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Old March 7, 2005, 03:06 PM   #1
Crosshair
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Reloading 7.62x54R, Need help

I know you can get military surplus for relativly cheap (But it's corosive and not as acurate), but I want to reload this wonderfull round for my M91/30. I can get 7.62x54R brass from http://www.brassmanbrass.com/ for about $31 per 100 (don't quote me on that price) The BIG problem I have is finding loading information for the 7.62x54R and can I use .308 diamiter bullets or does it use .310 like the 7.62x39? I have heard that loading information for the .308 can be used, but I thought that the 7.62x54R is a lower pressure round than the 30-06 or .308. Wolf 200 grain SP rounds go at about 2400fps out of my rifle. Any help is apreciated.
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Old March 7, 2005, 03:09 PM   #2
Mike Irwin
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Hornady reloading manuals should have information on this round.

Your best bet for determining what bullet to use would be to slug the barrel.

I don't know what the pressure levels are on the 7.62x54R, but I was under the impression that ballistically it was pretty much on par with .30-06 military loading levels.
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Old March 7, 2005, 03:42 PM   #3
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Yes, ballistically it is similar to the 30-06 in performance but I have heard that it is loaded to a lower maximum pressure. I know about sluging the barrel, do I just get a 30 cal round ball and poke it down the barrel then measure it? People at reloadersnest.com seem to be getting good performance out of .308 bullets, but I can't be sure.
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Old March 7, 2005, 03:55 PM   #4
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"round ball... poke it through the bore"

That's pretty much the idea, although I gave up driving the slug through the bore with a rod years ago.

Now I fire it through the bore with a VERY light charge of smokeless pistol powder.

I've found that 1. to 1.5 grains is normally enough for just about any application.

To catch the slug I shoot it into a 5 gallon bucket or garbage can filled with water, over which I've stretched a plastic garbage bag. Keeps me from getting wet.

You're not looking for velocity, so keep the powder charges light.
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Old March 7, 2005, 05:28 PM   #5
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Was the 7.62x54R DESIGNED to take a .310 bullet. What about the M91/30. Would I loose a meaningfull amount of acuracy if I used .308 bullets in a .310 bore? Does Wolf use .310 bullets in their ammo?

Sorry for allthe questions.
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Old March 7, 2005, 05:40 PM   #6
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I think that the original design specs for the 7.62x54 were for a .311 diameter bullet. I'll have to check Cartridges of the World when I get home.

That said, however, the Soviets had a VERY loose concept of standardized bore dimensions.

I've seen some 7.62 rifles with bores that slug out to just under .318. and some as tight as .304.

The only true answer is to determine your bore size by slugging.

Would you lose any meaningful amount of accuracy by shooting a .308 through a .310 bore? Probably not.

But you would if you were to shoot a .308 bullet through a .315 bore.
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Old March 7, 2005, 11:16 PM   #7
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COTW says a .310 bullet is standard for the 7.62x54.

Lee's loading manual also has data on loading the round.
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Old March 13, 2005, 03:55 PM   #8
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7.62x54

My calipers read .308 so I checked them on a .224 and they read .224 this is a factory round in the steel case.
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Old March 15, 2005, 06:48 PM   #9
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7.62x54r

As stated, the Hornady Manual has 6 pages of loads for different bullet weights. Everything I've read calls the shell dimension to be for a .310 bullet. Typically a .308 will fire fine and you will have to determine accuracy in your particular rifle. When I called Hornady inquiring about a .310 bore they said if the bore was on the upper side of tolerances you could use the bullets designed for the .303 British shell at .314 diameter. I asked about higher pressures from squeezing the bullet down to perhaps .310 or .312 and they said no problem, just don't start out with max loads.
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Old March 15, 2005, 08:57 PM   #10
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7.62x54R

The M-N's are all over the place on bore sizes, I have a Hungarian M44 with a .304-314 barrel, .308 are a loss, .311's are not much better, .314's give 1 1/2" at 50 yds, more or less useable hunting accuracy.
Lee, Lyman, Hornady, Speer and Hodgdon all have loads, if nothing else, just use .308 loads.
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Old March 15, 2005, 10:43 PM   #11
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I'm interested in loading this round as well

i'm just curious as to why the brass is so expensive?! I regularly find Wolf copper cased ammo. Can you reload this? I've found load data in my 48th ed Lyman manual and my Lee Reloading manual. My brother's got an M44 that needs some feeding.
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Old March 16, 2005, 10:58 AM   #12
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Brass

