Reloading for 7.62x54r in an SVD

Reloading for these rifle, in this caliber is a challenge. Components can be more

expensive and common thought is to use 0.311 inch bullets. There is not a large

selection of bullets in this diameter. The selection of 0.308 bullets is quite large.

This diameter seems to work well in my Tigr. Graf makes brass for this caliber,

but I do not recommend it. Have had partially blocked flash holes on some and

less uniform length of brass. Lapua brass is very uniform and is a bit cheaper than

Norma. Midway USA has it, and you get a bit of a discount, if you have an FFL.

They accept either a standard FFL or an C&R . In my opinion, Lapua is the way to go.

I recommend following this information.

The following information should be used at your own risk. No warranty expressed or

implied. Each rifle is different, so reduce the powder charge, and follow your own reloading

manuals recommendation.

Have been using CCI#34 primers for many years, in Garands,

with no issues, so I went with them.

This rifle/caliber load is a work in progress. I can't get passed the "first round effect" . The first round will

be low, then the rest of the rounds will group well. Believe, when the rifle loads a round, the bullet gets

extracted a bit, resulting in a higher impact. Have tried crimping the bullets in, but have had poor accuracy

with this method. Currently experimenting with neck annealing and neck resizing dies. Using one "seating"

round, prior to firing a group works, but would like not to have to do this. New brass seems to be less of

an issue with this.

Using a "seating" round, the first round will be near the other rounds.

This seems to be a great load also, and suffers from the same first round effect.