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Old June 15, 2012, 12:32 PM   #1
swampcrawler
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need some advice for loading 7.62x39

Before you burst into laughter at the idea for loading something for which loaded ammo is so cheap, its for my cz 527 carbine . I hunt thick south louisiana brush so my shots are well within the weapons capabilities. Anyway,I dont have great faith in comercial "hunting loads" for this caliber. I just started loading and this will be my first attempt with a rifle cartrige. I have a hornady lnl ap progressive press, a scale, micrometer, and not much more. I would like to see what you guys have to say on everything from case prep tools to powders and dies and esspecially .311 hunting bullets. Thanks for your time guys!
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Old June 15, 2012, 12:41 PM   #2
wingman
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Well we'll laugh together I load for a mini30 to increase accuracy which works well, I've used some Hornady and Midway 123 gr with good results. I can't recommend a bullet for hunting as I only shoot targets.
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Old June 15, 2012, 01:21 PM   #3
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I also have some components to reload 7.62x39 but havent put any brass to the dies yet.
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Old June 15, 2012, 03:19 PM   #4
Jimro
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Commercial hunting bullets work fine, my sister in law dropped a 4 point with one shot through the boilermaker. We recovered the Remington bullet on the other side, just under the skin.

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Old June 15, 2012, 05:14 PM   #5
swampcrawler
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Lol why would she shoot a boilermaker? I mean I know thry arnt as skilled as welders or inspectors, but they work as hard as carpenters. They don't need to be shot!

:P couldn't help myself. Thanks for the replys fellas!
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Old June 15, 2012, 06:15 PM   #6
CherokeeT
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I load 7.62x39 for my AR. My ammo is much more accurate that the Rus stuff and better than Lapua FMJ, never tried any other factory ammo. I use H335 and the Remingtom 125 JSP (308 size) and get MOA accuracy when I do my part from the bench. Never hunted with the cartridge so don't know about that.
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Old June 15, 2012, 07:56 PM   #7
HJ857
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This may be worth a try. Take any typical russian ammo, pull the bullet, dump and weigh the powder to get an average, then measure your preferred powder charge so you get consistency (believe me, powder charges are all over the place, as well as is bullet neck tension). Option 2 - use a completely different powder, IMR 4895 is a good choice as a pretty standard .30 cal powder, but of course you need to work up your load.

Select a different bullet, factory bullets are not consistent in any way. I found Sierra Pro Hunters to work well accuracy-wise out of an SKS. Never used it for hunting though.

This is far less work than fully handloading a cartridge. However it may or may not work well enough for you, but it's worth a try because it's cheap to do.

You need a good bullet puller, not a kinetic especially if the neck is sealed. Then just a way to measure powder, seat the bullet and maybe a FCD to tighten the neck just a tiny bit. A standard Lee RGB die set works just fine.
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Old June 16, 2012, 07:45 AM   #8
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Quote:
Before you burst into laughter at the idea for loading something for which loaded ammo is so cheap,
I never understood why handloaders and shooters continue to puke out comments like this. The same could be said for the 223/5.56. Why would anyone load for a 223/5.56 when surplus, inaccurate, junk is so cheap?

I load for three different 7.62x39 rifles, two Rugers and one AR. One of my Ruger's has a true .308 diameter bore so I won't comment about what works well in that rifle.
Bullet selection is key to good terminal performance in the 7.62 x 39. With it's anemic velocities ones needs to use a bullet that is soft enough to expand yet hard enough to penetrate. Many of the .311 bullets are designed for much higher velocity that the x 39 can produce. End result is a bullet that will most likely not expand and just pencil through. The .311 125gr Sierra Pro Hunter is such a bullet. On the other side, bullets like the 123gr Hornady V-Max are to soft for medium sized game and may explode on impact.

I have found the Hornady .310 123gr SP to be an excellent bullet for medium sized game. Another good one is the Speer .310 123gr Hot Core bullet. I have not tried the New Hornady 123gr SST, but it is on my to-do list.

There is a lot of good powders for the x39. AA 1680 was designed for the 7.62 x 39 and will get you top velocities without heavy compression. I use a lot of 1680, but it is not my first choice as far as precision accuracy goes in my rifles.YMMV If you can find it, VV N-120 is an excellent powder for the x39. Top velocities and excellent accuracy. Some of my other favorites are H-322, N-130, H-4198 and R-7.

If your CZ will shoot the .308 bullets with any amount of accuracy give the Hornady 150gr 30-30 RN a try. Devastating on deer sized game at close range.
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Old June 18, 2012, 07:17 AM   #9
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Not sure if they still offer them, but Hornady and Speer used to have bullets in the 130 grain range meant for single shot pistols. They were .308 but shot well in my Ruger bolt action and SKS rifles. Well suited for short range deer hunting too. I haven't tried the commercial loads so can't compare them.
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Old June 18, 2012, 09:00 AM   #10
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Performance-wise, the 7.62x39 is near-identical to the 30-30. It also has a near-identical case capacity and pressure rate, which means for you that load data just became incredibly easy to find since 30-30 data has a LOT more options in all the manuals. Load--shoot--enjoy. For powders, the two I use in x39 are H335 and 2400, depending what I'm doing with it. Both are not only good performers in the cartridge, but I use both in several other cartridges as well--I hate having a powder that has only one use.

If it makes you feel any better, I don't just reload for 7.62x39, I even swage my own jacketed bullets for it now. So if anyone is laughing, send 'em my direction.
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Old June 18, 2012, 07:02 PM   #11
steve4102
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Quote:
Performance-wise, the 7.62x39 is near-identical to the 30-30. It also has a near-identical case capacity and pressure rate, which means for you that load data just became incredibly easy to find since 30-30 data has a LOT more options in all the manuals.
I would have to disagree with this statement. The 30-30 and the 7.62 x 39 do not share "near identical" case capacity. The 7.62 x 39 has a case capacity of about 35.5-36gr of H20. The 30-30 Win has a case capacity of about 44-45gr of H20 case capacity. That's huge and one should not use or extrapolate 30-30 data when loading for the 7.62 x 39.
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