.308 bullet for 7.62x54r?

[Coppertop]

Hi all.....I'm new to this web page and from what I can see it looks like I have lots of interesting reading ahead.
I have a Hungarian M-44 that I've been reloading for a few years now and all my reloads have been .308 diameter. From what I can see, everyone else is using .311 or .312. The accuracy I've experienced is decent over open sights. Does anyone else here do the same thing or is it something that should be avoided? I remeber researching loads for the rifle and (I believe) being told by a gunsmith to reload with .308 unless I slugged the barrel to ensure it's ability to digest the .311 or .312.........is this rubbish?

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[Claven2]

If it shoots well with .308, then continue to use those bullets. It would also be easy to slug the bore with some lead. If it comes in with a groove diameter of .310" or bigger, you'll be OK using .311 or .312 bullets and accuracy MAY improve.

Most 54R rifles don NOT shoot their best with smaller .308 bullets, but some do. Mostnotably Finnish M28 and M28/30 rifles tend to like the .308" rounds.

[Craig67]

My Polish M44 prefers .310 jacketed or .311 cast. I only tried about 10 .308 bullets, accuracy was midling IIRC.

[P.E. Islander]

East block ammo for this caliber is generally loaded with bullets measuring .310". As you have found .308 bullets do work, but in the vast majority of Mosin rifles a .311 jacketed bullet is more accurate. I feed my M-91's cast bullets sized .313" with good results.

Using a .308 jacketed bullet results in more blow-by in the barrel, this heats the barrel up faster and probably increases bore erosion over firing proper fitting bullets.

[Brewster]

I use the honady 123 g Sp 7.62 bullets. They work fine for me.

[lakeview]

Both Remmington & Winchester made huge numbers of these Mosin-Negant rifles for Imperial Russia.
Designed to function in artic climates, ie. Alaska winters.
bullits of 0.309-0.311 inch are correct if the metal is nice & cold.

Finland captured many of these and were wildcatted, mic out your rifle to be sure.

[scrmblerkari]

The Hornady 7th Ed. has loads for both .308 and .312 barrels/bullets. It is still a good idea to slug your barrel (I suspect a .31 cal round ball would work pretty well but haven't tried it yet). I slugged my 1937 Izhevsk and it was definitely happiest with .311/.312 bullets, as it came out about .312-313, but that could have been my inexperience in slugging barrels. I just assumed my 1943 "Sniper" from the same factory would be the same, so starting with light loads and working up to the same loads as the '37 I had no pressure indications. I don't load "hot" in any event.
I found a good load to be 150 gr. Sierra Spitzers, .311 dia., 43 gr. 4064 (almost a starting load), Winchester std. primers, neck sized to .308, not seated very far, and just neck-sized far enough to hold the bullet all the way to the base. O.A.L. 2.900, you may have a different C.O.L., could be longer or shorter than mine. Anyway, this is a mild load, easy on you and the rifle,
with good accuracy in both my Mosins. best, scrmblerkari

[dogtag]

I use a 311 that I cast myself.
You may experience throat erosion by using too small a bullet.

[John Coleman]

Only Finnish rifles and ammo use 308 bullets and then not all of them. The others take .311" bullets. The American die and ammo companies went to 308 bullets to be "safer" in case of a Finnish rifle but the pressure increase firing .311" bullets in a 308 bore isn't super high. There is no American SAAMI standard for the cartridge. For cast lead bullets you should swap the expander in the die for a larger .311" one as the standard .308" one is too small for larger cast bullets but should work fine for boattail jacketed .311" bullets and I find the .311" expanders a bit too loose even for jacketed .311" bullets. So for jacketed bullets I use the smaller .308" expander with both .308" and .311" bullets. Load data isn't much different for the two bullet diameters. The most accurate bullets I found are the Sierra .311" bullets.

[Andy]

Be careful about chamber neck clearance in these guns. I have one that slugs 0.315", but the chamber will only accept bullets 0.310" or smaller and still allow 0.002" clearance with most brands of brass. In that gun I shoot 0.317" cast and have to outside neck turn 0.008".

Slug your bore. If it's larger than 0.308", you'll want to use the larger bullets. Next, either take a chamber cast, or fire a 0.308" round and then measure the unsized outside neck diameter. F/L size it and then load up a 0.311" or 0.312" bullet. Measure again. If it comes up larger than before, you may run into problems and have to neck turn.