Cast for 7.62 x 54

[G-Man WC]

Does anyone cast there own pills for the Mosin?
I'm looking to start exploring the world of cast and drop
down the velocity so I can send more than 30-40 down range at one sitting.
What mold is working for you and is it worth it in your opinion?
I'm slugging bore this weekend on a new M38 to see where I stand.

-g

[manny]

Basically any 150-210 grainish bullet sized to your bore will work. Lee C312-185-1R 3, Really cheap to shoot, easy on the brass and shoulder, especially if you use 16 grains or so of 2400. Or you can do 10 grains of unique, the combos are endless.
you're going to need to flare the case mouth slightly to make sure you do not shave any lead while seating. I don't crimp, and you may want to make sure the expander ball in your 7.62 die is not the .308 diameter but rather the larger .303 enfield ball. You want to make surethose fat pills don't get crushed. Also, make sure you remove as much copper fouling from the rifle as possible before shooting cast, copper attracts lead fouling. If you do paper patch it will smooth the bore considerably and its cheaper, did I mention it was cheaper?
I put up a tutorial on paper patching if your interested, I've made it pretty straight forward.
it's most definitely worth handloading for, you will shoot alot more.
Whichever bullet you choose, make sure to size it 2 or 3 thousanths over bore size to eliminate fouling and get great accuracy. Good luck

[BruinGuy]

Ooh...cast pills for the Mosin! I volunteer to help you test loads. Just send me some!

[sunborder]

Been doing this for several years. I like the CTL312-160-2R and the 185 mentioned above. I prefer the 185 slightly, but if you want to be uber-cheap, the 160 uses less lead and you can use less powder for mouse-fart loads and have less chance of sticking in the bore.

I've gone as low as 7 grains of red dot/promo with the 160 grain pill in a 91/30. Ear protection not required. Like shooting a BB gun. CHECK THIS IN YOUR RIFLE AFTER EACH SHOT, until you are confident that it won't stick in your bore.

If you are using more than about 10 grains of red dot, you will need to use gas checks to prevent leading.

Everything that Manny said above is spot on in my opinion, though I haven't needed the larger expander ball. I am NOT shooting for great accuracy with this combo, however. With the awful trigger and reduced velocity loads, there doesn't seem to be much point in trying. If you are shooting medium loads, and your rifle's trigger is decent (for a mosin), you should be good to go.

See "The Load" by Ed Harris (13 grains of red dot).

[foesgth]

I use the CTL312-160-2R over 14grs. of TrailBoss. This is a great mouse load. I put aluminum gas checks on it and size with a Lee push through sizer. I lube it with 45/45/10. It shoots to POA at 50 yards with the sights set on 100. For accuracy and higher velocity I use a Lyman 314299 checked and lubed with TAC1 lube.
If you want to get into casting come on over to Cast Boolits. Best info on casting on the web.

And BruinGuy you are always welcome to try a few if we ever meet at a range.

[thenodnarb]

Lyman 314299 is what I use for all my 30 cals. I size them down for .308. I don't have a mosin any more but I just fired about 50 rds out of my enfield today using these boolits. I am using a gas check and though I forgot to chrono it today, I was aiming for around 1800 FPS. I had some flyers today and not sure why. I was shooting at 300 yards and about 1/2 my rounds were right on target, and the other half were all over the place. Like 30 foot high on some of them. Maybe they were less than perfect casts. idk. Gonna try again with the new casting equipment, and taking more care with the powder charge.

[G-Man WC]

Great info guys.
Thanks -g

[Kappy]

Yes sir. Got some great groups (1.3moa at 100yds) with my casts in my M39 using IMR 4759. Gas checking is kind of important for this purpose. Barely any recoil... just enough to let you know that it went off. I think my boolit is a 198gr flat point from RCBS. I sort them by weight to take care of voids.

Remember that at 100yds, you'll get significant boolit drop. Using my Mojo click sights, I have the dial at 10:30 for cast and at 2:30 for jacketed (with a full load).


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[Cowboy T]

Lee's 155gr 0.312" mould is also good for Mosins. This is one of Ed Harris's designs. 16 gr of 2400 will do the trick nicely (this is the other of Mr. Harris's reduced loads, called, "The Universal Load" if memory serves). If you'd like a little more zip without going full power, try some lighter loads with H322. Start with 25 grains and go up to what your rifle likes.