using the orginal G.I. Rifle Bore cleaner and run wet patches thru it until there clean.  I think thats the key with any bore cleaner when using corrosive ammo.   Its just the primer thats corrosive anyway.

When i first learned about corrosive ammo i thought i would see a dump truck load of salt come out of the barrel.

I let a gun sit for a year after shooting corrosive ammo and nothing happened to the barrel.  I think it depends were you live and the climate you have too.  If its more humid / damp thats the worse case for shooting/cleaning corrosive ammo.  My gun was in a temperature controlled area at the time were it was very dry.   Moisture is the corrosive activator.

[Dixie Dude]

British .303 uses the .311-.312 bullets same as the 7.62x54 Russian.  So there is a fairly good bullet selection from 110g to 180g in my reloading book.  They have almost identical ballistics.  They even make cast bullets for them.   

[1911crazy]

I just got a melting pot w/furnance for doing lead.  It came with everything to make blackpowder and 6,5mm and 7mm lead bullets.  I may need to look into manufacturing lead bullets for my 30cal too. I also have the resizer and luber too. You gave me an idea now. I also got a RCBS rockchucker press with all the accessories and a LEE 1000 set up for 45acp.  I have 4 or 5 reloading presses now with the progressive press too. I need to set it all up soon.

[Dixie Dude]

All you need are dies for various calibers. 

[Airsporter]

My son had an M38 carbine.  It was a handful with full power service loads.  So, we developed some 'reduced recoil' loads using 123-125gr bullets designed for the 7.62x39 and a reduced charge of H4895.  Basically duplicate 7.62x39 ballistics. 

[S.B.]

Is 7.62x54mm brass available now? Last I checked there was none with boxer primer holes. I wish, I have a 1944 carbine and would love to buy reloading supplies and reload for this gun.
Steve

[ihuntbucks]

I have a M44 that I load 180 gr RN over 39.5 gr of Varget.Works very well.I bought up a few hundred pcs of brass and several boxes of ammo a year or so back.I bought the ammo cause it was cheaper than the brass ........Rick

[fastbike]

Privy makes brass for the 7.62x54R. Grafs often has it as well as loaded ammo. Wolf Gold is also Privy, boxer primed brass.

FWIW, a reasonable plinking round is IMR4064 w/ the Hornady 126G .310 (AK bullet). I use either the Hornady or Sierra load.

Is 7.62x54mm brass available now? Last I checked there was none with boxer primer holes. I wish, I have a 1944 carbine and would love to buy reloading supplies and reload for this gun.
Steve

[S.B.]

Privy makes brass for the 7.62x54R. Grafs often has it as well as loaded ammo. Wolf Gold is also Privy, boxer primed brass.

FWIW, a reasonable plinking round is IMR4064 w/ the Hornady 126G .310 (AK bullet). I use either the Hornady or Sierra load.

Is 7.62x54mm brass available now? Last I checked there was none with boxer primer holes. I wish, I have a 1944 carbine and would love to buy reloading supplies and reload for this gun.
Steve

Thanks. If you got the time, post a link to the places with brass, please?
Steve