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7.62x54 loads for hunting
torosapo
Member Posts: 4,946
I'mplanning to sporteizemy Mosin Nagant m91/30 and am looking for some input on agood load for deer and elk.
Comments
For off the shelf, a number of companies make soft points. Any of them would do just fine.
For handloads, I like fairly slow ball powders... they seem to do well for me in any of the large diameter cases (7.62X54R is one, also the 8mm Lebel and 8X56R). H414 is a good place to start. Any decent soft point in the 150 grain range (deer) up to the 180-200 gr range for larger game should do you just fine. Hodgdon lists the data as 52 gr max for the 165 to 51 gr for a 200; I've also loaded 150 grainers with H414 though they don't list the data. I went with 54 gr of H414, but since that isn't a published load, your mileage may vary.
One thing to remember- the Mosin nominally uses a .311" bullet. I'd slug my bore if I were you. Some can run up to .317, others as tight as .308. In practice this means your selection will be 308, 310, 311, or 312 from available manufacturers. Match your bullet diameter to your bore as closely as possible for best accuracy.
Grease this thing up with some grease or heavy oil, and drop into the breech. Then pound it through the barrel with a wooden hammer. You will need a 1 piece rod for this. Ideally you should use brass or wood, but I've never seen any issue with using steel if all I had- go gently, slowly, don't try to slam it through in one go.
Have a folded towel under the muzzle to catch the slug.
Now measure it with some calipers or micrometers and find out the distance across the grooves and lands. Hopefully you'll find something like .303/.311 for the lands and grooves respectively.
Another way is to get a muzzle wear gauge (though this is dependent on the gun not being counterbored and having a fairly tight, unworn muzzle) and see what it reads.
If this is too hard, I'd start with a .311 and see what can be done.
I just pulled the bullets out for a fellow Employee who wants to take his 7.62 x 54R carbine deer hunting. The pulled bullets were 147 grain and metal cored. I then seated some Speer .311 dia 150 grain Spitzer soft points onto the same case with existing powder and still berdan primed. Quick easy way to come up with some hunting loads this season.[;)] Good luck!
In general, I've never had issue with this. I've done it myself. The only concern is that a commercial bullet with a much larger bearing surface than the original bullet might show pressure signs. I had that happen in an 8mm Mauser where I pulled the original bullet and replaced with a similar weight commercial bullet. Nothing bad happened, I'm fairly sure that since the Mosin is built like a tank he doesn't have to worry, but when he fires his first, have him examine the case for flattened primers, etc.
Where did you get your dies for the 7.62 x 54R?