Best Ammo for Mosin Nagant 91/30?

you can buy expensive ammo for it. I did for hunting, and it's as expensive as your typical .30-06 rounds. (figure $17 for 20 rounds)


or you can just clean your rifle. <-- sorry for the crazy talk.

Koor's spot on.

95% of the ammo out there is corrosive military surplus stuff. There is absolutely nothing wrong with shooting it. If there was, do you think they'd have used it in combat?

It's not like it's going to start eating into your barrel like acid after 10 or 20 rounds.

You just have to treat the gun like any other: Go out shooting, have fun, but don't wait months and months to clean the rifle. Give it a good solvent bath and a light oiling and you'll be good to go.

The guns are fun to shoot, kick like a mule, and are a kick in the pants. And you'll be surprised at how reasonably accurate they are depending on the rifling left in the barrel.

And for ammo? A 400 or 440 round spam can of surplus ammo shouldn't cost you more than $100 or so unless you buy online and have to pay for shipping. The last can I bought was 440 rounds for $75.

Have fun with the rifle, shoot the hell out of it, and post some pics of the dang thing!

winchester and wolf gold are decent non corosive ammo for it. also check the primers most are bernan primed, gotta watch that if you plan on reloading it. good ammo is 15-30 a box. the surplus stuff is cheap. gotta watch out though youre barrel should be .308, and some of the surplus out there is .311.

svytlana said:

winchester and wolf gold are decent non corosive ammo for it. also check the primers most are bernan primed, gotta watch that if you plan on reloading it. good ammo is 15-30 a box. the surplus stuff is cheap. gotta watch out though youre barrel should be .308, and some of the surplus out there is .311.

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Since when is a 50+ year old Russian rifle designed to used 7.62x54r have a .308 bore? .311 is the common bore size for the European .308 is Nato size for .30 cal ie 7.62 mm ammo.

i don't care what mesurements you use. i have found when shooting acouple different mosin's with various different surplus ammo's that there are problems with bullet diamater. there were mosin's made in like 6 or 8 different country's and ammo made in 15-20 different country's including the us. i might have to go measure some ammo, but i'm pretty sure the difference is the .308 vs .311

here is a list of most common bores. not all mosin's are the same bore.


Mosin Nagant Rifle Specifications

here's a better one. about half way down.

7.62x54r Ammunition Evaluations

anyways read for yourself, there is way more than enough info on 7.62x54r.net

svytlana said:

anyways read for yourself, there is way more than enough info on 7.62x54r.net

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Both of those links prove exactly what I said. The only one that shows a .308 diameter bullet is 7.62x53r (NOT 54r).

Am I missing something?

Even the spec pic they show has a diameter of .311

Holly's got some cheap 7.62x54r surplus ammo. It shoots just fine, like its been said here, just clean afterwards.

Mosin = 7.62x54R
Nato spec .308 = 7.62x51

Different bullets, different guns.

svytlana said:

i don't care what mesurements you use. i have found when shooting acouple different mosin's with various different surplus ammo's that there are problems with bullet diamater. there were mosin's made in like 6 or 8 different country's and ammo made in 15-20 different country's including the us. i might have to go measure some ammo, but i'm pretty sure the difference is the .308 vs .311

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Respectfully.. I think you're thinking about shooting US made 7.62x39 ammo in an AK. US made ammo is based on common US .30 cal, which is .308. Soviet surplus is .311. This means your UMC or whatever other US ammo you use is going to be a tad small in a soviet barel. Can anyone confirm this?

Okay, I'm kinda shy about using milsurp stuff in my M-N, because my bore is clean, tight, and shiny.
If you do, windex rinsing the barrel will help to neutralize the corrosive salts in virtually ALL milsurp 7.62x54r.

As far as ammo goes, I've shot some milsurp through mine when I had to. I used to have some greek stuff called "Olympic" that had a 180gr FMJBT that was clean and acurrate; I got 400 rounds for less than $100. Alas, as far as I've been able to tell, they don't make it anymore.

I've had some really good luck with Brown Bear 203gr SP rounds. I imagine the ballistics are way off of the profile used for the sight leaf, but it hits really hard, and while I wouldn't call it clean, it IS non-corrosive. It's also available in 174gr FMJ if you prefer, and I got mine locally for about $10 box/20.

My rifle REALLY seems to like the Brown Bear. YMMV

Brown Bear 203gr SP

DevilDoc said:

Respectfully.. I think you're thinking about shooting US made 7.62x39 ammo in an AK. US made ammo is based on common US .30 cal, which is .308. Soviet surplus is .311. This means your UMC or whatever other US ammo you use is going to be a tad small in a soviet barel. Can anyone confirm this?

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7.62x51 is the 308.

i think the 308 is actually 7.62x54, and is a fatter cartridge... nevermind here:
Is the .308 and the 7.62x51 the same round?

.308 Win vs. 7.62x51--The Straight Scoop
Before we go much further, we want to address the oft-posed question "Are the .308 Winchester and 7.62x51 NATO one and the same?" The simple answer is no. There are differences in chamber specs and maximum pressures. The SAMMI/CIP maximum pressure for the .308 Win cartridge is 62,000 psi, while the 7.62x51 max is 50,000 psi. Also, the headspace is slightly different. The .308 Win "Go Gauge" is 1.630" vs. 1.635" for the 7.62x51. The .308's "No-Go" dimension is 1.634" vs. 1.6405" for a 7.62x51 "No Go" gauge. That said, it is normally fine to shoot quality 7.62x51 NATO ammo in a gun chambered for the .308 Winchester (though not all NATO ammo is identical). Clint McKee of Fulton Armory notes: "[N]obody makes 7.62mm (NATO) ammo that isn't to the .308 'headspace' dimension spec. So 7.62mm ammo fits nicely into .308 chambers, as a rule." You CAN encounter problems going the other way, however. A commercial .308 Win round can exceed the max rated pressure for the 7.62x51. So, you should avoid putting full-power .308 Win rounds into military surplus rifles that have been designed for 50,000 psi max. For more information on this interesting topic, read the following articles: Gun Zone's 30 Caliber FAQ; Cruffler.com Technical Trivia, June 2001; and last, but not least, Steve Redgwell's .308 vs 7.62x51 Analysis, which really provides a definitive explanation. Reloaders should also note that military ammo often is made with a thicker web. Consequently the case capacity of 7.62x51 brass is usually less than that of commercial .308 brass. You may need to reduce recommended .308 Winchester loads by as much as 2 full grains, if you reload with military 7.62x51 brass, such as Lake City or IMI.