Handloading for 7.62x54R

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yggorf

New member
I am planning to handload some 7.62x54 Russian cartridges for a 91/39 Mosin/Nagant. I have the components on order -- Sierra 174 MK's, Lapua brass, CCI primers, and some Varget. But I'm having trouble finding a good set of dies, particularly the seating die. Who makes a good seating die with a sliding and centering sleeve like the Redding competition seater? (I looked at the Sinclair web site but couldn't find one for the Russian.) Could I use my .308 comp. seater?

I don't think I need the micrometer feature in the seater, but would like the centering sleeve. Can a Russian sleeve be bought to use in the .308 die?
 
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I use a Forster seater with the sliding sleeve for 7.62x54R.
I also have a couple RCBS seaters.

I hunted with a guy this year that shot an antelope with his Mosin Nagant.
I watched him shoot that.
He does not own a sliding sleeve die, and that old sewer pipe gets groups.

He watched me shoot a mule buck with a Mosin. That was a Krieger 300 Win Mag barrel. I loaded that ammo in my vehicle with plane Jane RCBS dies.

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pic above same as link below
 

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I use Lyman dies for 7.62 x 54R myself but getting the old style decapping pins with a shoulder is getting problematic. A Mosin and accuracy......point of deer yes. I use the same bullet that I hard cast for 7.62 x 39, .308, and 30-06 being out of a Lee Mold and 160 grain with a gas check I see no reason to use something else.

If you go to using what ever 7.62x54R brass like I have had to you will likely have the same problem as me...... crunching decapping pins. My next step is to purchase a universal decapper that I can easily find decapping pins for which is why I did not purchase a Lyman model from the C store as they do not sell replacements.
 
I use a .308 Lee Collet die, using a washer around the case as a spacer to push up on the collet.

For seating I use the seating die that came with the Lee 3 die set. Seems to work OK in my PU sniper:

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For a 3.5X scope with a full wooden stock, I think that is quite acceptable. Certainly minute-of-fascist-invader.
 
Hornady's 7.62x54R die set includes the 'sliding-sleeve' style seating die. The set is in-stock most places online.


I just use my boring, outdated RCBS dies. The rifle doesn't care.
 
"...don't think I need..." You don't need any kind of special die set for it. Regular FL dies will do as well as anything else. A Mosin isn't a target rifle. So Matchkings are a bit excessive. Sierra's 150's or 180's will do. So will Hornady .3105" 174 grain FMJ's.
 
Just a thought; have you slugged your gun's barrel? My M-N slugged out at just a hair over .314", and .308"-309" bullets may be a little sloppy through that. But, I've used .314" cast w/gas check with fair to good results...
 
Just a thought; have you slugged your gun's barrel? My M-N slugged out at just a hair over .314", and .308"-309" bullets may be a little sloppy through that. But, I've used .314" cast w/gas check with fair to good results...
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That's a good point.
My M38 slugged at 0.315" and I've seen many more Mosins that slugged 0.314" to as large as 0.318" (8mm!).

However...
The Russian barrels had deep grooves, with bore diameter typically coming in at 0.300-0.301". As such, a lot of these rifles (and 7.7x58mm Japs with deep grooves) still shoot even 0.308" bullets fairly well. Some shoot 0.308" bullets better than bullets of 'proper' diameter.


I think the Sierra or Hornady 174 gr 0.311-0.312" bullets are a good starting point. If they don't work out, then there are dozens of other options in the metric 7.62mm range (0.3105-0.313") and hundreds of options if you're willing to try 0.308" bullets.

And if none of the jacketed options work out, you can always shove a 0.316" cast bullet in there. ;)
 
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