7,62x39 with 150gr SST Bullet for Deer?

[Zerstoerer]

Time to tinker with the Deer Loads again:

Like to stuff the Hornady 150 gr. SST into a 7,62x39 Soviet case.
Bullet diameter should be o.k. since it is slightly smaller (.308 versus .310).
How much and what kind of powder. Compressed charges o.k.?
Will the gas action handle a 'hot' load?
What kind of velocity could be hoped for?
Lee makes the dies, unfired brass cases amd primer from WIN.
I have Hornady load data, who has some other, hotter one?
Thanks.

 

[Cosmoline]

I went on a quest to work up a heavy x39 load for my old CZ mini mauser. It's just barely possible with 150's, but I was never able to best the Cor-Bon SP load for speed.

What kind of firearm?

 

[steve4102]

In my Mini-30 I found N-130 and H322 to work very well with the 150's. I haven't loaded the SST, but these powders were severely compressed with the Nosler BT. I expect the SST would be the same if not more so. AA 2015 was also a winner with the heavier bullets.

A lot of guys are having very good luck with R-7 and AA 1680. I never could get either of these powders to shoot well for me, however R-7 did produce some excellent velocities. I think I will try it again when my Mini comes back with a new barrel.

I don't know what rifle you are loading for, but in my Mini with 18.5 inch barrel the 150's averaged about 2150-2200fps.

Oh, one more thing. If you are looking for a heavy bullet that will expand and penetrate at these slower velocities, take a look at the Speer 130 and 150gr FN. They are designed for the 30-30 and are short enough to ease up on the compression thing.

Some data.
http://www.accuratereloading.com/76239.html

 

[R.W.Dale]

I gave up on hunting with the 150's from my CZ when I discovered the 125grn ballistic tip

 

[Zerstoerer]

Thanks for the info,

I have a Bulgarian SLR-95 type AK-47 semi.
Very, very good weapon, 100% reliable with
Russian Steel Ammo, just like to see if I can
get it close to my custom ".308/30" loads.
(150 gr. SST as single shot load out of a
Marlin 30/30).

 

[res45]

A post I did several months ago on reloads for YUGO SKS.
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=304599

 

[bobotech]

I would be concerned about using a smaller than normal bullet. If you are really wanting to use a smaller bullet, I would slug the barrel to get an idea of the real barrel size and go from there.

I imagine that if you use a bullet thats too small to form to the rifling, then it might bounce down the barrel and keyhole like crazy.

I don't know if .308 vs .311 is a big enough difference to matter though, I'm just throwing that out there.

 

[FieroCDSP]

I know in my SKS 308's just don't hold a consistant group on paper, even at 50 yards from a front rest.. Keyholing is the norm. Your AK might be a bit tighter tolerance, but most of the commie 39's seem to do best with a 310 or 311. Slug your bore to find out what fits best. You don't want to shove a 310 down a 308. I switched up to a 310 Remington and my groups shrunk to about 3-4 inches, more than likely that wide from my own lack of skill on iron sights. The key-holing was gone, though. I picked up a bunch of the Hornaday blemished bullets (.3101)from Midway a month back and those shoot just fine. Experimentation is the only way to find the best load.

 

[Cosmoline]

I'm sure the AK will digest .308" rounds. It may not be too accurate, but the bore should be about .310" so it's not that far off. No AK bore is .308" unless the barrel was a custom job.

You may run into real troubles with the ogive on a 150 jamming into the rifling if the throat is too short. I'd check your clearances VERY carefully before shooting live rounds. Use a few dummy rounds to make sure you're in battery and not jamming into the lands or you could have a bad episode.

Also, don't max yourself out. The AK is tough but was not designed to fire heavy ball with compressed charges. That's work best left to a mini-mauser with three lugs and a gas venting system in case of emergencies. I expect you could get up to a max of about 2,100 fps with the 150's and that might be pushing things with the AK. Safe loads will likely give you 1,800 or 1,900 fps. Watch for overpressure signs and work up slowly!

 

[KI.W.]

Something to learn http://www.gunsandammomag.com/reloads/0709/

 

[rbernie]

My standard 7.62x39 load for a 150gr bullet (in this case, the .311 Hornady Spire Point) uses Rem brass, CCI400 primers, and 28gr of H322. I shoot this mostly thru a AR platform using a 16" Shaw barrel (which tend to be tight) and it's fast (~2100fps) and the primers/case head expansion look good.

I also have a 174gr Hornady recipe that sits at around 23gr-24gr of H322; that comes out at around 1900fps.

 

[res45]

Two of my favorite load in 150 Gr. Using 24.0 Gr. RL-7 Win. cases and CCI #34 primer MV is around 2100fps out of my YUGO SKS Max. load is 24.8 Gr. of said powder and it shoots 1" or less groups at 50 Yds. with no pressure signs, so I'm ok with that for now I can tweak it later.

 

[Snapping Twig]

I'm shooting an older Mini 30 with a .308 bore, so I can use any .308, plus I read an article in Speer #9 that the .308 could be used in a .311 bore W/O complication.

I'm using IMR 4198 and a Nosler 150g BT, but I bought a bunch of Remington Core-Lokt 150g and Speer 150g SP - all shoot well.

My manual shows a maximum velocity with the lowest pressure using IMR 4198, so that's why I chose it. You can also use 4895. I observed a guy at the range shooting 165g bullets with a load of 4895, so I know it's possible - his groups were a tight 1.5" at 100yards.

 

[steve4102]

Res45, what are you using these bullets for? If they are for deer sized game then you may run into some expansion problems. These bullets were designed to operate at much higher velocities than the 7.62x39 can produce. They may just pencil through and not expand at all.

 

[GooseGestapo]

Ditto what Steve4102 said.

I've even had problems with the .284" 140gr SST's in a 7mm-08.

Hornady's made them rather "hard" to not blow-up from the Ultra-mags.

Makes them "less than useful" in "lesser" firearms.

 

[res45]

Here is an expansion test I did with my loads,both bullets were shot into wet phone books that were 2 1/2" thick each at 50 Yds. The 123Gr. penetrated into the 4 th. book and the 150 Gr. into the 5 th. I would use either on deer without any hesitation, the 150 Gr. Priv bullet did exactly the same as the Speer slug but I don't have a photo of it. High Velocity is not always your best friend the object of the Medium Velocity, Heavy Bullet Approach is to Maximize Momentum without over-energizing the bullet.