Is there any particular ammo I should stay away from? Is steel case ammo ok? I was thinking of picking up a box to Tula ammo to hold me over until I buy a spam can or two.

Give these guys a shout and you should have the ammo in a few days:

 

http://www.sgammo.com/product/surplus/440-rd-sealed-can-762x54r-russian-silver-tip-military-surplus-ammo-1976-factory-188

 

You can pick up milsurp Mosin rounds at most gun shows, but I've not seen it going as cheap as SG's prices.

LOL @ is steel case ammo OK. The Soviets built those rifles to take anything they threw at them. The soviets made steel cased, corrosive, berdan primed ammo for those rifles for....well for ever.

 

The Soviets also built those things intending for illiterate, untrained dirt-poor peasants to wield them. Get a case or two of surplus ammo for yours from SGAmmo like NJScott said, you'll be happy. Just make sure to clean the thing after you get done shooting it.

LOL @ is steel case ammo OK. The Soviets built those rifles to take anything they threw at them. The soviets made steel cased, corrosive, berdan primed ammo for those rifles for....well for ever.

 

The Soviets also built those things intending for illiterate, untrained dirt-poor peasants to wield them. Get a case or two of surplus ammo for yours from SGAmmo like NJScott said, you'll be happy. Just make sure to clean the thing after you get done shooting it.

Thanks. I wasn't sure if an 80 year old gun could handle any ammo available. I may start off with a few boxes of TulAmmo before I buy a few spam cans of bulk ammo.

my 89 year old mosin handles it just fine, and my bore is still sparkling after several hundred rounds of the corossive. Just be sure to clean promptly and you'll be fine.

These guns were designed for steel cased ammo. In fact, the russians NEVER made a brass cased round in 7.62x54r as far as I know (not mass production at least)

 

Their premium sniper rounds were steel cased as well.

Thanks. I wasn't sure if an 80 year old gun could handle any ammo available. I may start off with a few boxes of TulAmmo before I buy a few spam cans of bulk ammo.

 

The Mosin will handle any ammo you can find off the shelf. The action is rather strong, I've never heard of one blowing up.

 

If you like shooting yours, but want less recoil for plinking purposes, try some of that Czech training ammo. Turns it into a really nice plinker...in 30 caliber!

Just get some surplus stuff. The cheaper the better.

my frist spam can I got was from Cheaperthendirt.com stuff was from the early 50's. A Mosin will shoot any kind of ammo you put in it.

What a great time to be a mosin fan! When you can get 440 rds for under $80 anywhere.....life is good!

only ammo my mosins didnt like was Hungarian surplus. Shot horribly

Anyone shoot the mid 40's surplus stuff? Curious how it is compared to the 70's spam cans I've been using.

Anyone shoot the mid 40's surplus stuff? Curious how it is compared to the 70's spam cans I've been using.

 

Works just fine. I shot some 1947 dated stuff a couple weeks ago, goes bang like the rest of it does. I was having some seriously sticky bolt issues with it though, that was not present when I shot 1980 dated ammo. I think the steel cases stick in the bore more on the older stuff. I was having to really slam my hand against the bolt to open it fully on a few rounds, forgot to bring my 2x4!

Anyone shoot the mid 40's surplus stuff? Curious how it is compared to the 70's spam cans I've been using.

i have some, i shot it a couple weeks ago. it shot fine and functioned well. it wasn't that accurate in my '44 tula pu though