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Reloading for a Russian SVD in 7.62x54R

towerofpower93

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Minuteman
Jul 11, 2010
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Seems we derailed Random Guy's M-14 thread for far too long with SVD talk, so I figured I'd just start this thread to get the data in the wild for the sake of getting data into the wild.

All of these loads were developed and used in my 1994 built Russian SVD with the newer 1:9ish twist rate barrel. I bought this rifle used, so no idea how many rounds the previous owner(s) put on it.

It's been a couple years since I've done much shooting with the rifle, unfortunately. The last, and perhaps most fun, match I ran it in was a PRS match which I was ROing. We ROs shot the match a couple days prior to iron out the stages and have some fun. Took 8th out of 11 shooters and beat the only other gas gun there, an AR-10 in .308, haha.

At the Quantico Vintage Sniper Matches I ran either S&B 180gr Match ammo (pretty shitty) and the below load of a 174gr SMK over 45.4gr of IMR4064 in PPU brass.

Of note, the PPU brass came from a bunch of PPU 182gr Match and 150gr soft point ammo I bought, but their primers were super thin and I had a few pierced primers. When I disassembled the ammo to salvage the brass, bullets, and powder I used a Lee universal decap die to carefully push the live primers out and had a couple that the primer punch went right through. I will avoid PPU factory x54R ammo like the plague now.

Anyway, below is the data I've collected over the years with the 200gr Lapua D166 and 174gr SMK. Started off with IMR4064 and never really branched out as it seemed to do the job. There's also a single section of factory Barnaul ammo in there for grins.

ETA: Here's the data for the 180gr S&B Match and 182gr PPU Match ammo. When I initially collected the data in a note on my phone I just put individual velocities vice the lo, hi, etc. Remembered I'd done all the math later and put it in my load data spreadsheet though, so here it is for reference.

April 2014

182gr PPU Match

15rd group

Lo: 2641
Hi: 2691
Avg: 2663
ES: 50
SD: 12

180gr S&B Match

15rd group

Lo: 2622
Hi: 2669
Avg: 2654
ES: 47
SD: 12

Sep 2014

200gr Lapua D166 .310 FMJBT
Virgin PPU brass
Win LR primer
OAL: 3.00"

42.6gr IMR4064

10rd group

Lo 2292
Hi 2323
Avg 2305
ES 31.68
SD 9.64

42.7gr IMR4064

10rd group

Lo 2310
Hi 2337
Avg 2320
ES 27.66
SD 10.00

42.8gr IMR4064

10rd group

Lo 2317
Hi 2336
Avg 2323
ES 19.23
SD 5.74

March 2015

200gr Lapua D166 .310 FMJBT
Virgin PPU brass
CCI 34 LR primer
OAL: 3.000"

41.9gr IMR4064

5rd group

Lo 2195
Hi 2214
Avg 2203
ES 18.9
SD 7.0

42.2gr IMR4064

5rd group

Lo 2228
Hi 2269
Avg 2246
ES 41.8
SD 15.2

42.4gr IMR4064

5rd group

Lo 2228
Hi 2288
Avg 2256
ES 60.2
SD 24.1

42.5gr IMR4064

4rd group

Lo 2238
Hi 2266
Avg 2254
ES 27.7
SD 11.7

42.7gr IMR4064

5rd group

Lo 2271
Hi 2305
Avg 2286
ES 34.2
SD 14.8

42.8gr IMR4064

5rd group

Lo 2263
Hi 2294
Avg 2274
ES 31.8
SD 13.2

August 2017

148gr Barnaul FMJ
OAL: 3.025"

Labradar series: 24

10rd group

Lo: 2794
Hi: 2861
Avg: 2833
ES: 67
SD: 20.2

September 2017

200gr Lapua D166 .310 FMJBT
42.7gr IMR4064
1 x fired PPU
CCI 34 LRP
OAL: 3.00"
Fully closed Lee FCD into band

Labradar series: 27

9rd group

Lo: 2290
Hi: 2308
Avg: 2297
ES: 18
SD: 6.8

174gr SMK
45.4gr IMR4064
1 x fired PPU
CCI 34 LRP
OAL: 2.940"
Fully closed Lee FCD

Labradar series: 28

10rd group

Lo: 2501
Hi: 2547
Avg: 2512
ES: 46
SD: 12.9

October 2017

174gr SMK
45.4gr IMR4064
1 x fired PPU
CCI 34 LRP
OAL: 2.940"
No crimp

Labradar series: 42

9rd group

Lo: 2499
Hi: 2535
Avg: 2511
ES: 36
SD: 12.1

174gr SMK
45.4gr IMR4064
1 x fired PPU
CCI 34 LRP
OAL: 2.940"
Fully closed Lee FCD crimp

Labradar series: 43

10rd group

Lo: 2494
Hi: 2537
Avg: 2511
ES: 43
SD: 11.7

174gr SMK
45.4gr IMR4064
1 x fired PPU
CCI 34 LRP
OAL: 2.940"
Fully closed Lee FCD crimp

Labradar series: 44

10rd group

Lo: 2493
Hi: 2521
Avg: 2508
ES: 28
SD: 10.4


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Last edited:
Great post! Thanks.
What kind of accuracy do you get out of yours?

I made a load with PPU brass, sierra 174’s and varget. At one point I was able to get sub Moa groups, but last few tests have put me at about 1.25-1.5 moa.

I have a 3-9 scope which helps tremendously. The scope is incredibly clear but the adjustments are so coarse I have difficulty getting it perfectly zeroed,
 
Best I ever got from that rifle was with the D166. Had a 3 shot group that measured .83" center to center. That was years ago, and really just an anomaly.

With the D166 and 174gr SMK I'd call my KBI SVD a 1.5 MOA gun....with a modern 2-10x or 3-15x scope.

With the 4x PSO it really is only good for minute of man as you step out past 300yds and beyond, though that is what it was designed for, so we can't fault it too much.
 
We need pics of that KBI SVD!!!

Have anyone here try Lapua 7.62x53R (#4PH7215) brass yet? I want to use that but not 100% sure if it will work..