Does anyone have any experience forming 7.62 x 38R brass for a Nagant revolver? Quality reloadable brass seems non-existent.

I am aware of the conversion of 32-20 brass, but this being Silencer Talk I would like to have gas sealing brass so the revolver would actually make sense to suppress. 32-20 brass is not long enough to form this seal.

I am also aware the loaded ammo is available, but it is anemic in load and rumor is that the brass does not hold up to being reloaded.

I have seen two possible options mentioned that would give me a gas sealing cartridge, .223 brass and .357 Maximum brass as the parent case to be reformed. Both are being put into a 30 carbine sizer die with lots of lube and may require some lathe work on the rim.

I have a full machine shop at my disposal, so turning the brass is no big deal. I would prefer to use 223 brass, since it is cheap and easy to find locally.

I know it will be a pain to do the first forming, but my experience with these low pressure rounds it that if I don't over work the mouth reloading them the brass will last for a very long time, so it is worth the initial investment of time. (I have some 38 special and 44 special brass that is on 20+ reloads, I just flair the case mouth open enough to get the bullet to start and only crimp enough to take the flair out again.)

I can't even find a case drawing for this caliber. I guess I will do a chamber casting if I can't find one soon.

I would really appreciate any input on this project, I hate to reinvent the wheel.

Nagant ammo from Hotshott or Privi Partisan is reloadable, I bought about 10 boxes but have not shot them all up so have not started reloading it yet. I did as experiment take a 223 and force thru my 30 carbine resizer and it's a chore. That's why I decided to go ahead and buy loaded ammo. You'll also need to give some TLC to most Nagant's

http://thenagantman.com/click-page-2.html

I have yet to reload my hotshott cases as I still have some of ammo left
but here's some links I marked
http://www.realguns.com/archives/130.htm
http://www.makarov.com/nagant/m1895.htm
http://parallaxscurioandrelicfirearmsfo ... opic/33908
http://curioandrelicfirearmsforum.yuku.com/topic/2729
http://www.pulemetov.net/weaponry/nagant_cart.html
http://shootersforum.com/showthread.htm?t=1327

http://yarchive.net/gun/revolver/nagant_revolver.html


Oh, and a picture of mine -


click to enlarge - Uploaded with ImageShack.us

I had mine threaded for use with a 9mm suppressor (1/2x28) and filed the spring to get a decent trigger pull.

I'll have to see about reloading it once I run out of loaded ammo.

Artful,

How close is brass that was resized in the 30 carbine die in compared to the factory ammo?

Would you just use your 30 carbine dies to reload with or are you going to get a dedicated die set?

Thanks for all the info. I have not started on the Nagant project yet, still a few more are in front of it.

I purchased a set of LEE 7.62x38 dies but they are/were designed for use with 32-20 brass and modified by factory to use that case as a basis - my understanding is I will have to modify some more use the brass I have (mainly seater die) to properly seat bullet below case mouth then I plan on using another die to get the end of the mouth crimped in - probably something like the 256 win mag die I have, using it's shoulder to slightly close the mouth of the case. Unfortunately due to Verizon closing my call center work place and having to learn a new trade I have not been able to do much shooting or reloading - and when I did have some time I started my mid-life crisis mobile (KLR650 bike)
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=77816

It is sad, but shooting/reloading often has to take a backseat in life.

I was under the impression that the Lee dies would not allow you to use full length, i.e. gas sealing brass. They would only allow you to use shorter 32-20 brass. I thought that was why I was seeing 30 carbine dies being used (perhaps they were used because people already had them).

I know that the commercial loaded rounds are a "reloadable" brass. The stories I was reading were that the brass was of such poor quality and the neck crimping so wildly overdone that the brass would not have a useful case life.

I did not mind spending some initial time up front make 100 pieces of brass. This round is operating at such low pressures that I would think the brass should last pretty much forever. I am guessing the case neck crimp will be the thing that kills the brass first. I have some 38 special brass that will not die. I gave up counting number of times reloaded a while ago. The only way the stuff dies is if I bring the ram up out of line with the die and bitch up the case mouth. I am hoping some homemade brass in the Nagant caliber could have a similar life span.

If I can't get a gas seal with the brass then the novelty is pretty much gone for me with the Nagant, I got it as a revolver to suppress. If it will not suppress I would rather shoot a much nicer revolver in a super easy to find and reload for caliber.

You can reload the gas seal rounds without special dies.

I used the M1 dies at first, and still use the bullet set die and the sizer die as a final step. Since then I've purchase a Lee universal decapper and a universal expender die and have made my own crimp, expander piece and bullet set piece.

The rounds I'm making now not only have the gas seal but they have survived up to a dozen reloads and counting!

You can reload the Nagant brass with Lee dies as long as you make a few modifications. I made a longer expander plug to expand the brass as far down as the bullet is seated to ensure the brass does not bulge on one side. A spacer between the seating plug and depth adjustment seats the bulllet down past the case mouth. A Lee 30 carbine factory crimp die closes the mouth enough to ensure satisfactory functioning in the cylinder as the seater die does not crimp nearly enough.



I cast .312 93 grain bullet sized to 309" and load them with about 1.8 grains of bullseye for 700 fps and 3.5 grains for 1200 fps. I have read about forming 223 brass into 7.62 Nagant, but I will not try it until I run out of Ngant brass.

Ranb

Here are my rounds...

Great to see this tread has come back from the dead.

The nagant project had been back burnered until an ammo solution could be found. Thank you both for providing me with options.

dmmccarter, can you please tell me what your original brass came from? Curious if you formed your brass from something else or are reloading a commercially loaded round. Could you please provide me with a brand, it seems like your brass is holding up well.

Thanks

Sorry for taking so long to respond mg81.

I use priv brass. I shoot up the $26 a box cat sneeze ammo and save the brass. I figure $26/50 rounds that go bang is better than just getting the brass new. Besides, I have that new brass for 7.62x38r has a high occurrence rate of failing upon loading but that could just be internet gossip.

its working the case mouth back and forth that screws up the brass. i tried 223, not an amateur at forming since I make 577/450 martini from 24ga. But never could get any usable brass out of 223. Wish they made something like the 45 basic brass for 32-20 where you could just cut them longer. Shell holder was the issue with the actual nagant brass.