Best Bullet for the 7.62x39

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tkcomer

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I have an AR in 7.62x39 with a 16" .310 ER Shaw Barrel and a RRA NM trigger. I've been using Hornady V-Max bullets with AA 1680 powder and they don't do THAT bad. I see that Hornady has a 123gr SST bullet available. Are these any more accurate than the V-Max bullets? I've tried a few 308 bullets and the gun did not like them. I have 4 friends building high dollar AR's in 300 Blackout and I'd love to stay with them in accuracy with my cheapie build. Or is there a better bullet out there? Thanks for any help.
 
I have a couple Rugers and a couple AR's in 7.62x39. None of them like the .310 V-max or any other "secant" ogive bullet. Try the .310 Hornady 123gr SP or the .311 Sierra Pro Hunter.

I like 1680 for ease of metering and velocity, but it has rarely produced outstanding accuracy.

My accuracy powders are , H-322, N-120, N-130 and H-4198. AA 2105 is also an excellent accuracy powder, but velocities are very anemic.
 
Actually the Hornady SP was one of the bullets I was considering it until I spotted the SST. Wasn't sure about the Sierra as it was a .311. Though they do list if for the 7.62x39. And N-130 was the accuracy powder for it. So the shorter fatter bullets do a better job? Never thought of that. Ever try heavier bullets?
 
My 7.62x39 ar15 loved the 125g .308 diameter nosler ballistic tip. I used this projectile to harvest a medium sized doe at a range of over 275yds

If you want accuracy first and foremost you should segregate cases by weight IME x39 brass is garbage and can vary by over 20 grains high to low.

Second get a case gauge AND USE IT! this will greatly reduce those fliers.

What dies and what diameter expander are you using?

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Well crap. I am using IMI brass. And I do have a case gauge. The Lee .308 expander die was a little too tight. I had to put a slight flair on the case for that expander. The .310 was a little too large for the Hornady bullets, so I sanded it down to about .309. Seems to work well at that size for the V-Max bullets. I also use the factory crimp die to give a slight "kiss" on my reloads. I tried some 147 FMJs out of this gun, and they were horrible. I don't have anything lighter in .308 bullets to try at this time. Right now my accuracy load is 24grs of the 1680 powder and the V-Max bullet.
 
tkcomer said:
As far as testing .308 bullets, I don't have any load data for anything more the 150gr. My lightest .308 bullet is 168grs.
Click to expand...

If you wanna beat those 300blk guys you'll have to broaden your horizons a bit.

You can shoot heavier bullets in x39 its just data is few and far between. One of my favorite loads was with 170g bullets

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Can you point me to some load data? I have a lot of 168gr SMKs I could try if I found load data that I trusted and would cycle the AR. Not sure how that 1680 would do with heavier bullets, though I do have some IMR 4227 laying around and I think the shop has IMR 4895 available.
 
Eureka! I stumbled onto an old box of 155grn MKs I forgot all about. Only 15 left in it. Now I have a bullet to try with my 1680 powder and I have load data for that.
 
Just to touch base, those SMKs shot every bit as bad as my FMJs. 12" group at 100 yards. Worse than Wolf. So it it now clear my gun does not like the .308 bullets.
 
tkcomer said:
Just to touch base, those SMKs shot every bit as bad as my FMJs. 12" group at 100 yards. Worse than Wolf. So it it now clear my gun does not like the .308 bullets.
Click to expand...

Interesting?

Has this gun ever shot good groups with other ammunition? What I'm suspecting is some sort of rifle issue. Even the rattiest sks should shoot much better than that even with wolf ammunition.

My 20" model 1 with the same barrel you have was a solid 3 to 4" gun on wolf.

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That's about what Wolf does in mine. Mainly about 4". But they are a group. Those SMKs printed about the same "pattern" as the .308 FMJs. All over the 11X8" sheet of paper I use for targets. The V-max has shot some raged one hole 5 shot groups, but I shoot 10 shot groups. For example, sometimes the 3 through 6 shots are ragged one holers while the other five scatter around. Sometimes, one shot will be 3" away from the the rest. Not one x39 bullet has ever shot as bad as the .308 bullets did. And I have old East German mil surp from 1966 that shoots better than some cheap .310 FMJs I bought from Golden West Brass. I think I'm gonna order the .311 Sierra bullets. Maybe bigger is better.
 
Sorting your cases will likely go a long ways towards eliminating those fliers. You might also consider annealing a batch of the most uniform cases you can come up with.

I would (and did) sacrifice a case bumping the shoulder back incrementally till I established how much/little resize is required for bolt closing. (By hand on a bare upper) Then repeat the same process to find where the bullets engage the rifling and then use a bullet comparator (not col) to load your ammo .xx" off this meaaurment

posted via mobile device.
 
Best I can tell from slugging is, .304 bore with a .310 groove diameter. Starting to doubt the barrel. I'll try some other bullets. But if worse comes to worse, wouldn't be the first Model One barrel I replaced.
 
tkcomer said:
Best I can tell from slugging is, .304 bore with a .310 groove diameter. Starting to doubt the barrel. I'll try some other bullets. But if worse comes to worse, wouldn't be the first Model One barrel I replaced.
Click to expand...

That's pretty tragic! That's very shallow rifling, no wonder it doesn't like wolf or .308" bullets.

You might do OK with .311"+ bullets but then again that's a pretty shallow rifling if your slug reads true

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I've got those .311 Sierra bullets ordered. But lets say this barrel is crap. What would be a good manufacturer to get another barrel from?
 
There is no real "correct" bore size for x39

It "should" be .300"-.310" but rifles have been made ranging from .300-.308" to yours

If it were me I'd just build it on an American 30 caliber blank and a 7.62x39 lapua reamer. Which is what I did on my savage bench gun I built.

posted via mobile device.
 
I guess I should have asked, what's the nominal bore size. Like .300 on a 308.

I'm starting to find the nominal bore for the 7.62x39 should be .300, but not for sure. If that's true, no wonder I'm having so much trouble.
 
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