I'm going to load up a few for my buddy to try out but I know nothing of this cartridge. What is the standard or prefered bullet weight for this caliber?

I believe the Russian military ammo used bullets in the range of 150 grains, and there was a heavy bullet of around 200 grains also.

Most of my Mosins love the heavy ball ammo(190-200 gr FMJ).

Most, if not all, reloading manuals developed 7.62x54R loads using .308 bullets. It is a rare Mosin, on the market today, that will slug out to .308. Most will run from .310 to .315. So, making a long story short, get some Hornady, 173gr., FMJBT, .311 (some retailers list them as .312) heads and put it in ahead of 44.0grs of Varget.

Guys;

According to my manual the 7.62x54R mm Russian is a .308 bore and shows reloading using the full spectrum 30 cal.loads.So you can use from 110 to 220 jacketed. Specs show a little under the 06.

If you want specifics , get in touch with me .

Grijim

Just a point of clarity, BEJ. The Hornady ".303" bullet is listed as .312 and actually mikes at .312. For those of us who shoot Lee-Enfields and P-14s this is a boon. Other manufacturers make .311 bullets in this caliber, but most experienced Enfield shooters agree that generally .312 provides a better fit in those loose military bores, yielding noticeably better accuracy.

All of my Mosin-Nagants have shot very well with 180g Nosler Ballistic Tips (.308).

I know an old guy who has been hunting with 91/30's for 35 years.

I have seen him get sub inch 5 shot groups at 100m at the range with .311 dia. 180 gr. SPT and 51 gr of IMR4350.

I have got 1.4" 3 shot group at 100m with 47 gr IMR4895 and the same bullets.