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7.62x54R cheap shooter

I filed the end of my barrel flat to get rid of the horrendous mess there and used the old brass round head screw with polishing grit on it to recrown it. I also have not been back out with it to see if it helped.
 
Just managed my login to the New/Old site, will be resuming activity in this topic.

Updates include:

Down to one M-N 91/30, Archangel Stock installed, Bushnell scope in Air Rifle rings mounted directly to barrel dovetail. Took the plunge, counterbored the counterbore to a depth of about 2", yet to fire rifle since mod.

Greg

I've a M44 an M39, they both love the brass case yellow tip I am flush with. Picked 10K rds up at Knob creek years ago at $40.00/K and 6K of it was the yellow tip. They say it's std heavy ball but that stuff shoots good in any 54R I've ever shot it in. Ran with my M14 with match ammo when I shot it in a friends SVD.
 
Just got gifted a 440rd sardine can full of 7.62x54R surplus ammo. Silvertip, copper washed Berdan cases; looks like the generic 'Czeck silvertip' 148gr light ball. Olive painted can, black writing, silver paint stripe as part of the desciption. Was partially opened previously, temporary resealed it myself with duck tape. I suspect it was snatched up in error, mistaken for x39 stuff knowing the provider.

Not parting with the ammo, period.

Wondering where to look and how much to pay for a minimalist rifle that shoots this stuff well enough to be worth having. BTW, is it just me, or does every surplus Mosin-Nagant I've ever tried all shoot 2ft to the left at 100yd?

Any ideas, folks?

Greg


I have a customer sending me an M39 with cracked stock direct from Classic Firearms for some work. At $289 (cost of a exc. condition M91/30), the Finn barrels are in a completely different class than the Russian/Soviet barrels. It hasn't arrived yet, but not expecting much in the way of cosmetics as they've got to be getting "down" towards the end of the Burns' inventory. Whether re-stocked, or you repair the existing stock as needed, I've never seen an M39 that wouldn't shoot to point of aim.
 
Thank you for the post. If the re-counterboring is a bust, at least there's somewhere to take this further.

Greg
 
Re: 7.62x54R cheap shooter

What do you guys clean your bore with to keep it from looking like a rusty sewer pipe? The surplus ammo seems really corrosive.

Get a transmission fluid funnel ( a funnel with a long tube) . When you get home from range pour boiling water through the bore , the heat will dry the water, then clean with whatever solvents you usually use. I keep a separate rod and brushes for use on my rifles that shoot corrosive just to avoid ANY chance with getting those nasty corrosive salts on any other bores.Oil the bore post cleaning.

 
I have an old beater mosin, no mods. Shot a few rounds of PPU through it at about 1810 yards with the iron sights on 17, I was very surprised that they were impacting where they should have been. It convinced me that these rifles are a credible threat with minimal investment.
 
I was reading back in this thread and wonder how it is then we are seeing 182 gr. Match on the shelves? I can't find the bullets, but I did find loaded cartridges in "little" boxes of 20. No cardboard or plastic retainer inside. Just loaded in the box like .22LR ammo.
 
Dealing with corrosive primer deposits is pretty easy. I begin cleaning by saturating the bore and patching it out dry several times using alcohol/ammonia based window cleaner. After that, clean as with any other ammo. I have also read that simply cleaning with regular old Hoppe's #9 bore solvent will also do the trick.

The important thing is to get at those salts within a day or so of firing.

Greg
 
I haven't shot the old hunk in almost 2 years. My buds and I plan on having a Nagant shoot off for quarters soon. Finally bought dies, 174 SMK's and have 40 large rifle primer brass to start with. Wonder if I can hit the 1120Y steel with the irons???
 
Just a update.

Swagged a load with R15 and the .311 174gr SMK's. WOW did this load transform the accuracy in my 91/30!

Once I figured out the exact place to aim with the irons I didn't miss the 200M turkey, too easy! I was very impressed and so were my shooting friends. Didn't shoot it at 100Y but I'd estimate 2" groups by how well it did at 200M. Before with the crappy milsurp, I would seldom connect, and not surprising since it shot 4-5" at 100Y. I don't know what brand that was but it sucked.

I also tried our 675Y steel which was a little harder due to switching winds but I hit it most of the time.

Previously I had a distaste for my 91/30 but now I have some respect for it. Not too bad after all.

Didn't try the far steel or shoot for $ yet but the buds are surely giving away some lunch money.
 
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Steve, what brass did you use? Which dies?

I ask since I've considered a load up to try in mine, but frankly do not want to put a lot of cabbage into it. I have some PRVI/PPU brass and it seems to be decent.
 
Steve, what brass did you use? Which dies?

I ask since I've considered a load up to try in mine, but frankly do not want to put a lot of cabbage into it. I have some PRVI/PPU brass and it seems to be decent.

It's PPU that I'm using, I agree it's pretty good brass as well as the 7.5x55 I just loaded. Basic RCBS dies I bought at Sportsmans Warehouse.
 
Still sorting out my reloading setup after the move here to Arizona, but have already successfully loaded .223, 7.62x39, 260, and .308. Did the press setup for .30-'06 yesterday, will probably make some today. (Edited, this is on hold until a replacement for the misplaced RL550 powder funnel 'B' arrives). I have the RCBS F/L dies and Dillon caliber conversion, along with PPU brass, Hornady '303' caliber 150gr Interlocks and a good supply of strippers. So that's in the near forecast. Temps will be climbing out of the 90's soon (very soon, in a week or two), so Spring is a heavy ammo production period. I am using PPU brass for the .308, too, and Hornady for the 7.62x39.

Greg
 
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Following again. I've not been around because of intermittent trouble with the new format, but it looks like it might be squared away. We'll see. This is one thread I was watching closely.

Greg, any updates since 4/13?

Regards,

Josh
 
Still running down the aftermath of a heart attack a month ago, but some progress to report.

I did a homebrew recounterbore on my sole remaining 91/30, which is currently residing in the Archangel stock. I won't go into the recounterboring process except to say it involved a handheld drill and a solid commitment that this will be a last ditch effort to get any sort of accuracy whatever out of this particular rifle. The other two 91/30's remain in the family back in upstate NY, were one is a prodigious deer slayng implement, and the other is a standby cabinet rifle.

The heart attack looks like an episode of Congestive Heart Failure.COPD, and heart tissue damage appears minimal. The combination of crackerjack local EMT and the Tucson VA hospital staffs managed to get to me quickly and get me stabilized fast, then treated very effectively. I was out after 3 days. I suspect I got a larger helping of luck than I deserved, and/or could ever expect to experience again in a singe lifetime. The VA has put me into a telemedicine program involving home based diagnostic monitoring equipment employing daily cellular transmission of personal vitals. I'm officially impressed.

Unfortunately, I am also (slowly) recovering from a bout of Strep Throat that I came home from the hospital with a month ago. My voice is still just something slightly above a whisper.

FWIW, the scope mounting approach of mating heavy duty rimfire/air rifle rings to the 91/30's rear sight dovetail lug appears to be reasonably rugged; none of the 3 have slipped yet. Again, it's still a work in progress. The one still in my possession awaits only an opportunity to get out and shoot it to test the outcome of recounterboring. It will happen.

Good to see you up and active here again.

Greg