Lee Loader

I shot the same Mosin Nagant rifle with Factory ammo yesterday and couldn't hit squat at 100 yards. All the screws are tight, bore does not look nasty or leaded, but I am willing to bet it is fouled any way. This gun has been a decent shooter (nicest condition Mosin I own) for 20 years. I am willing to bet that the cast loads I made that shot terrible at long range left a lasting gift in the rifling that has been pushed down and glossed over by successive firing of FMJ ammunition. I have no bore scope so have to go by eyeball and bore light. time to get scrubbing I think. I will have to be more aggressive this time.

You might try one or more applications of Shooters Choice lead remover. If it's as baldly leaded as it sounds it may take a bit of extra work but the stuff does help get the lead out.

Make smoke,

Wet it down good with Kroil leave it set a while . Take a well used 30 cal brush and wrap it tight with 0000 steel or 000 brass wool . Run a regular brush with some Kroil on it through the bore , a 32/8mm is a good idea in the 7.62s . This will rough up the stuff still stuck and pull the lifed stuff out . Now push the wrapped brush through from the breach end . If there is heavy fouling it's likely it will be picked . Unscrew the brush at the muzzle , knock off the chunks and wet it in something other than your usual solvent and run it through again . Now clean as normal with the other solvent until "your level of clean patches" is met . Wet the bore in Kroil again and let it set about 12 hr and flip it over every couple hrs if you think about it . Repeat the whole cycle with your preferred copper solvent .
1 more cycle with your preferred solvent .

What happens is that the carbon builds a working layer of hardened slick coat with the usual solvent . When you change solvents you mess up that balance and it falls apart . The Kroil is a penetration type oil that takes advantage of the carbon upset and lifts the impacted lead , copper etc and further upsets the carbon layer . Copper sucks up lead/tin like a sponge and hangs on to it . So breaking up the copper fouling is good too . The wool is a nil damage scrubber that will pull gobs , chunks and slabs of leading out along with carbon . It's also softer than the barrel so you can work it a lot without worrying about damage .

I finally got a can of Kroil today. I am going to use it on several bores over the next few weeks. The M44 that I think is fouled is getting it first. Today. Thanks for the tip. I have heard of guys using Kroil for cleaning and just never tried it.

Kroil is good stuff, great penetrating oil. Don't be fooled by "Oil" it a penetrant,
not a lubricant. & good old fashion copper Chor Boy to wrap around a bore brush
& a can of Kroil are always on my bench.

These are loads that have worked in my $100 Mosan Nigant (use with CAUTION!) (1) 50.0/IMR4350/180Spt @ 2450fps (2) 50.0/AA4350/180Spt @ 2570fps (3) 44.6/RL15/180Spt @ 2452fps (4) 44.6/AA4064/180Spt @ 2440. In the above loads I used Lapua brass, Winchester primers, and Sierra FB (.311 diameter) bullets. I tried some lighter weight bullets, but found the 180gr worked best in my rifle (rifle twist?). While I have a Lee 185gr cast mold, I have not shot a load with that bullet that would equal the "jacketed" loads, as of yet. I am going to try 16.0gr of 2400 and 13.0gr of Red Dot next! I have experimented some with factory loads and found the "Hot Shot" 180gr (don't remember the brand) to be the most accurate at about 2700fps. 2nd best, was the 203gr factory load at 2374fps. While my rifle seemed to like the "heavier" bullets, it did shoot the "Soviet" 147FMJ satisfactorily at an avg. of 2794fps. The 7.62X54R is one "weird" looking case, but Lapua brass seems to work really well; of course the low pressures help. I was quite surprised to find the "Mosan" to be as accurate as it has turned out to be; for it looks like it was designed by a "plumber's apprentice" after a "night on the town". I would like to get my hands on a "Finnish" model with a .308 bore; I've heard that they are even more accurate!