The Russian Mosin Nagant Forum

ok, I was reading in my new issue of reloader magazine where a guy resized buckshot to load in rifle cases and saw a video where a guy resized buckshot to reload for his .303 brit. I know these are not full power by any means but using trail boss or somthing you can get around 1500fps. The main problem is they say accuracy is not that great, its a round ball of course. I was just brain storming and thought wounder if you could take a 9mm luger lead cast and size it down to .312 or .313 for my finn and load them light and get around 1500fps or so and get good accuracy. You could load light hollow points and all sorts of fun stuff. What do you guys think? The only reason I ask is because just trying to find new ways to get around the .22 shortage thing and more trigger time with the mosin at super cheap cost.

Wait, I just relized that .32 cal pistol bullets are .313 and you would not have to size them. Still what do you guys think?

Yes you can do that but not necessarily cheaper. The loaded rounds would likely be as costly as surplus ammo. But it will work and give you target shooting fun with nearly no recoil. Also cast bullets around 150-180 grains in the 1500 FPS area are very pleasant to shoot.

bunkysdad wrote:Yes you can do that but not necessarily cheaper. The loaded rounds would likely be as costly as surplus ammo. But it will work and give you target shooting fun with nearly no recoil. Also cast bullets around 150-180 grains in the 1500 FPS area are very pleasant to shoot.

I think Russell is right. Until surplus becomes scarce, it is hard to beat it's price. I can see handloading for attempted better accuracy, but not to save much $. That said, your idea would work, and some day it might be the best option. Then we will be looking for you to give us advice.

ok well I know surplus and all is cheap and I have around 600 rounds of it but I would like to stick that in the back and just save it. I have 200 pieces of ppu brass and I know it sounds lazy but sometimes I want to shoot it and not have to pour water down the tube and clean it to death, just wipe it down with a oily rag and in the safe it goes. I am going to give the .32 bullets a chance. Just wanting to know what powder would you use to say get a 100grn bullet running at 1600 fps and how many grains of it?

This article might help you.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthr ... es-Article

That is a good article but it still didn't answer my question. I have slugged my bores and all that good stuff. I am probably going with a 100gr bullet. I now just want to know how many grains of powder to get it to 1600fps with bullseye or universal if possible.

If I told you the answer you might try it without verification, and if you had a failure then what? I don't know the answer but that is the general mindset of the majority of reloaders. Everytime you will be told to use a manual but I realize in this case the info may not be out there. I could tell you about a reduced load using red dot pistol powder or 2400 powder and cast lead bullets in around the 1500 FPS range.

See if you can find any useful info here. I get lost on this site for hours sometimes.
http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletNotes.htm

Bullseye and Universal aren't going to give you what you want velocity wise. Your going to need a slightly slower burning pistol or shotgun powder,you should probably also skip the lighter weight pistol bullets as well if you want to push a bullet at that velocity.

My plinker load of choice is the Little Lee plain base 32 cal. .314" 90 gr. tumble lube SWC which I cast from pure lead since all velocities are sub-sonic. I shoot the little bullet sized to .314" in the SKS and Mosin rifles and size it down to .311" for 30-30,300 Sav.30-06 and 308 Win.

Bullseye is my powder of choice for these loads 3.0 grs. Max. in the 7.62 x 39 cartridge and 3.5 grs. in everything else gets me between 950 and 1100 fps. depending on the cartridge case with no leading and excellent accuracy. The post by Ed Harris who wrote the NRA's Cast Bullet Manual in this thread has several good plinker loads for various calibers.

For your purposes the Alliant 2400 or Red Dot loads using bullets in the 150 to 180 gr. range will serve you well and get you close to the velocity your looking at with basically no felt recoil at all. Other than the plinker load I've mentioned I generally shoot the Lee .312" dia. tumble lube gas check bullet with 16.0 grs. of 2400 in my Mosin and 300 Sav. sized accordingly.




90 gr. plinker load in the 30-30,I get the same results in all my other 30 cal. rifles as well.


Some load info.
http://www.castbulletassoc.org/forum/vi ... orum_id=48
http://members.shaw.ca/cronhelm/TheLoad.html
Currently and for the foreseeable future I'm loading my cast rifle loads at 10 cents or less per rd. the cheapest surplus 54r ammo is currently 27 cents pre rd.

Some good info guys. I have been thinking of trying some cast in my m39.

Res45 what mold are you using in the 160 gr? is that pure also or an alloy?

Lee 2 cavity CTL312-160-2R .312 bullet,it drops closer to .314" and after lubing and gas check is applied it closer to 170 gr. I have always cast these bullets so they obtain a original BHN similar to WW alloy some as shot as cast or water quenched or heat treated to add extra hardness depending on the velocity and pressure I plan on shooting the loads at.

Thanks everyone for all the info, I got everything and loaded up some 100gr swc with 9 grains trail boss. They seem promising. They shot with no leading or problems. I bought the .303 expander for my lee dies and when I press the .312 bullets in I am still getting some lead shaving. Should it be flaring the mouth more? What am I dong wrong.

As I also reload for 32-20 my plinker load for 7.62x54R is the old Lyman 118gn RNFP bullet designed for the 32 WCF 100+ years ago and just a little more Bulleseye than res45 uses. It's a fun 50 yd, low recoil plinker especially in the carbines.

snipin101 wrote:I bought the .303 expander for my lee dies and when I press the .312 bullets in I am still getting some lead shaving. Should it be flaring the mouth more? What am I dong wrong.

The Lyman "m" die is what I use to flare the case mouth for lead bullets. It works similar the expander die in a pistol die set. Just set it to flare large enough to keep it from shaving lead, no more.

I use gas checked cast 150 grain bullets and 13 grains of Red Dot powder. Recoil is more than a .22, but not by much. Very pleasent to shoot. They drop about 2 inches lower at 100 yards than a regularly loaded jacketed round. But I just apply a little "Kaintucky" windage and I'm just fine.

Oh yeah, but when I make them, flaring the case mouth a bit is a MUST! I use a Lee universal expanding die.

I used to use the round balls for my 1849 .31 Baby Dragoon on top of a light load of Unique in .30-30 cases for plinking and rabbits. I'm sure one could do the same for 7.62x54R. (or x39, butthey wouldn't function semis.) It's best to use poly pillow fiber in the case to fill space and hold the powder down by the primer for reliable ignition.