Just got a Mosin Nagant and RCBS Master kit.
I'm having trouble finding reloading information on the 7.62x54R. Any help would be appreciated.
Also, have the usual question about which dies to get. I also have a .270W and am getting a Garand. Am thinking of getting competion dies. Are they worth the extra money?

Accurate, Hodgdon et al have data. CH4-D dies are good.

Go to: www.benchrest.com/sst and click on powder manufacturers.

Case vol. and boolit is like 308 Winnie, so start low with 308 data and work up til max @2800fps with a 180 grain.

Most Nagants will slug well above .308. Suggest you slug yours to determine the proper size head to use. However, .311/312 is generally considered the maximum head diameter even if the gun slugs above those numbers.
The "best" powders for this rifle include IMR-4895, IMR-3031, Varget, and any of the 4350's. Hogdgon got >3000fps using BLC(2) and a 150gr. head, so the round isn't a slouch.
Also, it's a great round for cast bullets if you are so inclined.

The Forster benchrest seater dies are cheaper, and my favorite.

The Sierra 180 gr spt .311" stock number 2310

Lapua 7.62x53R brass [yes, they call it x53 not x54]

Work up to accuracy at about 52 gr IMR4350 or 47.3 gr IMR4895

Seat the bullets long, and into the lands.

Don't waste time shooting surplus to get on the paper. The corrosive primers are not worth the trouble. Pull the miliatary bullets and powder and put it in the good brass with good Boxer primers.

Remove the decapping pin from the sizing die. De cap with a de capping step. Resize the body down until about 2/3 of the neck has been resized. Do not put the sizing ball through the neck. Leave it small, and the bullets will still seat, and the cartriges you load will be much more concentric and more accurate.

Glass bed the action and first couple inches of barrel.

Get the bolt welded and drill and tap for a scope mount. I use Tapco AR15 risers with the bottom milled to match the radius of the reciver.



[ 08-12-2003, 02:53: Message edited by: Clark ]

Lots of very good advice already given... one or two more comments.

You do need to slug your barrel. That makes your decision on whether to use .308" bullets or .311" bullets. The odds heavily favor your rifle needing the larger diameter bullets.

With a 27" barrel, expect performance sorta between the 308 and 30-06. That's a nice neighborhood. The Finns will do 2" five-shot groups at 100 yards, with iron sights. Depending on the age of your eyes, you might want to consider the Mojo Sight.

I have an instrumented M39 (27" bbl). The pressures you get will probably be different from mine, but as a reference only, my favorite .310/.311" loads include--

123 grain bullet, 52.7 grains Varget, COL 2.770" CCI primer, 3100 fps and 47,500 PSI.

150 grain Speer bullet, 2.880" COL, 50 grains Varget, CCI primer, 2842 fps and 50,500 PSI.

180 grain Sierra bullet, 3" COL, 53 grains H4350, CCI primer, 2645 fps and 51,000 PSI.

As I said, your pressures will be different. The pressure produced in my rifle are well within the capability of the Mosin. I usually stop at 52-53,000 PSI, but S&B 200 grain ammo runs 58,000 (and splits cases). A fair PSI rating of the Mosin is probably in the neighborhood of 55,000 PSI.

Denton,
That S&B ammo is accurate, but my reloads with the brass are not.
Also the primer pockets had the wrong radius at the bottom to seat primers and I had to ream them.
Did you have the same trouble?

Clark...

Yes, the primer pocket needs the attention of a "pocket uniformer". However, I did load a bunch of stuff just by cranking a little extra hard on the primer seater.... got them flush, which OK, but not preferred.

I have excellent accuracy with my reloads in the S&B brass. The S&B brass has measurably more case capacity than the Lapua, but, for reasons I do not understand, seems to have the same max load, and produces the same pressure.

A kind person on another forum saw my post abour reloading S&B, and sent me over 200 empties!! I was very glad to reimburse his postage, plus enough for a couple of new boxes.

S&B brass gets kind of a bad rap, but I think that is partly because the factory load is too hot, and splits necks. My load is 7,000 PSI lower, and 50 fps faster than S&B's factory load. I have no trouble at all with it, and would have no reservations about taking it out after deer or elk.

S&B ammo is cheaper than empty Lapua brass, so before my benefactor sent me the empties, I would buy S&B ammo, and just pull the bullets and dump the powder.