American vs Russian .30 cal 7.62

[Readyrod]

Just a quick noob question. I've read (here) that the American .30 cal/7.62 is all the same diameter but is it the same as the Russian? Could you reload say 30-06 or .308 bullets in 7.62x54 cases?
Thanks

 

[Jim Watson]

7.62 Russian is nominal .310" and most run larger rather than smaller. You could load .308" bullets but accuracy would not be the best... unless you had one of the Finnish versions which tend to a smaller groove diameter.

 

[mookiie]

Jim is correct i usually reload .3105 in all my Russian 7.62x54R rifles. Again unless you have a Finnish re barrel then you should use .308. Although you can use .306 in the Russian versions that is usually what is the dia bullet for the surplus stuff.

 

[res45]

My Russian M44 runs .300 across the land and .312 across the grooves,all my surplus bullets I have pulled run at .310 to .310.5 Bulgarian LB and HB ammo.

It shoots .311 dia. bullets the most accurately,308 dia. bullets are a waste of good bullets in my Mosin.

Mosin Specifications
http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinSpec.htm

 

[Screamin'Eagle]

For the guys that reload .310 bullets in 7.62x54r, have you found a die maker that makes a full length re-size die for the .310 bullet instead of the .308 bullet, or do you just cobble together a set using 7.62x54r and .303 british dies?

I was under the impression Lee, RCBS, etc makes their sets to use .308 bullets and the only way around that issue was buying the .303 british dies also

 

[res45]

I was under the impression Lee, RCBS, etc makes their sets to use .308 bullets and the only way around that issue was buying the .303 british dies also.

The Lee 54r FL dies come with the .308 expander rod you can buy the correct expander rod for using .310 to .312 dia. bullets off the Lee web site. The RCBS dies like I have come with both size expander ball already in the die set.

303B expander rod.
http://leeprecision.com/xcart/EZ-X-EXP-303-B.html

 

[Marlin 45 carbine]

as jim says. I've good good results with Speer 150gr sp's in my Mini30 (.310 bore)

 

[Readyrod]

Thanks for the info. Much appreciated.