[dh1633pm]

I used an overly large hammer to drive a .452 bullet through the bore on my M39 Nagant. Finding that the bore is indeed .310. Anyone here load for the 7.62x54 with lead? I have found over the years that my rifle likes .308 bullets. But I have never tried lead. I was thinking 180 grains in .311? I was waiting for my newly purchased Enfield No 4 to arrive so I can figure out it's bore as well and buy bullets for the two of them at once.

I did load some lead bullets in 7x57 for my Rolling Block using Trail Boss. It worked great. Its old so I didn't want to stress the thing.

Thanks for any input you can give. I have lots of powders on hand. And yes I have lots of loading data, but data doesn't give you first hand experience.

 

[edward]

i have loaded lee 7.63x39 tumble lube 160 grain bullet into the 54r before. it worked great. i used s&b brass, lee dies, and 11 grains of unique or power pistol. just make sure if you use plenty of tumble lube and don't wipe it off the nose of the bullet after you load it or you will lead the bore. i would think that .312 would be your min bullet diameter. have fun

 

[dh1633pm]

Thanks for the information. I have a bunch of Norma Brass for the rifle that I purchased in the 80's. The rifle does shoot .308 bullets very well. I will try some .312 bullets. I was thinking of using trail boss, but I can come up with some Unique.

 

[kwg020]

I'd pass on the 312's but if the rifling is new and crisp, I'll bet you can get by with the .308's. kwg

 

[dh1633pm]

So kwg020 what size lead bullets would you use? The rifling is excellent and it does shoot .308 jacketed bullets really well. The first four nice group then when the barrel warms up it spreads out a bit. First shot on the money.

 

[kwg020]

I'd do the 308's until the barrel gets worn. The Ruger Mini 30's were originally bored for the 310's and I recall several guys shooting the 308's and getting good results. Reload both and see which one the gun likes the best. kwg

 

[Jeff F]

I think the first Mini 30's came out with .308 bores. I cast and load lead bullets for a few Enfields which have like a .310 to.312 bore and use the same diameter bullets the 7.62 x39 and 7.62 x54 use. I size all my cast bullets .311. I have also loaded jacketed .308 bullets that worked OK but are more accurate if I paper patch them first.