New Mosin / New Mould

Proofing your loaded ammuntion.
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New Mosin / New Mould

Post by reloader762 »

Back at Christmas I got a new to me 1933 Tula HEX receiver 91/30. The stock was in fairly bad shape finish wise but the bore is good and bluing just needed so minor touchups and bolt needed a good polishing. While I was at it I cork bedded the action and refinished the stock to a blonde finish instead of the traditional red shellac finish.

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The mould I picked up is the Lee .312" 185 gr. RN. I plan on shooting this one in my Mosin rifles as it's a pretty close match to the Lyman 314299 but much cheaper. The bullets were cast from Wheel Weights + about 2% Tin and quenched straight from the mould. The next day they were sized to .314" in my RCBS Lube A Matic using Lars 2500+ and Gator checks. I going to push these with something along the lines of 28 to 30 grs. of IMR-4895 and about 3/4 grs. of Dacron filler which seem to improve accuracy over not using a filler at all with the slower burning stick powders,but that project is a little down the road. But for right now I'm going to work with some of my Alliant 2400 loads and a few other powders I have on hand to see how they do.

Part of the Lee 185 gr. mold block.
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A few of the bullets I cast up minus the lube.
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Cases were once fired PPU brass I got at the LGS they get from the local gun range. I full length resized the case this time around and trimmed them to proper length and resized the case neck using my NOE .312" expander plug. The throat is pretty deep on this rifle so I couldn't seat the bullet out as far as I wanted so I seated it half way on the middle driving band for this test load. I used 19.0 grs. of Alliant 2400 and Winchester LR primers.

I was able to get out after the July 4th holiday and shoot my Mosin 91/30 HEX receiver rifle I had reworked a couple months back and try out the new Lee .312" 185 gr. RN bullet I had cast up. For this test I loaded up 25 rds. as I have installed a MOJO rear aperture sight on the rifle an the original factory post so I knew it would take a few rds. to get it on target an leave the rest to chrono and do some accuracy test. I set my target up at 50 yds. which is a far as I can shoot in the back yard range,below is the final one of two five shot groups from today’s shooting and I had another target with the shots in the orange square area once I made the final sight adjustment but was unable to retrieve it before the weather moved in.

After firing those 25 rds. the bore was nice and shiny with only a few burnt powder residue specks here and there. I'm pretty pleased with the initial results an will be trying a couple different loads in a few weeks as well as a couple more of the 2400 loads in larger increments as I have room to increase it.
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Last edited by reloader762 on 22 Oct 2017 17:45, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: New Mosin / New Mould

Post by Ranch Dog »

That looks incredibly good! You just have to love it when it all comes together right from the get go!
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Re: New Mosin / New Mould

Post by Okie44 »

Ranch Dog wrote:That looks incredibly good! You just have to love it when it all comes together right from the get go!

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Re: New Mosin / New Mould

Post by akuser47 »

That is sexy, I love the mosin guns. The fireballs from the m44's and the 91/30 and its cheap surplus ammo and the reloading ability its a great round. With the picture you shared I thought you had a pristine Polish 91/30 for moment. I hop to trade into a nice Polish m44 and 91 someday. Great results in yours rework. great shooter and good looker as well. I don't reload for mine but friends do and they are accurate.
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Re: New Mosin / New Mould

Post by klr »

Nice work on the rifle and working up that cast bullet/load!

A beat up Mosin with a sewer pipe bore was what got me started casting bullets. But mine wasn't that easy.

What size (nose and driving band) is that bullet from the mold?

Thanks.
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Re: New Mosin / New Mould

Post by reloader762 »

klr wrote:Nice work on the rifle and working up that cast bullet/load!

A beat up Mosin with a sewer pipe bore was what got me started casting bullets. But mine wasn't that easy.

What size (nose and driving band) is that bullet from the mold?

Thanks.
Most all my Lee moulds drop larger than spec. On the 185 gr. the nose is .301" and the driving bands are .314"
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Re: New Mosin / New Mould

Post by Steve »

Nice project.
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Re: New Mosin / New Mould

Post by reloader762 »

Thanks guys for all the compliments. Reloading,casting and shooting has always been a labor of love for me since I started doing so in my early teens,it's pretty much the only hobby I have and what I enjoy doing when I have time off from work or doing things around the house.

I don't have any real fancy equipment just a mix of old stuff from Lyman,RCBS and Lee but it all seems to work well together for my purposes. I always do a lot of research and ask questions before I put something together as I don't have lots of extra income so I have to make the best choices from what I have or can afford.

Most all my moulds are Lee I think I have around 15 of those now an have never had any major issues with them other than a couple that needed some minor adjustments. I do on occasion buy myself a custom mould from NOE but there for a specific style of bullet that Lee doesn't produce like this clone of the Ray Thompson 38/357 #358156 mould.
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It could be just dump luck but I would like to think that I'm just blessed,it's just happened far to often to be a coincidence. I do want to get this load up a bit faster somewhere up around 1800 fps. but I would rather be accurate than fast and I need to make a new front sight pin thats about half the dia. of the factory pin,it just covers up to my much area at longer ranges. I made one for my M44 from a small finish nail and it works great.
Last edited by reloader762 on 22 Oct 2017 17:41, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: New Mosin / New Mould

Post by 62chevy »

The rifle looks awesome as well as you bullets !!!
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