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So, the M-N was shelved for the winter, no shooting in deep snow! But the snow has finally melted. Some Mil-Surp ammo was used to zero the scope, and it produced this 100-yard target: (below)

The table above represents ten broken-down Mil-Surp cartridges, all-in-all, not to bad.

I purchased a box of "Winchester" ammo from Midway, and found it to be packaged in an S&B carrier. I think this lends a little credibility to the rumor that S&B makes 7.62x54R for Winchester.

This is a five-shot group fired with the Win/S&B ammo. The squares are 1/2-inch.

And another Ý Ý Ý , note the Extreme Spread (ES) and Standard Deviation (SD) numbers, not bad.

 Now that I have some empty cases and some 303 (0.3105")/174 Gr. FMJ/BT bullets, I can do some reloading.

These are the numbers generated by weighing the cases and bullets to be used in the reloads. Note that the cases are a little more consistent and the bullets a little less, compared to the Mil-Surp ammo.

I was surprised to find that neither Speer nor Hogden had any suggested loads for the 7.62x54R, but knew that P.O. Ackley wouldn't let me down. He suggests 44 to 49 Grains of 4895 and a 180 Gr. bullet. So, I loaded up 5 each with 44.0, 45.0 and 45.5 grains of surplus 4895, all with 174 grain Hornady FMJ/BT 303 cal bullets and Federal Gold Metal Match primers.

This is a 3-shot group using 45.7 Gr. of 4895.

And this is a 3-shot group using 45.9 Gr. of 4895. In both cases the velocity was 2350-2400 FPS, about the same as the Mil-Surp and the Win/S&B. I shot loads up to 46.0 Gr. of 4895. in 0.1 Gr. steps with no signs of pressure, so I guess I'll try a little more. 

It looks like 47.0 Gr.s might pretty much duplicate the Win/S&B load. I have only 15 cases, so things proceed slowly J .

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