[carol tenge]

I have read so much on these rifles Im going stircrazy. I see the "D" marking on the barrel shows its good for the russian 762X54 round. Many of these rifles I have seen, even right up to 40, or 41 do NOT have the "D" on the barrel. Surely these rifles were not discarded during wartime as every one of them would have been a valuable weapon. Therefore, are these rifles safe to fire the russian light ball ammo? If its got the "D" I'd assume its been modified in some way, but so many are NOT stamped with the "D", I cant believe these rifles were not used in battle, using whatever captured ammo came along. Can they be shot today using the silver tip russian light ball round? Thank you, Carol

 

[Mike O]

D has nothing to do with the size of the bore. D is a chamber dimension indicating that the throat will accept D166 heavy ball ammo. Not all rifles were marked.

 

[carol tenge]

ok then, but is is practical to shoot currently available russian light ball in these? Im trying to get a picture here......

 

[Flyin Brian]

ok then, but is is practical to shoot currently available russian light ball in these? Im trying to get a picture here......

Carol, the best thing to do is measure the bore by "slugging" it. Carefully tap a greased lead fishing sinker down the bore with a wooden dowel and then measure the outside diameter. This will tell you if the bore is still .308 or if it is worn to .309+.
I have a pretty good pile of 28-30s and half of them are still .308 and I do not shoot surplus out of those. The ones that are worn to .309+ I have shot surplus out of occasionally.

 

[carol tenge]

while I love my m39 I was thinking of getting a 28/30 to shoot too. If its not realistic, Ill just pass on the idea. I dont own anything I couldnt shoot.Never have, never will.

 

[Flyin Brian]

The real benefit of the 28-30 is for people who reload, since the .308 diameter bullets are cheaper and easier to find. If you ever decide to get into reloading, a 28-30 will open up a lot of variety in bullet choices.

 

[carol tenge]

The real benefit of the 28-30 is for people who reload, since the .308 diameter bullets are cheaper and easier to find. If you ever decide to get into reloading, a 28-30 will open up a lot of variety in bullet choices.

Brian, I appreciate your advice. When I go out, I fold my blanket, sit down on it, and start shooting. Usually 60 to 100 rounds. I dont ever think I could reload special ammo for rock busting. I got my m39 here, just ran a patch through it, goin out shootin now. Nice day here in kentucky.... but a bad day for rocks!

 

[F2G-1]

I dont think the 'D' stamp has anything to do with bore diameter so slugging wont help. I believe throats were relieved to allow the proper chambering of the D166 bullet which if not performed would otherwise not chamber or perhaps allow the bolt to close on a sloppy chamber sticking the bullet into the lands creating a situation whereby pressures could spike.

 

[Ken in Iowa]

The D166 bullet is .310" diameter. The ogive is different resulting in a longer bearing surface.

Rifles with the 'D' throat modification have had the lands removed further forward of the typical Russian specification so they will accept the D166 ammunition.

28/30s are another matter. Here is a quote from Doug Bowser on the subject from http://www.mosinnagant.net/finland/Bowser.asp

The "S" type ( 180 gr flat based ) and the D46 type ( step boatailed) ammo the Finns produced at SAKO and Valtion Patrunnas Tehdas ( State Cartridge Factory ) was manufactured with .309" bullets. The D100 ( 200 gr step boatail) ammo was also .309". I believe the Finns were concerned with oversized bullets in the M28/30 or they would have manufactured their ammo with .310" bullets. I do not believe the practice of firing .310" surplus ammo in the M28/30 is dangerous, IF the barrel shank is marked with the "D". The real problem with oversized bullets is the possibility of the bullet being squeezed to tightly by the neck of the cartridge by the neck of the chamber. This may cause higher pressures to develop by increasing the amount of force required to push the bullet from the case when fired. I also think the steel cored bullets of some milsurp ammo may cause higher pressures in the .3082" bore. Bullets are very hot when traveling in the bore and if the core is filled with lead it becomes soft. A slightly oversized lead cored bullet will not usually cause any serious problems. I personally WOULD NOT use STEEL CORED .310" milsurp ammo in a M28/30.

and
The reloaded ammo usually performs better than the milsurp variety, and allows you to load soft point or match grade ammo for hunting and target shooting. I recommend that shooters of the M28/30 use handloads to bring out the potential of their rifle. I would also suggest the shooter wanting to use milsurp 7.62X54 ammo use it in a Model 39 Finn. I am enclosing the test fire that I did on reloads and milsurp ammo. I believe the M39 is potentially as accurate as the M28/30 with the proper bullet diameter.


Since MOST of the misurp ammo available these days has magnetic bullets, I would shy away from using it in a 28/30.