7.62X54R reloading ?'s

F

Fox84

New member
I sluged my Vepr at 310. I have some 124gr 310 bullets. Should I neck size my cases 308 or 311?

I'am loading H4895 powder starting at 50gr max at 54. That starting charge was listed with a 308 diameter pill. I'am using a 310. Should I adjust my starting load?

Thanks for any ideas.
 
The 7.62 x 54R uses a .311" bullet. .308" is too small. You really need .311" bullets and size accordingly. 124's will make a good varmint bullet, but are light.
Hodgdon gets confused by times. .308" is the wrong diameter. Mind you, Sierra does make a 125 grain .311" Pro-Hunter bullet.
Hornady makes a .3105" 174 grain fmj(for .303 Brit and 7.62 x 54R) and 5 different 123 grain .310" bullets. Those are really for 7.62 x 39.
 
I have 311 sierra 180gr bullets and was unsure if I could load these in the Vepr. I have a few nagants I feed as well. They slug 312
 
Ive used the 180 PH in mosins, argentine mauser in 7.65, Enfields, and a PSL and they were great in all of those rifles. I have also used the 150 PH in all the above and in sks and m85 mini mauser with great results as well. My powder of choice is 3031
 
Last edited:
+1 on the Sierra 150 0.311. I back off a bit from max for 2,780 avg and 7.0 std. Still need to shoot for group, but it looks like a good one.
 
I am having great results using the hornaday 174gr .3105 7.7jap bullet. Getting inser 2" with a mosin which is nice. Using 4064, the bullet is a little short for 54r so you need to load above the cannelure, no biggie
 
I have some Sierra 180 prohunter's on the way. I guess I'l give 4064 or 4895 a try as well. Thanks for all the info.
 
Most reloading data that uses .308 dia. bullets in the 54r do so for two reason some Mosin rifle mainly the Finnish rifles have .309 groove bores so they don't have to worry about overpressure issues from using larger dia. bullets. It basically a CYA thing.

A larger dia. bullet that is larger than the groove dia. of the bore will cause pressure to rise even more so as the charge weight increases. If your Vepr slugged out at .310" the .310" bullets will be just fine,velocity is going to be fairly high and the lighter 124 gr. bullet designed for the X39 will be very explosive,good for varmints and target shooting not good for larger game. You may even find that .308" dia. bullets will shoot very well or they may not,all you can do is give them a try and see,that would open up a whole lot of options if you want to develop hunting loads.

Anytime you change a component from the listed data you should start with the starting load and work up. An lastly you can always call the bullet/powder mfg. and talk to the ballistics guy about what you wanting to load up I've found them to be very helpful the few time I've had to contact them. Speer,Hornady an Hodgdon etc. etc. all have contact numbers on the web site.
 
Sierra 311 bullets and H4895 have improved the Vepr's moa. Hope to improve some more with tweaking powder charges.
 
Last edited:
You can do what you want but I cast one bullet and size it for 7.62x 39 and 7.62x 54R or for .309 and in my 721 thgat bullet is at 2600fps with no leading.
 
My experience with 7.62x54R is to use Sierra Pro Hunter 180 gr p/n 2310 0.311" soft point.

The drawbacks are:
a) Flat base not the best for long range
b) Hard to find at a discount price right now.

The advantages are:
a) stops game
b) small groups
 
i have 50 more of these 174gr hornaday .3105 left to load up, then I reckon ill order some of these 180 prohunters everyone is speaking so highly of and see which is better. sticking with the 4064 though, just a powder I like for lots of things and would prefer to stick with it
 
I heard Vepr's are hard on brass. This is fact. I have more 4064 powder than 4895 so I'll keep trying both.
 
I just started reloading 7.62x54 and slugged my Finnish Mosin at .310 dia. I loaded up 5 rounds with IMR 4064 powder and .310 diameter FMJ 148 grain bullets with 42.4 grains of powder. I set the OAL at 2.920 by using a loose dummy round in the chamber. This is a antique receiver rifle. At the range yesterday it shot 1 1/2 group at 50 yds. without any problems. Every rifle is different and I was skeptical of what was going to happen when I pulled the trigger...I'm happy with the results so take your time like I did and you will work it out in the end. I was just looking for consistent accuracy and this combo seems to work ok for me...I'm going to up the charge to 43 grains and see how it is at 100 yds... good luck..
 
Do any of you fellas measure shoulder to case head dimensions and compare fired to resized cases in this cartridge?

I have experienced a great deal of dimensional growth with the x54r at the shoulder, due to what seems to me to be longer, more generous, chambers in these old military rifles.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top