Both my 91/30 & M44 have .312" groove bores and shoot .311" jacketed bullets in the 150 to 180 gr. range very well. These days I pretty much just shoot cast lead all the time as it much cheaper and I can do anything with cast lead at the ranges I shoot at that I can do with the more expensive jacketed bullets.

I use RCBS dies that come with both .308" and .311" expanders as well as a NOE case neck expander plug that basically turns my Lee Universal expander into a Lyman M die.

My favorite cast bullets are the Lee 160 gr. RN and Lee 185 gr. RN in both rifles as well as a 215 gr. FP custom mold I had cut for the 91/30 to fill the long throat that I size to .314"

I like Alliant 2400 for general purpose shooting loads but for higher velocity I like H4895 to give my bullet a slow gentle push. Below in one of my first test 5 shot test groups I shot with the new bullet, I'm not at Max load / velocity as of yet as I have around 8 grs. more to work with.


Another average group I get with the Lee 185 gr. in the 91/30 with 2400.


If anyone has old shoulders like me that can't take the beating of the steel butt plate after quiet a few rds. of surplus HB ammo this small recoil pad fits the Mosin stock perfectly and works like a charm. Some pretty good videos on reloading for the Mosin rifles can be found here.