Graf has 7.62x54R brass for about $28 per hundred plus shipping.
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Old March 21, 2005, 10:31 AM   #13
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I purchased 200 rounds of Lapua brass and a set of Lee carbide dies for under $80 when I started reloading for my nagant. I do not remember where I ordered them from though.
I have always just used .310 bullets & IMR 3031 with mag. primers. I will have to check my bullet weight, and powder charge before I can post the exact load that I have best performance with.
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Old December 29, 2005, 01:51 AM   #14
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I'm actually trying to get set up to reload for my CA Armory Tiger carbine. Anyone here have any experience reloading the lighter weight loads for this caliber? I want to keep it in the 145-150 grain area.


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Old December 29, 2005, 02:03 AM   #15
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7.62 x 54R

I load .311 bullets (.303 british) in my M44 and M38. Dies come set up with 308 neck size rods. I use Lee Dies for 7.62x54R and then buy a .303 British decap pin/neck sizer rod and install it in place of the .308 rod. They work and shoot perfect. Did the same thing in my 7.62x39 dies to shoot Hornadys .310 bullet. If you use Remingtons .303 british bullets the crimp ring is in the right spot to use.
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Old December 29, 2005, 02:23 AM   #16
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another input

I found to get good bullet seat contact in 7.62x54R I needed to load 180 grain bullets. Less than that I didn't get enough bullet/neck contact to secure the bullet and keep the OAL. Boat tailed bullets don't work well at all due to bullet/neck contact area. Lyman #47 manual carries loading data. Rounds are more than accurate for hunting, problem is the sights on these rifles suck but can be reworked to work with a file.
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Old December 29, 2005, 09:56 AM   #17
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Bores are all over the place, from .308 to .316. Get as close as you can and don't worry about a couple thous over. A 00 buck will work fine to slug the bore.
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Old December 29, 2005, 02:39 PM   #18
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Here is a link to Hodgdon data for the 7.62x54R using .308" bullets.

http://www.hodgdon.com/data/rifle/7.62x54r.php#top
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Old January 27, 2007, 12:03 AM   #19
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7.62x54R Bullet Weight

All of my Russian bolt action and semi-auto rifles have a bore diameter of .310.Winchester makes .310 diameter bullets in 180 grain in the FMJ style and soft point style. They load their bulltes in their 7.62x54R ammunition. They have not released their bullet to the reloading market. Hornidy makes a 174 grain FMJ .3105 diameter bullet that I use in my 91/30 rifle. Midway USA is also awaire of the lack of different weight bullets with a .310 diameter. They are going to try to change this situation. As for loading data for this cartridge, any data that promotes .308 bullets to me is wrong. The bullet companies want to sell bullets. All they have to do is make different weight bullets with a .310 diameter. Their are some different weight bullets in the 311 range I would try in my Russian rifles. I will admit the largest diameter wise was .312 I tried. It was about 180 grains and it was FMJ. It seemed to work fine. But now I stick to .3105 and .311 diameter bullets. The reloading data is misleading at best for this caliber. I would select a load, consider it to be the max load. Decrease this load by 10% and use this for a starting point and work your way up paying close attention of the size groups you are shooting. Keep good notes as to bullet and powder information used in working up your loads. I would suggest to fire first at a maximum distance of 50 yards. The target will be easier to see and closer to walk to. Then you can try it at longer distances. It's going to be a long summer at the range, but alot of fun. Thanks.

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Old January 28, 2007, 04:26 PM   #20
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Nominal .310 bore

Which vaires widely. Some loading manuals say use .308 bullets, others say use .311. If in doubt, and you can't get the bore "slugged", use .308 and keep the pressure mild. If you don't get reasonable accuracy, you can try .310 (if you can get them) or .311 (common .303 Brit/7.7mmJap) bullets, just keep the pressure mild and watch for signs of excess pressure.

Best is to have the bore slugged, so you know the actual diameter to use for your rifle.
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