Hunting with Mosin-Nagant

[Tango down]

Hi

Rifle's info: Mosin-Nagant 43' Tula PU sniper, slugged at .313; shoots 1 1/4 " 100 yards 174 SMK/52.5gr AA4350/44.6 Varget.

Did anyone used the "Barnes Triple-Shock X Bullets 303 Caliber (311 Diameter) 150 Grain Hollow Point Flat Base Lead-Free" in their Mosin, in hunting, or not, situation? If yes, if you don't mind sharing, what was your load and how did they do on game?
Their are expensive but, as it is for hunting, once done with load development, wouldn't be shooting too many of them. For target shooting, the 174 SMK 311 works just fine. Yes, it would take down deer too, just trying to do the right thing.
For now, I loaded some Sierra Game King Spitzer 180 gr (311 diameter) 303 caliber with a few loads of AA4350 and IMR 4064, will check them out soon; heard good things about the 180 Spitzer but curious about the Barnes.

Thanks.

 

[ADfields]

Pretty much any of the 303 stuff should work fine. Very similar rounds with the 7.62x54r having more capacity (64g H20 vs. 55.7g) and almost same pressure rating (52Kpsi and 52,900Kpsi) you can use 303 data for those bullets as a starting point to work from too.

I've not played a bunch with these but enough to think there is better accuracy in it than the 1.25" your getting now, they have all shot very well for me . . . way better than they look like they should.

 

[Paul H]

Can't help on the loading question, but I'd suspect of any component bullet the tsx would be best at handling any potential higher velocity from the 7.52X54 vs. the .303.

I just happened to come across a photo of my old 7.62X54. As to Nagants, I seem to have the knack for picking the worst examples of milsurp rifles. My 8X57's were lacking in accuracy, and my nagant carbine struggled to place shots on a paper plate at 100 yds. The muzzle was definately worn from overzelous and careless use of a cleaning rod, so I cut it back until the rifling cleaned up and put a target crown on it. Never got a chance to fire after the sporterizing as somebody had more desire to own it than I had to keep it.

 

[rbuck351]

I bought one recently and so far I have tested four loads, PPU 150s and 182s, Herters 180s and a hand loaded Speer .311/150. The Herters shot about 1 3/4" the others ran from 4" to 8" My barrel slugs about 313 at the muzzle but gets bigger toward the chamber. I just cast some bullets that are running about .314. Maybe they won't rattle to badly down the bore

 

[Tango down]

Thanks to all

Andy,
That all thing is more motivated by curiosity than anything else; as we talking about deer hunting, as long as the shot placement is there, even the 174 SMK will kill clean. I heard them copper bullets are accurate and I am curious to work on load development, to see how they do in my rifle.
Barnes recommends to place them around .05 off the lands and to make sure there are enough horsepower (FPS) to ensure a good expansion. I will give Barnes a call, as I have a few questions on loads; I heard they have a great CS.
I am not expecting to match or do better than the SMK 174 1.25 but wouldn't mind coming close enough. Yes, you are 100% correct, some of these old Mosin are full of good surprises, once they are between good hands.

Paul
I heard Barnes recommend dropping the bullet weight, like going down to a 150 gr bullet, and increasing velocity with these copper bullets. Sorry to hear about your problem selecting old surplus rifles, there are the good ones, and then there are...the others. One good thing is that there are a few ways to makes them shoot better, most of the time.
BTW, thanks again for info on 480 ruger, received last of ammo today; should be at the range shortly

rbuck
My rifle slugged at .313 too but it felt straight and even; I tried a bunch of different loads and factory ammo and got best results with 44.6 gr of Varget and 174 SMK 303 311 diameter; I can also switch the 44.6 gr of Varget for 52.5 gr of AA4350, shoots very similar. I use PPU brass and regular Federal LR (210 I think). I also worked on accuracy the way a WWII shooter would have done, using brass and cork shims and it did make a difference. I also purchased a Finn trigger spring (now cannot remember the proper term) but ended up having better results by bending ever so slightly the Russian spring. My trigger went from 6.5 lbs to 3.5 and it is 100% safe; I came up with just about anything I could thing of, to recreate a drop, or serious hit on the rifle, in order to get an accidental discharge but it just did not happen, which is good. If you bend that spring too much, the trigger can become unreliable. I did this work over a couple of years ago and it is working like a Swiss clock. For the record, I had my share of trial and error, with other "accurizing" methods, as there are more than one way to skin a bear but found a good one at the end.
Good luck with casting bullets, that is something I am not familiar with but I heard it is an economical way to get bullets and the accuracy is still decent. For sure beats the copper bullets' price

 

[rbuck351]

I bought mine just to play with and it looks like there may be some serious play before I get it to shoot. I don't expect 1 MOA but a consistent 2MOA would make me happy. I need to figure out what makes the Herters shoot so much better than other stuff.

 

[Tango down]

I bought mine just to play with and it looks like there may be some serious play before I get it to shoot. I don't expect 1 MOA but a consistent 2MOA would make me happy. I need to figure out what makes the Herters shoot so much better than other stuff.

