Taxidermy Cafe » Hand Loading http://taxidermycafe.com If you are going to kill it, you might as well eat it! Fri, 19 Nov 2010 19:56:54 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 7.62x54r Ammunition | The Right Load For My M-39 http://taxidermycafe.com/7-62x54r-ammunition-how-i-found-the-right-load-for-my-m-39/ http://taxidermycafe.com/7-62x54r-ammunition-how-i-found-the-right-load-for-my-m-39/#comments Fri, 22 Oct 2010 17:49:27 +0000 james http://taxidermycafe.com/?p=114 Continue reading →]]>

Let me say at the very beginning that this is not a recommendation of any type. It is simply a method I used to develop a handload that worked very well in one particular rifle. The results may not be the same for you. Handloading can be a hazardous activity if not approached correctly. Please do not try this yourself!

The 1891 Russian 7.62x54 rimmed cartridge is still in service in some parts of the world, serving as ammunition for such varied pursuits as sniper rifle usage, and squad level machine-gun ammunition. Not bad for a round that turned 100 years old in 1991. 7.62x54r ammunition is available in a lot of types, and from a lot of places, and if you choose to fire it, please make sure that your firearm has been checked by a competent gunsmith before doing so.

I purchased a Finish M-39 to add to my military rifle collection. It was not one of the older lot, but seems to be one that was re-purposed in the 1970's. For those of you who may not be familiar with this weapon, it is built on a Russian M-91, or M-91/30 Mosin Nagant receiver, which is not the best action for a sporting rifle. Mosin Nagant accuracy suffered from a long and heavy trigger pull, and several other factors. The rifle fires the Russian M-1891 rimmed cartridge, which fires at velocities and distances just slightly below the venerable 30-06. The Fins used them because they were available as captured or conscripted Russian weapons. On this model, unlike the earlier M-28, the Fins removed the original Russian stocks, and replaced them with nice finger jointed stocks, like the M-28, they removed the barrels, and added heavier, better made barrels, and made other modifications to improve trigger pull, sighting, and other factors. The end result is a weapon that, although a little bulky and clumsy, functions well, and is capable of extreme accuracy with the right ammunition in the hands of someone who knows how to use it.

The problem was, that this one was a little finicky. No 7.62x54r ammunition that I tried would produce the results I wanted.

I had already gone through the sequence I use for checking a rifle, like making sure that the stock bolts are tightened correctly, the barrel to stock clearance was right, that there was nothing putting pressure in the wrong places, no barrel warp or bulges, and still, with the 4 different types of military Mosin Nagant ammunition, and the 3 different types of commercial ammunition, the groups were just too big at around 6 to 8 inches at 100 yards.

I set about developing a hand load to make it work. I used both Sellier and Bellot, and Norma cases, several different primmer brands, a variety of bullets in differing weights, and countless powder combination, I tried every conceivable cartridge, bullet, powder, and primmer combination, and still, nothing better. I did this by fits and starts over a 2 year period, and still no significant improvement. I kept careful notes.

I came by a case of 2 spam cans of 440 rounds each of ammunition which has been popularly called "Russian sniper ammunition", but which I suspect was really intended as PKM ammunition for the older Russian squad level automatic by Kalisnikov, but I have no valid evidence for either theory. Either way, I had a lot of well stored ammo dated 1986, with potassium perchlorate primers. If you are new to this field, pp primers are corrosive. They deposit potassium chloride into a hot barrel, and suck moisture in to rust your tube. Meticulous cleaning is needed after using them, preferably with ammonia, the minute the shooting stops. The weapon with which I had intended to use the ammo was a Tokorev rifle, and if you have ever field stripped one of these, you will know that cleanup, especially the meticulous type needed for corrosive primers, is intense! I hate corrosive primers, so I decided to try a little experiment.

