.312" diameter bullets

[ptf18]

Im going to reload for my MN 7.62x54r and after slugging the bore (.314) I'm trying to find a jacketed bullet of this diameter. I think the closest I'll get is the Hornady 150gn at .312" diameter.

Any other sources?

Information

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[Patrick Chadwick]

Not much choice here. Other manufacturers produce a .311", not a 312. Depending on the state of the throat of your rifle, the Hornady 174gn .312" may perform better. Find out which one works better, and buy as many as you can while they're still available....

[mwjones]

Lyman makes a .314 mould, Model Number 314299. Designed for .303 brit. 200 grain, just a scaled up version of the 311299. Takes standard 30 cal gas checks. Other than that, you might be out of luck.

[richarda]

If you like to scounge, many years ago Speer made a 175 gr RN .313 dia. bullet ostensibly for the 7.65 Argentine. Could still be some out there somewhere.

[AKA Hugh Uno]

you are assuming that a .314 GROOVE depth (your bore depth is closer to .302/.303) won't shoot .311 or .312 bullets. I would try .312s before assuming they won't work. The rifle was MADE to shoot .3105" bullets (even if your groove depth is a bit on the high side).

[andiarisaka]

A couple thousandths undersize is no big deal. I've a Krag rifle with a .310 groove diameter barrel that will shoot sub 1" groups at 100yds with the Nosler 168gr match bullet, which is .308 diameter. The gases that blow by the bullet tend to keep it centered while it rides the rails of the rifling. Said gas blow by isn't a problem with jacketed bullets, but is what a cast bullet loader is trying to avoid by sizing larger than groove diameter.

[Patrick Chadwick]

The gases that blow by the bullet tend to keep it centered while it rides the rails of the rifling.

Sorry, but that I just do not believe! If you have an undersized object being blown down a tube, the center-line situation is unstable. The slightest increased gap on one side will increase the flow on that wider side, decrease the flow on the other, narrower side and the object will be forced over to the wall of the tube and either continue down the tube on that side or, possibly, depending on the fluid dynamics of the whole set up, rebound and oscillate from one side to the other. But fly freely and stably down the center line - no chance. Fluidic switches rely on this "sticking" to the walls to achieve a stable switched state.

Furthermore, in a rifle barrel the bullet is not free in the bore, but has already been engraved in the rifling. So the whole notion that it can be pushed sideways by the pressure difference between the "loose" side and the "tighter" side is IMOH implausible.


At both ends of the barrel, any such difference is the cause of bad to disastrous shooting performance. Whether a loose or overlong throat or a loose (i.e. badly or asymmetrically) worn muzzle, the looser side causes the bullet to be pushed towards the tighter side. In the throat, this effect is greatly magnified by any free flight befote the bullet is engraved. The asymmetry means that the bullet is engraved with a slight skew, and when it emerges from the muzzle, even of an otherwise perfect barrel, the engraved skew sends it off axis, resulting in lousy grouping or even tumbling bullets. Likewise the imbalance in a badly worn ("blunderbuss") or unevenly worn ("pullthrough groove") barrel allows a lateral pressure difference to send the bullet off axis or cause tumbling.


Bullets are not self-centering!

[JBS]

If this is a rifle you are very fond of and will have for a long time you can look into purchasing a Bump Die. These Dies’ are used to swedge a factory bullet to a greater size by compressing it in a forming die known as a Bump Die. They were very popular in the Benchrest world several years ago.

[gunnerasch0]

If your bore is 0.314 try smaller diameter jacketed bullets. They might work and as others have reported, lead bullets usually won't but try it and sea for yourself. Shooting and reloading for military rifles isn't an exact science, some loads will work in a rifle while the same in a different one of same type won't.

Back at turn of century Midway had a super deal on Remington RNSP 170 grain 30-30 bullets.
They were 1000 for $34 delivered!!!
I got a few thousand and tried them in every nominal 30 caliber rifle I had. They generally shot well in true 30 calibers but in 303 Brit rifles only shot well in a 1905 and a 1910 straight pull. I have often wished I'd gotten a thousand dollars worth, likely have been close to a lifetime supply!
Larry Murray

[smellie]

The Hornady 150 is a good choice, being that it is a flatbased bullet; it will obturate a certain amount and prevent blow-by. Patrick Chadwick is utterly correct on this point.

A very good friend, recently deceased, and myself spent almost 25 years playing with old military rifles, just to see HOW accurate they could be made. He had excellent shooting in a couple of wartime MNs, using the Hornady flatbase 150. Any time you can make a $65 iron-sight military-surplus rifle shoot into the SAME 3x5-inch file card at 325 yards measured, Summer and Winter, temperatures between 90 above and 35 below zero (Fahrenheit), for a period of 4 years, you tend to respect the loading, not to mention the man doing the shooting. Gavin Tait was doing the shooting; I was the guy with my mouth hanging open, catching flies.

But the Hornady .312-150 is a good choice.
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