Good source for 7.62x54R components?

[NcongruNt]

I'm planning to get a reload setup in the next couple of months, and am trying to find good sources for components. All of the calibers I am looking for are pretty plentiful, with the exception of 7.62x54R. Midway only lists Norma brass available, and comes out to $1.20 per round for UPRIMED BRASS ONLY! New loaded ammo is significantly cheaper than that! I have found Lapua brass elsewhere for around $0.75, though this still sounds ridiculously high to me. S&B says they do make brass for reloading on their website, though I have yet to find anyone who sells it. I've also read that S&B brass is not good for reloading, though that is only from a single source so far. Are there really so few people that reload 7.62x54R that there is no good supply of the stuff? I understand that historically the surplus market has made reloading this caliber financially unreasonable, but prices have been going up and availability has dropped sharply in the last 9 months to the point that it is difficult to find specific surplus loads and it seems like the only thing available is Belgian 40s and 50s production heavy ball. It seems like someone could make some money making reasonable priced brass in this caliber when the surplus dries up and all that's available anymore is factory ammo (currently around $1/round)

Anyone have any good sources for this stuff? Any experience to share regarding the S&B brass? Any other tips or opinions?

[dukalmighty]

The problem is that round use to be really cheap until the day ammo prices soared and I had my nervous breakdown but i'm better now but most of that ammo was steel case berdan primed and only good fer scrap after shooting.Sometimes it's cheaper to buy boxer primed brass case ammo and then reload it after the initial shot.

[Mike1951]

Buy Prvi Partisan or Wolf Gold (made by Prvi Partisan) at $12 box and save the brass.

Graf & Sons sells Prvi Partisan unprimed brass at $39.99/100 or less in larger quantities.

http://www.grafs.com/metallic/product/181582

[KD5NRH]

I'm planning to get a reload setup in the next couple of months, and am trying to find good sources for components. All of the calibers I am looking for are pretty plentiful, with the exception of 7.62x54R. Midway only lists Norma brass available, and comes out to $1.20 per round for UPRIMED BRASS ONLY!

Find somebody that has the milsurp in the white 15 round boxes for $5-6/box. All of it that I've shot so far has been boxer primed brass, though the primer pockets will need to be opened up a bit. Any .310-.311 bullets should work fine, but you might want to slug the barrel first to be sure. (My M44 was .3104, and seems to like Hornady 123gr 7.62PSPs) IIRC, Berry's had some decent prices on their plated .311s at one point.

[lawrnk]

It seems like someone could make some money making reasonable priced brass in this caliber when the surplus dries up and all that's available anymore is factory ammo (currently around $1/round)

Anyone have any good sources for this stuff? Any experience to share regarding the S&B brass? Any other tips or opinions?

I can find them for less than a dime a pop all day long. Where do you find them for a buck a pop?
http://www.ak47world.com//ammo.html


ETA: I see surplus vs. Factory. Why not buy a ton of surplus?

[Mike1951]

I can find them for less than a dime a pop all day long.

Your link shows $59.95/440 or 13.6 cents each. Thank goodness I did stock up when it was less than a dime.

If you have any links that are still that low, I'd be interested.

7.62x54R, like all other ammo, has almost doubled recently.

[NcongruNt]

I can find them for less than a dime a pop all day long.

Your link shows $59.95/440 or 13.6 cents each. Thank goodness I did stock up when it was less than a dime.

If you have any links that are still that low, I'd be interested.

7.62x54R, like all other ammo, has almost doubled recently.

Yup, it seems the cheapest surplus is up to around 14 cents/round, like you said. When I bought my last batch, I got 1200 rounds (a crate and a half) of Czech silver tip (147grn steel core) for around 11 cents/round and 880 rounds of Hungarian yellow silver tip (182grn steel core) for around 13 cents/round. I really like this ammo, but it seems it is no longer on the market. I've got about 200 rounds left of the silver tip, and that's why I'm looking for more ammo. I've only shot about 20 rounds of the yellow silver tip - I simply don't feel right using it to shoot at paper and am saving it for more fun shooting with heavy reactive targets. All of the surplus stuff available now (with the exception of the link above) seems to be 147grn and 182grn standard ball, and not nearly as nice and reportedly accurate as the stuff I've got now. It seems to be generally going for around 15 cents/round at most places (as opposed to the 10 cents it was going for less than a year ago), at least for the relatively local places (such as ammunitiontogo). Shipping costs kinda negate the small savings found elsewhere.

As this caliber is used in the longer-range small arms currently in use in the conflict-active eastern parts of the world (i.e. SVD and PSL rifles), I expect that the scarce availability and increasing price of surplus to worsen with time, and eventually the surplus supply will dry up altogether. This is why I want to get started in reloading this caliber. Yes, I can buy a ton of surplus, but it's still going to eventually run out.

My quoted price of $1/round is for new factory ammo (not surplus) with reloadable boxer-primed brass cases. This is about what S&B rounds go for in all of the places I've looked. I've found that factory-new reloadable Prvi Partizan can be had for more like 55 cents/round, but that's still rather high, IMO

Thanks for the tips, everyone. It looks like a reloading setup for me is about a month and a half off still (work has been somewhat scarce, and my current job doesn't pay for holidays that are mandatory to take off), so more input is welcome in the meantime.

[Mike1951]

As I said earlier:

Graf & Sons sells Prvi Partisan unprimed brass at $39.99/100 or less in larger quantities.

http://www.grafs.com/metallic/product/181582

It's much cheaper if you have a C&R license, at $33.99/100.