I took some of the Soviet made ammunition, disassembled it, used Sellier and Bellot cases, and CCI primers, and used the same powder that the military cases had held, reduced by 5% from the original load. I started with the 5% reduction, and loaded 5 cartridges, made 5 more with one grain added, made five more with another grain added, and so on until I reached the original charge.

Just for kicks, I made 2 extra five round bunches, dropping each at one grain below the five% reduction, and went to the range.

I fired each in sequence at a 25 yard target, checking after the first round of each for primer flattening. The lowest charges exhibited almost no flattening, and the highest was never fired due to the flattening that occurred on the next to last batch, which, although not severe, or dangerous, indicated a little more pressure than I wanted to use in a rifle receiver manufactured in 1915.

The process produced some amazing results! Every batch was better than any of the factory ammo, and most were very good. One selection shot 5 rounds into a ragged hole about the size of a dime! This was a great starting point.

Using my Lee Classic Loader, I loaded 10 more rounds of the best performer for further testing. I continued with 5 rounds at the hundred yard target after making a slight adjustment to the windage, and repeated the initial 25 yard results with 5 rounds slightly under an inch! I advanced to the 200 yards with similar results. The only other guy at the range was also shooting at the 200 yard target, so after firing we retrieved our targets together. He tried to buy the rifle from me.

I tried a few more rounds the next weekend, this time I made half the rounds with a lee factory crimp. the results made a slight improvement. This was followed by several other trips to the range at longer distances, each one exhibiting sub MOA groups for the distance.

7.62x54r Finish M-39

]]> http://taxidermycafe.com/7-62x54r-ammunition-how-i-found-the-right-load-for-my-m-39/feed/ 1 Reloading Manuals Handload Kits http://taxidermycafe.com/reloading-manuals-handload-kits/ http://taxidermycafe.com/reloading-manuals-handload-kits/#comments Fri, 01 Oct 2010 19:42:11 +0000 james http://taxidermycafe.com/?p=102 Continue reading →]]>

Reloading, also known as handloading, is a great way to literally “get more bang for your buck”. Reloading can save you tons of cash over the cost of store bought cartridges, and has the added advantage of offering much better accuracy since you can tailor a load to fit your particular rifle with just a little very pleasant work and experimentation.

Handloading is a fun and interesting hobby on it’s own, and with the rewards it offers in improved accuracy, and decreased cost, it is a “no brainer”.

To get started, there are a few tools you will need, and you will probably be surprised at how little they cost. In fact, you can probably get started using handload kits with everything you need for loading one caliber for around a hundred bucks. That is the equivalent of the cost for 2 to 4 boxes of ammunition from the market. See: for more information and details.

One thing that you will eventually want to have for your reloading adventures is a reloading manual. Reloading Manuals offer information for cartridge loading, powder and bullet charts, and the proper use of reloading equipment to assure safety and accuracy. No matter how simple your handloading operation, you should have at least one manual, and several reloading manuals would be even better. With more than one manual, you can compare load data, and methods to pick out what works best for you.

Take a look at some of the reloading manuals available:

]]> http://taxidermycafe.com/reloading-manuals-handload-kits/feed/ 0 Deer Rifle and Ammunition Combinations http://taxidermycafe.com/deer-rifle-and-ammunition-combinations/ http://taxidermycafe.com/deer-rifle-and-ammunition-combinations/#comments Fri, 15 Aug 2008 20:41:52 +0000 james http://taxidermycafe.com/?p=61 Continue reading →]]> Deer rifle and ammunition combinations.

When a bullet exits the muzzle of a rifle, several things are happening. The gases from the ignition of the powder in the case, expand the case to form a seal against the chamber walls, and continue to expand forcing the bullet out of the case, into the throat, and rifling, which cause the bullet to spin with the rifling. It continues to spin after it exits. This stabilizes the bullet as it heads to it’s destination. The explosive force of the propellant, and the torque of the rifling, set up patterns of vibration in the barrel. When the bullet exits, it will exit at a particular point in that cycle of vibration. If the ammunition is consistent, and the operators hold is consistent, it will exit at the same point in the cycle each time it goes bang.

