Did Anyone Use a 7.62X54R ?

Howdy.

Did anyone use a Mosin in 7.62x54R this year? I just never got far enough along with my load development or sighting with my 1944 carbine to even give it a real trip to the deer woods. Neighbor kid carried it for a couple of days due to the family being a bit short on rifles, but he only got a running shot at a deer that he probably should have passed up anyway from the sound of the story. I know that the Prvi Partizan 180's I've got are brutish in the muzzle blast and recoil dept. 150 grain .311 Sierras and IMR 4064 appear to hold a bit more promise of compatibility in such a stubby barrel.

Has anyone got any load data to share for this cartridge? AW

Hi AW,

Shooting my Mosin regularly but the surplus ammo is just too cheap and more than accurate enough for iron sight.

Only rifle I own that I don't reload for.  Maybe at the gun show if I could find some bargain on RCBS dies I might start.  Probably consider light loads with cast bullets.

Hunted with the 375 and the 260, but killed most deer with a crossbow this year.

BEAR

Don't own one but wouldn't mind having one.

I suspect they're pretty good as a deer caliber.  If memory serves me right, they're somewhere between a 308 and the good ol' 06 in ballistics.  Both of which are awesome deer calibers.

Oh, Bear, you must be talking about that metal sliver they shove into teh dovetail in the front . I have a mosin, but don't think it will go hunting. Sights are pretty bad and the safety isn't a good design.

I've shot my 2 Moisins for the better part of 40 years. One is a military with the fore and top guards missing. I seldom use it. The other was sporterized some time in the 60s with a Fajen stock and Williams sights. Trouble was whoever did the front sight drilled all the way through the barrel into the rifling. Every third shot would strip the screws and the front sight would fly off like it was an F15 ejection seat. I cut it off to about 20 inches and reinstalled the sight properly but it has fearsome muzzle blast. The mainspring had a coil removed to lighten the trigger pull and make the safety usable with gloves and cold fingers but now it won't reliably touch off surplus military primers, although I've never had a failure with my reloads. The bore on mine is pretty tight, it shot .308 fairly well. I think I've probably harvested a half dozen does with it over the years. Unfortunately the bore is now in really rough shape. My son had borrowed it and packed it in a padded case in the trunk of his car along with most of his personal stuff when he had a 6 month deployment. It sat in a base parking lot for the duration and the entire gun was encrusted in rust when he returned. I've scrubbed and brushed for hours but the best it'll do is 4" groups at 50 yards now. Pits are deeeeep. RD