7.62 x 54R

[ovenpaa]

Heh! I could not make up my mind if this was still 54R or had skipped to .303 We also used Lee dies for 54R and I only ever used full length sizing dies and had no issues with them.

[Doz]

Ah, that's OK - wasn't me then! You have however set me wondering whether I can modify a .303 collet die to size 54R...

[ovenpaa]

They are actually quite close other than the shoulder angle but it looks like it can be done

[Doz]

Thanks for that, yes it looks as though it should be possible and relatively simple although trying it on my old 1947 Myford might be chancing it a bit. I suspect I'll just buy a full-length set of Lee dies - life's too short!

[ovenpaa]

I would say if you have an old set of .303 Lee dies have a try. Really all you are doing is boring it very slightly and changing the shoulder angle, you can grind up a boring bar for that and off you go :)

G'wan you know you want to try it...

[lapua338]

Doz,

If you're interested I've a brand new (and unused) set of Lyman dies consisting of a full length resizing die with decapping stem and neck expanding button and a bullet seating die (Part #7452291).

[Doz]

Ah, could be! PM'd you.

[dirtbag]

Thanks, that's pretty much what I thought. Is light ball the way to go you think? I was thinking of trying a hundred of light and a hundred heavy to see how they compared.

M44? Avoid the heavy ball. Really! It is hard hitting stuff and in the M44 is quickly going to become a pain, literally. We used S&B 147's in .308" to great effect with Vectan SP9 and Magtech primers, they make for a cheap load and are certainly accurate to 600m

Tried both in all my Nagants for which I have three. The silvertip lightball is the clear winner for me, shame there is none left :/

[Doz]

Finally got a chance to slug the bore today and got a bit of a surprise - .3135 according to my digital vernier. Clearly .308 isn't going to cut the mustard, should I be going with .311 or trying to get something closer to .313? Would appreciate some wisdom from the boolit experts here please!

[lapua338]

According to http://www.7.62x54r.net (the Mosin Nagant reference on the web) with a groove diameter of 0.313", a 0.311 or 0.312" bullet should work very well indeed.