Good, or bad vibrations.

Different ammunition will set up different vibration patterns, and therefore produce different results. That is, the bullet will leave the muzzle at a different place. this may be only a fraction of an inch at the muzzle, but it can translate into several inches, or feet at the target end. If the barrel is vibrating upward, it will be higher, if downward, it will be lower if right or left, it will be right or left of it’s intended goal.

Try this. Take several boxes of differing ammunition for the same rifle to the range. Set up several targets, and fire five rounds each at 100 yards of each type. Some will be grouped tighter than others. If you have one that performs particularly well, you should make that one your ammunition of choice. Even if it lands low and to the left of the target, you can adjust the sights or scopes to put that group in the bullseye.

A personal experience.

I had a friend who had an old Enfield rifle that he was about ready to part with because he couldn’t keep it on the paper. He asked me to give it a try. I sat at the bench and fired five rounds of his ammo at the bullseye. None of those five rounds came within 8 inches of the bullseye, but they were all clustered in a nice little 1 inch or less cluster at the bottom right hand corner of the target. When he peered through the spotting scope at the spectacle, he changed his mind about the rifle. Damn the luck! I really wanted it for my collection!

Group size is important. Where the group lands is also important, but that is just a matter of moving the sights. A different ammunition might have put one round in the bull, and the rest in each corner. That would almost guarantee an hour of following a long blood trail through dense brush in a hunting scenario.

]]> http://taxidermycafe.com/deer-rifle-and-ammunition-combinations/feed/ 1 Guns http://taxidermycafe.com/guns/ http://taxidermycafe.com/guns/#comments Mon, 11 Aug 2008 19:21:56 +0000 james http://taxidermycafe.com/?p=8 Continue reading →]]>

Okay, I have to admit it, if you squeeze the trigger, and it goes bang, I like it. If it happens to be a military rifle from the first or second world war, I like it even better! If I have to scour the gun shows to find brass, and buy a new bullet mold and a sizing die or two, to be able to hand load for it, I will do that too!

Let me know what you think about hand loading, collecting, or any other gun topic that you want to cover! Leave a comment or two.

]]> http://taxidermycafe.com/guns/feed/ 0 Welcome To Taxidermy Cafe! http://taxidermycafe.com/hello-world/ http://taxidermycafe.com/hello-world/#comments Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:07:20 +0000 james http://taxidermycafe.com/?p=1 Continue reading →]]>

First of all, I am not a taxidermist, but I got the idea for the name when I was building boxes for habitat displays for a friend of mine who was an award winning taxidermist. Sometimes he would cut off a sliver of meat from a deer he was working on and pop it into his mouth for a snack! I thought, well, if you are going to kill it, you might as well eat it!

Let’s talk! Let’s talk fishing, hunting, outdoors, do it yourself, any thing your heart desires about the great outdoors.

Some of the categories I would like to create are:

  • Fishing, and fishing related topics.
  • Hunting, and hunting related topics.
  • Guns! Yes guns I said! Whether you use them for hunting, self defense, putting holes in small pieces of paper at long distances, or even collecting.
  • On the topic of guns, we can even break it into the categories listed above, and more. Things like:
  • Target shooting.
  • Hand loading, which is one of my personal favorites.
  • Collecting military, and civilian firearms.
  • Handguns
  • Rifles
  • Bow hunting.
  • And, of course, if it is your area, taxidermy.

The idea here is to turn this blog into a sort of open forum on the great outdoors, a place you might want to set down with a cup of coffee and visit in the morning. We will be adding a forum shortly, and in the meantime use the comments section at the bottom of each post, to let us, and everyone else who reads this, know what you are thinking.

All you have to do, is sign up, and sign in, and you can post to your hearts content!

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