mosin nagant bore

victor45

I just slugged my masin nagant 91/30. The results were not good. The bore is at .316. My question to every expert is can I hand load .312 to help out with the accuracy or should I just leave it as is and just use it for fun? I was planning on using it as a hog hunting gun but I don't know now. Thank you in advance for all your advice.

Nwcid

Why dont you shoot it and see how it actually performs on paper and if the accuracy is good enough?

victor45

I did. At 20 yards it did great. My shooting skills are not world class but I put about 20 round into a 4 inch circle. But I will be going to an outdoor range this Friday and see how it does at 25 and yard range.

rawhide54

I had been loading .308 bullets into my M38 Mosin with less than satisfactory accuracy but when I switched to .311 I saw a noticable improvement.

Good luck with you Mosin.

heavyiron

Hi,

I believe you are on the right track.

Due to the conditions under which many of the Mosin Nagant rifles were produced manufacturing tolerances, in this case bore diameter, was not held to fine precision. It is not unusual to find groove diameters (not land diameters)anywhere from 0.306 to 0.321 inches.

Nominally, I think the Mosin Nagant is designed for a 7.62mm or 0.300 inch land diameter, a 0.314 groove diameter, and a 0.311 to 0.3115 bullet diameter. Well, at least 0.314 is about in the middle of 0.306 to 0.321. So what is really important here is groove diameter.

My Mosin Nagant barrel slugs out at 0.3135 and therefore, did not like the 0.311 bullet. It shot sloppy and of course some of that had to do with the mil surplus ammunition which has to be figured into the equation.

The solution (at least for me) was to hand load for accuracy and use the mil surplus for blasting.

I found the Hornady bullet for the 303 British/7.7 Jap to be just right. It is a 0.312 diameter bullet and comes in two weights - a 174 grain RN and I think a 154 grain bullet. Lee sells a great little set of dies too at a reasonable price.

Reloadable boxer primed brass cases can be obtained from Graf and Alliant has reloading data for the 7.62x54. My Mosin has a scout scope and I worked up a load that finally made 1 inch at 100 yards.

If you were to reload a minimum quantity of ammunition with 0.312 bullets, especially, with a 0.316 bore it may enhance the accuracy of your rifle if taking shots out to 100 yards.

It is also good to do what the others have suggested and give the rifle a test run at longer range first.

Best of luck.

Heavyiron

jonk

If the bore is fairly decent otherwise, some cast lead bullets sized to .317 would do well.

beantownshootah

quote:Originally posted by victor45
I just slugged my masin nagant 91/30. The results were not good. The bore is at .316. My question to every expert is can I hand load .312 to help out with the accuracy or should I just leave it as is and just use it for fun? I was planning on using it as a hog hunting gun but I don't know now. Thank you in advance for all your advice.


Honestly, I doubt the hog will care.

Forget the bore measurement for the moment. Go out to the range and see how the gun actually groups.

20 yards is probably good enough to get a first sight-in for the gun, but unless you plan to be hunting your hogs at 20 yards, its probably NOT adequate for accuracy testing. (If you ARE hunting them at 20 yards, you might consider sticking that 18 inch long bayonet on first!).

I suggest setting up a target at 100 yards (not just 25) and seeing how the gun groups. Less distance that that MIGHT be OK, if you don't plan on shooting anything out to that distance, but 100 yards really is the standard for accuracy testing.

Assuming you aren't going to be stretching shots much past that, if you can get 4" groups or less at 100 yards, you're probably good to go. If you can't, THEN you might try bigger bullets.

If you're already reloading, then its relatively easy to work up loads to try and improve your guns accuracy.

But if you aren't already an adept reloader, consider that as a matter of practice, surplus Mosin rifles are so cheap and readily available, that selling the one you've got now and finding one with a tighter bore may actually be easier/cheaper than working up an accurate load for it.

victor45

Well I am going to an outdoor range this Friday. They have a 25, 50, 100 and 200 yard range. So I will let all of you what the groupings are. Hopefully they will be good. And I have hunted hogs closer than 20 yards. Actually took one out with my desert eagle. Lol. But I will keep you all updated. Thank you all for your input. It is much abliged and respected.

hk-91

20 yards is not a good distance for judging accuracy on a rifle 100 yrd min for me. the 91/30 is a very accurate rifle ( at least the one i had was as was the m44 i had). Had a friend scope his and held sub moa at 100 yards with hand loads and shot with in moa with factory at 100 yards.

2902ao

Buffalo Arms co makes a .314 hard cast 205 gr bullet....you may be surprised at the accuracy and velocity you can get with a lot of tinkering. you can also find .318 bullets that might work great.

ikeda

All 7.62x54R ammo is not the same. Some is light ball, some heavy ball, some lead core and some steel core. Some of the light lead core ball actually has a cone in the base that tends to act like the "Mine ball" and fills out to the groove diameter when fired. They tend to be quite accurate in almost any barrel. Try several different types, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Chinese etc. Many guns have a definite preference for a certain type. I personally would put it on paper @ 50 yds and pick the one that shoots best. Unless you have young eyes, or a scope, it is difficult to get good groups at 100 yds, regardless of the ammo you are shooting.