Reloading 7.62 x 25 mm?

Barr · April 24, 2006, 11:44 AM

I am asking this question for a cousin of mine:

How hard is it to reload 7.62 x 25mm and what are some of the inherent pitfalls of reloading the cartridge?

My gut feeling is that it would not be a good cartridge to reload especially for a beginning reloader. It is a bottleneck round and will most likely have to be trimmed on a regular basis. I have only seen steel dies for this round so that means the cases will have to be lubricated. Starline makes the brass for it so that is no real problem. It will cost 71 dollars for 500 pieces of brass though. Lee offers steel dies for the Tokarev round as well. I have not seen many cheap bullets in this caliber though.

Leftoverdj · April 24, 2006, 11:57 AM

Pulldown .30 Carbine bullets are cheap.

Trimming should not be a major issue because the pressures are not all that high in comparison to bottleneck rifle cartridges. I'd expect at least five firings before trimming and maybe many more.

BigJakeJ1s · April 24, 2006, 10:31 PM

I have only loaded dummy rounds for it so far, plus "adjusted" some S&B bullets that were seated slightly crooked (critical on my gun with a slightly off-center chamber relative to the bore). But here's my findings:

Lee seater was not impressive at all, rarely straigtened the bullets. Seated new bullets in new (resized) brass ok. Lee sizer OK. RCBS seater slightly better. RCBS sizer worked best due to combined expander/decapper (like rifle dies). Hornady 30 lugar seater works best, with sliding alignment sleeve, and optional microjust seating stem. Lee FCD works very well too.

Hope this helps,

Andy

April 24, 2006, 11:44 AM	#1
Barr Senior Member Join Date: January 5, 2006 Location: Upstate SC Posts: 286	Reloading 7.62 x 25 mm? I am asking this question for a cousin of mine: How hard is it to reload 7.62 x 25mm and what are some of the inherent pitfalls of reloading the cartridge? My gut feeling is that it would not be a good cartridge to reload especially for a beginning reloader. It is a bottleneck round and will most likely have to be trimmed on a regular basis. I have only seen steel dies for this round so that means the cases will have to be lubricated. Starline makes the brass for it so that is no real problem. It will cost 71 dollars for 500 pieces of brass though. Lee offers steel dies for the Tokarev round as well. I have not seen many cheap bullets in this caliber though.

April 24, 2006, 11:57 AM	#2
Leftoverdj Senior Member Join Date: October 15, 2004 Posts: 934	Pulldown .30 Carbine bullets are cheap. Trimming should not be a major issue because the pressures are not all that high in comparison to bottleneck rifle cartridges. I'd expect at least five firings before trimming and maybe many more.

April 24, 2006, 10:31 PM	#3
BigJakeJ1s Senior Member Join Date: August 8, 2005 Location: Arlington TX Posts: 663	I have only loaded dummy rounds for it so far, plus "adjusted" some S&B bullets that were seated slightly crooked (critical on my gun with a slightly off-center chamber relative to the bore). But here's my findings: Lee seater was not impressive at all, rarely straigtened the bullets. Seated new bullets in new (resized) brass ok. Lee sizer OK. RCBS seater slightly better. RCBS sizer worked best due to combined expander/decapper (like rifle dies). Hornady 30 lugar seater works best, with sliding alignment sleeve, and optional microjust seating stem. Lee FCD works very well too. Hope this helps, Andy