7,62x54R (Russian)

In 1891, Russia adopted this cartridge for chambering in the Mosin-Nagant bolt action rifle. This combination was used until the end of WWII by Russia and was also adopted by Finland and China. At various times, Sako and several US manufacturers made huge numbers of Mosin-Nagant rifles. Despite some odd characteristics, this gun is capable of impressive accuracy in skilled hands. This number was widely wildcatted in Finland and was the basis of several interesting hunting and target cartridges. However, the unusually fat-rimmed case is not amenable to application in other bolt-action rifles. This is one of a very few rimmed military numbers still in common use. Both Remington and Winchester produced sporting ammunition until the 1950s. All military loads use Berdan primers. Norma offers superior quality cases designed to use Boxer primers; with these, the handloader can readily load for and enjoy his relic of 19th century design! Nominal groove diameter is supposed to be somewhat larger than standard 30-caliber rifles. Bullets of 0.309- to 0.311- inch are supposed to be correct; however, rifles with abnormally oversize bores are common. The unusually deep rifling will usually allow such examples to still manage to develop good accuracy, despite a significant mismatch between bullet and groove diameter; therefore, many guns will shoot extremely well, even with 0.308-inch bullets. Nevertheless, it is worth slugging the bore before deciding to spend much time trying to develop accurate loads for one of these guns. Ballistically, this round is similar to the 308 Winchester and is suitable for the same hunting applications. In Finland, it is considered a perfectly good moose chambering and has accounted for countless successful hunts. Due to limitations of case capacity and magazine length, this is not a good choice for hunting loads
using heaviest 30-caliber bullets.