You can try these guys if you want, good people and very knowledgeable. Look for "SOCAMO" on line, it stands for "Southern California Mosin Owners" but we won't hold it against them

 

[ADfields]

You can try these guys if you want, good people and very knowledgeable. Look for "SOCAMO" on line, it stands for "Southern California Mosin Owners" but we won't hold it against them

strangerinastrangeland has been feeding his family with a Mosin a long time, don't think anyone speaking English has hunted them more than he has. Surprised he hasn't shown up here to talk about it but search some of his old threads.

 

[Tango down]

strangerinastrangeland has been feeding his family with a Mosin a long time, don't think anyone speaking English has hunted them more than he has. Surprised he hasn't shown up here to talk about it but search some of his old threads.

Andy

I would gladly listen to what he has to say, 100% real world, I will look into some of his old posts. On the same topic, I hope Barnes will answer to my email, would't mind getting their input on loads for the 150 TSX 303 311. As you mentioned, I can always look into the 30 06 data, close enough to the 7.62x54r.
Not sure when this bullet got put on the market (TSX came out in 2003 but the 150/303/311?) but I posted on quite a few reputable forums and did not get any solid answer yet. Seems like the Silver Bear 203 gr has a good reputation with hunters and the 174 SMK is preferred by target shooters. I guess I can figure out the Barnes' velocity and accuracy by myself; now, for how they behave on game, well...I hope I will found out too

 

[limon32]

strangerinastrangeland has been feeding his family with a Mosin a long time, don't think anyone speaking English has hunted them more than he has. Surprised he hasn't shown up here to talk about it but search some of his old threads.

Or watch that TV show, one of the last few shows his wife was laying down caribou at really impressive distances with one using the open sights!

My M44 was shockingly accurate right out of the box, luck of the draw is suppose.

 

[Tango down]

Or watch that TV show, one of the last few shows his wife was laying down caribou at really impressive distances with one using the open sights!

My M44 was shockingly accurate right out of the box, luck of the draw is suppose.

Yes, Agnes shoots that M39 quite well and it is not a light rifle. My MN will be accurate enough, I am just looking for more info on loads and bullets and, if possible, about the Barnes TSX 150 in particular. I start to sound like a broken record

 

[Nitroman]

I had two m44's. One slugged 0.315" and the other 0.313". Useless pieces of junk. I sold them.

 

[limon32]

Yes, Agnes shoots that M39 quite well and it is not a light rifle. My MN will be accurate enough, I am just looking for more info on loads and bullets and, if possible, about the Barnes TSX 150 in particular. I start to sound like a broken record

Ha ha ha... Sorry I can't help with the load data, i'm surprised Barnes hasn't gotten back to you, I had good luck with them, maybe pester them some more?

 

[GrassLakeRon]

Yes, Agnes shoots that M39 quite well and it is not a light rifle. My MN will be accurate enough, I am just looking for more info on loads and bullets and, if possible, about the Barnes TSX 150 in particular. I start to sound like a broken record

Hornady reloading manual has all kinds of data and reloaders nest.com.

 

[Tango down]

Ha ha ha... Sorry I can't help with the load data, i'm surprised Barnes hasn't gotten back to you, I had good luck with them, maybe pester them some more?

Your email caught me in front of the computer with the phone in my hand (physically very demanding stuff), talking to Barnes CS, I did call them back. Are you ready for this? Sad truth is...no data from Barnes for the 150 gr TSX 303 caliber 311 diameter. The Barnes' Tech was a nice fellow and looked over all info he had; the best he could do was to give me the load data for a Nosler 150 gr for 7.62x54r, as it has similarities with the Barnes 150 TSX for the same caliber. The load data he gave was for Varget (no Nosler data for that bullet with 4064, maybe wrong weight); he mentioned other powders but I was more familiar with Varget. Loads were from 47 gr @ 2721 fps to a max load of 50.5 gr @ 2985 fps. He also say there will be a new Barnes' reloading manual, with data, within a year, or two.
So, this is why I could not find the data; I may use Varget, rather than IMR 4064, not sure yet but, as I only ordered 50 bullets, I better get it right rather fast

 

[strangerinastrangeland]

I wrote ya back, Tango, seems your varget load is very close to what my wife has loaded.

Most of my personal success was with Czech LPS light ball milsurp FMJ's "Alaskan solids" ~~LOL!!~~ because they were VERY consitant and accurate, the only real thing that matters........and a tumbling bullet helps alot ......

If you wanna look up the old mosin Hunting stuff, try a ' http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com...r?highlight=calander+of+my+subsitence+hunting ', and see that placement is everything

 

[Tango down]

I wrote ya back, Tango, seems your varget load is very close to what my wife has loaded.

Most of my personal success was with Czech LPS light ball milsurp FMJ's "Alaskan solids" ~~LOL!!~~ because they were VERY consitant and accurate, the only real thing that matters........and a tumbling bullet helps alot ......

If you wanna look up the old mosin Hunting stuff, try a ' http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com...r?highlight=calander+of+my+subsitence+hunting ', and see that placement is everything

Yes, after few years practicing the Mosin, we got to have a few good loads, or we may as well go bowling I'm still curious about them Barnes, got a few good info, I'll figure them out soon or later.
Thanks, looking forward to check your PM and link; I'm all for "old Mosin Hunting stuff"!
I'll for sure get back to you.