adcoch1
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Going to try exactly that. I will get back with info asap.
Best powder(s) for 7.62x39
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bantam9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Toprudder View Post
While on the subject, has anyone tried 110gn .308 M1 Carb bullets in the 7.62x39 cartridge? I seated one in a dummy round, and it manually fed just fine in my M30. Would sure make for a less expensive plinking round.
Going to try exactly that. I will get back with info asap.
Would love to hear how you make out with that.
Originally Posted by Toprudder View Post
While on the subject, has anyone tried 110gn .308 M1 Carb bullets in the 7.62x39 cartridge? I seated one in a dummy round, and it manually fed just fine in my M30. Would sure make for a less expensive plinking round.
Going to try exactly that. I will get back with info asap.
Would love to hear how you make out with that.
I'm slowly gathering components. Just got the die set and trimmer for the 7.62 X 39 round. Now trying to round up some 1X fired brass.
I have a good bit of H4198 on hand from loading .308. Not sure if that's the same as the IMR 4198 or not. I'll have to check again.
I'll be interested in your progress as well.
I have a good bit of H4198 on hand from loading .308. Not sure if that's the same as the IMR 4198 or not. I'll have to check again.
I'll be interested in your progress as well.
OP
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Toprudder
Member
A post of mine in another thread:
I found load data using 4227 that goes up much higher in charge, so I am going to give this another shot at some point. I have a whole bunch of 30 carb bullets to work with.
My test loads with Hornady 130sp and H335 powder gave me good results. I want to work a little more on this, and also try a couple more powders with this projectile.
We had a gun show this past weekend and I was able to pick up a pound each of RL7 and 1680. I also picked up some Hornady 150gn SP and RN bullets to try.
One of the first things I do is to figure out a good working COL. For the SP bullet that is pretty simple, it is what will fit in the mag which is about 2.220". The Ruger Mini 30 has a really long leade and none of the bullets I've tried have come anywhere near touching the rifling when seated to max length.
However, for the RN 150, I had hoped that seating it long would put it closer to the lands, but I ran into an issue with feeding. At the max length the RN would tend to catch on the barrel chamber, causing bullet setback. Seating it further back improved feeding, I eventually ended up seating to the cannelure and using a firm crimp.
Another problem I found was poor concentricity when seating the RN bullet. Discovered this was an issue with the Lee seating die. The seating stem centers well for spire point bullets, but for RN bullets that contact the seating stem down towards the bottom, there is a lot of play in the seating stem that causes it not to be centered. I fixed that, though, but cutting about 1/8" ring off the end of a 380 case and forcing it onto the seating stem. That small brass ring took up the loose play in the die. Yes, there is that much play in the Lee die.
Now I just need to work up some more test loads and find a time to make it back out to the range.
I found load data using 4227 that goes up much higher in charge, so I am going to give this another shot at some point. I have a whole bunch of 30 carb bullets to work with.
My test loads with Hornady 130sp and H335 powder gave me good results. I want to work a little more on this, and also try a couple more powders with this projectile.
We had a gun show this past weekend and I was able to pick up a pound each of RL7 and 1680. I also picked up some Hornady 150gn SP and RN bullets to try.
One of the first things I do is to figure out a good working COL. For the SP bullet that is pretty simple, it is what will fit in the mag which is about 2.220". The Ruger Mini 30 has a really long leade and none of the bullets I've tried have come anywhere near touching the rifling when seated to max length.
However, for the RN 150, I had hoped that seating it long would put it closer to the lands, but I ran into an issue with feeding. At the max length the RN would tend to catch on the barrel chamber, causing bullet setback. Seating it further back improved feeding, I eventually ended up seating to the cannelure and using a firm crimp.
Another problem I found was poor concentricity when seating the RN bullet. Discovered this was an issue with the Lee seating die. The seating stem centers well for spire point bullets, but for RN bullets that contact the seating stem down towards the bottom, there is a lot of play in the seating stem that causes it not to be centered. I fixed that, though, but cutting about 1/8" ring off the end of a 380 case and forcing it onto the seating stem. That small brass ring took up the loose play in the die. Yes, there is that much play in the Lee die.
Now I just need to work up some more test loads and find a time to make it back out to the range.
Newtosavage
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I purchased 100 rounds of Lapua brass the other day, which should take care of all my 7.62x39 needs for quite some time.
So far, the most accurate bullets have been (surprisingly) a pack of 100 bulk Remington 150-grain core-lokt soft points that I snagged at Cabelas. I have no idea how long they hung there, but they were on clearance so I thought I'd go ahead and try them. Figured if nothing else, I'd use them to shoot pigs. Well, lo and behold, out of my .308" Savage barrel, they shoot great. Better than the 150-grain Hornady SST's or Sierra Game Kings I've tried, and with the flat base, I don't think I compress the RL-7 quite as much.
I also tried some Benchmark powder yesterday, with mixed results. Velocity was at least 100 fps. slower than the RL-7, and accuracy was not quite as good either.
So far, the most accurate bullets have been (surprisingly) a pack of 100 bulk Remington 150-grain core-lokt soft points that I snagged at Cabelas. I have no idea how long they hung there, but they were on clearance so I thought I'd go ahead and try them. Figured if nothing else, I'd use them to shoot pigs. Well, lo and behold, out of my .308" Savage barrel, they shoot great. Better than the 150-grain Hornady SST's or Sierra Game Kings I've tried, and with the flat base, I don't think I compress the RL-7 quite as much.
I also tried some Benchmark powder yesterday, with mixed results. Velocity was at least 100 fps. slower than the RL-7, and accuracy was not quite as good either.
TimSr
Member
I had discounted my SKS as a hunting rifle because of poor accuracy with factory ammo. I had some Samson 123 PSP and some Russian ball ammo.
Just for kicks I loaded up some .308 147gr FMJBT, Remington 150gr PSP, and some Speer 150gr RN bullets I had. The 147gr shot poorly. The PSP bullets weren't too bad, but not great, and the 150gr RN from Speer were super accurate beyond my eyes capability, shooting a couple inches at 75 yards.
I used IMR4198 and H4895 using loads off their website. Both powders accuracy was similar with each bullet tried. The H4895 was a compressed load. I was not able to use my chrony that day but both were listed at around 2000-2100 fps.
The biggest surprise was that the round nose bullet was so much more accurate than the pointed bullets. I didn't have any flat nose 30-30 150gr to try. This could actually be used as a 100 yard hog gun now!
Just for kicks I loaded up some .308 147gr FMJBT, Remington 150gr PSP, and some Speer 150gr RN bullets I had. The 147gr shot poorly. The PSP bullets weren't too bad, but not great, and the 150gr RN from Speer were super accurate beyond my eyes capability, shooting a couple inches at 75 yards.
I used IMR4198 and H4895 using loads off their website. Both powders accuracy was similar with each bullet tried. The H4895 was a compressed load. I was not able to use my chrony that day but both were listed at around 2000-2100 fps.
The biggest surprise was that the round nose bullet was so much more accurate than the pointed bullets. I didn't have any flat nose 30-30 150gr to try. This could actually be used as a 100 yard hog gun now!
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