I finally have everything together to reload this weird little 30 caliber cartridge. It belongs to my Nagant M1895 Revolver that was built in 1914. I added a bunch of photos below. Some specifics are I am using Prvi Partisan Brass specifically for the 7.62x38R cartridge. I am using a 98gr TMJ DEWC bullet with a starting load of 2.5gr of Trail Boss. I can go up to 4.0gr. I was able to seat the bullet down below the case mouth and set the die to give me a small taper crimp. Since I am using the correct brass I will be getting the proper gas seal the revolver was designed for. I had to modify the case bell die as it had a belling insert designed for the 32-20 cartridge and not a 30 caliber cartridge. I was afraid the bullet seating die would not seat the bullet below the case mouth but I was pleasantly surprised to see the seating insert was designed perfectly for this application.

Glad to see it all came together for you inspector, looks good!

very cool

Very interesting to see this work. Can't wait for the range report!

How come factory rounds look bottlenecked?

And where in the world do you get a funky bullet like that?

How come factory rounds look bottlenecked?

And where in the world do you get a funky bullet like that?

Not quite sure why the factory rounds have the bottleneck? The Russian military ammo available at WGS has a taper from about 3/4 up from the bottom to the case mouth. Also, they dimpled the case on two sides to keep the bullet in place. Why? This cartridge is so anemic I can't fathom they had a problem with bullets moving during firing.

The dies are only available (That I could find anyway) through Midway and Grafs. I could only find the brass from Grafs. So it made sense to order everything from Grafs to save on shipping. While I was placing the order the shopping cart software popped up one of those photos that says "Shoppers who ordered the brass (or dies) also ordered this." And that was those funky little bullets. They were $12/100 so I ordered 200 of them. Grafs actually called them Nagant Bullets.

I went to the range today to try out my handloads for this gun. I loaded 30 rounds (10 rounds each of Trail Boss at 2.5gr, 3.0gr and 3.5gr). Unfortunately, I think I have the bullet seating die set incorrectly as the case got ever so slightly crushed on 6 of the rounds. So they wouldn't chamber all the way into the cylinder. It is so slight I didn't notice it until I tried to chamber them and had to look at them VERY closely to see what the issue was. But the rest of the rounds chambered nicely and I shot them all. First I have to say that this revolver hits about a foot high at 25yds. It took me a few shots to figure out where it was hitting. But once I figured it out I picked out a reference point to aim at and fired single action. This revolver has one of the worst triggers I have ever shot. But with that said, this little revolver can shoot!!! I shot two 2" groups and two 3" groups without using a rest!!! I did better with it than I did with my Glock today. Using a rest I suspect I can get some consistent groups. I didn't expect this revolver would shoot this well/consistent.

Outstanding!