Annealing 7.62x54R brass

[Thumb]

I'm getting ready to load up some 7.62x54R brass and was wondering if I should anneal them first since I will be resizing .308 sized brass to .311 brass? I'm thinking that since I'm stretching out the brass a little that it might be a good idea. The brass I am using is both new and once fired.

 

[gotcha]

I think you have answered your own question.

 

[Thumb]

I think you have answered your own question.

I answer my questions all the time, thing is I don't know if they are correct or not.

 

[RCC1]

I'm getting ready to load up some 7.62x54R brass and was wondering if I should anneal them first since I will be resizing .308 sized brass to .311 brass? I'm thinking that since I'm stretching out the brass a little that it might be a good idea. The brass I am using is both new and once fired.

What 54R brass do you have that was sized for .308?

 

[hunter243sgk]

I thought the 7.62x54 brass was .310?? And the 7.62x39 is .311. Just what i thought though so if you know then dont pay any mind to me But i have always been told to check each barrel to see. That is if it is a Mosin/nagont which was a very mass produced gun and made the tolerences a bit off.

 

[Thumb]

All I have right now is PPU and Winchester and I thought they were .308's but measuring my once fired brass I am getting .310 to .311. I was going by the load data books which have mostly data for the .308 bullets to load. I slugged my barrels and one was .310 and the other .312.

I was going by the surplus 7.62x54r ammo I have and they are .308" bullets. Plus the Lee dies I have for the 7.62x54R say that if I am loading .311 bullets that I need to get the .311 sizer because their sizer die comes with a .308"

 

[RCC1]

All I have right now is PPU and Winchester and I thought they were .308's but measuring my once fired brass I am getting .310 to .311. I was going by the load data books which have mostly data for the .308 bullets to load. I slugged my barrels and one was .310 and the other .312.

I was going by the surplus 7.62x54r ammo I have and they are .308" bullets. Plus the Lee dies I have for the 7.62x54R say that if I am loading .311 bullets that I need to get the .311 sizer because their sizer die comes with a .308"

I shoot and reload a lot of 7.62x54R.

Most all of the surplus stuff I measured came in at .309/.310.

In my experience especially with PPU the brass is so soft that you don't have to worry about annealing.

All of my loads use the 174 grain SMK that the British 303 and Jap 7.7 uses(I reload for those also).

I have slugged a lot Mosin and PSL barrels and have never had one come in at .308. I would get the .311 sizer with the barrel you have.

 

[RCC1]

This my accuracy load for 7.62x54R

Lapua brass
174 grain 303 SMK
52gr IMR4350
3.00 COL

I use PPU brass in one of my PSL's and use the exact load.

 

[RCC1]

I thought the 7.62x54 brass was .310?? And the 7.62x39 is .311. Just what i thought though so if you know then dont pay any mind to me But i have always been told to check each barrel to see. That is if it is a Mosin/nagont which was a very mass produced gun and made the tolerences a bit off.

7.62x54R and 7.62x39 take the same diameter bullets.

 

[Thumb]

Thanks for the info, I'll keep that goto load of yours in mind when I get ready to load. I did get the .311 sizer and already ran all my brass with it. I also just picked up some #3131 HORNADY 303/7.7MM(.3105) 174g FMJ/BT that I will try out first. I have a bunch of .308 bullets from doing my 300 BO too but I'll try some of those out later just for fun.

 

[RCC1]

What kind of rifle are you loading for?

 

[Thumb]

Two Mosin Nagant 91/30 with both round and hex receivers.

 

[Thumb]

Dang, out of the 20 different rifle powders I have I don't have any 4350 so I'm going to try some Varget instead since I have about 8lbs of it.

 

[Shaggy357]

The RCBS 165 Silhouette cast bullet, with gas check added, will go through a .311 sizer die with barely any resistance, and will lube nicely. These make an awesome, but inexpensive, plinking, target, and hunting round. When my dad turned 80, I gave him a super clean Enfield for his birthday. I had loaded some of these down to mild recoil. He had a great time shooting them all afternoon off the bench. Something to think about if you are wanting to shoot these old war horses a lot. You can make some inexpensive and accurate rounds that shoot really well. Many are much better than the store bought stuff, especially those with .308 bullets.....

 

[Thumb]

Thanks Shaggy, I'll keep those in mind if I do decide to shoot them a lot. Right now with the way they kick like a mule, even when in my lead sled with 25# of weight, I can barely stand about 20 rounds and my shoulder is toast.

 

[Thumb]

OK guys, I was able to get to the range today with some of the Hornady 303 and for a quick test to see what would be good I loaded up 5 of each with 42gr, 43gr, 44gr, and 45gr of Varget with a COAL of 2.855" at 100 yards using the stock iron sights that comes on the MN. The 42gr and 44gr look promising while the 45gr was just plain horrible. Here's a couple pics of the 42gr and 44gr groups. Of course each group had a flyer or maybe it was me so I didn't measure for those. The 43gr group I messed up and will have to redo them but they looked really good, maybe the best. I'm confessing now that I had a hard time trying to see the target using the iron sights and holding exactly the same each shot so I'm almost positive I could have done better with a scope or somebody elses younger eyes. I don't know, maybe these groups are good for these old rifles?

Hosted on Fotki

Hosted on Fotki

 

[RCC1]

Groups look good. Seems like your OAL is short. I'll have to check but I believe mine are around 3.00.

 

[RCC1]

I have some Lapua D166 projectiles that I going to start load development for one of my PSL's.

 

[Thumb]

Groups look good. Seems like your OAL is short. I'll have to check but I believe mine are around 3.00.

Just going by the data book on the OAL for the Hornady 174gr bullets #3131.

 

[2506]

For rifles that need .311 diameter bullets my pet load is 50 grs Accurate 4350 with either the .311 diameter Sierra 174 Match King or 180 SP PPU cases and CCI 200 COAL 3.000 and I use a Lee Factory Crimp Die and put a medium crimp on it. For rifles that need .312 diameter bullets I use the Hornady 174 RNSP with the above load except the COAL is 2.790. I have found that the use of a Lee Factory Crimp Die increases the accuracy of these loads. Matter of fact I use the Lee Factory Crimp Die on all my old military rifles except the 6.5x55 Swede Mauser. It does not effect the Swede one way or another. But all the others benefit greatly by it's use. Most of these rifles have a throat a mile long and my thought is that the crimp holds the bullet in the case just a fraction of a second more than non crimped and lets it build pressure better before bullet leaves the case kind of like the bullet in a shorter throat rifle hits the lands and is slowed for that brief moment before it leaves the case. Also don't waste your time and money shooting .308 bullets. I have tried them and you can't hit the side of a barn with them. The above load with the .311 174 Sierra Match King shoots perfectly to the sights of my Finnish B barrel model 39 out to 900 yards which is as far as I have tested it. I have quite a good number of rifles in 7.62x54R from carbine to rifles and they all are shooters with the above load with the bullet size they need. Have fun with the old war horses.