April 18, 2007, 02:54 PM | #1 |
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AK/SKS reloads?
This will be a new venture in my reloading ,30cal/.308 thats what I would need right or is there something specific I need to look for?
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April 18, 2007, 07:30 PM | #2 |
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P-W:
Maybe ... but probably not. Most 7.62x39 rounds use a 0.310" or 0.311" bullet, and most die expander plugs are sized to match. So if you try to use 0.308" bullets, they will likely slip right into the case necks. If you have two sizes of expander plugs - I believe Lee dies come this way, perhaps others - then you can try both 0.308" and 0.310" (or 0.311") bullets. Chances are in an AK or SKS, the larger bullets will group better. I use a Speer 123 gr. FMJ 0.311" bullet in my reloads for a Russian SKS. I'm not sure they make this anymore. dogfood |
April 19, 2007, 04:54 AM | #3 |
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I will have to do alot of reading before I try to reload AK ammo,but at least I have a good starting point Thanks for the info!
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April 19, 2007, 08:01 AM | #4 |
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I've put up a web page to document my experiments in reloading 7.62x39. This is mostly for my own reference, but feel free to browse it.
http://www.northwoodsphoto.net/sks/Handloads/Loads.html You'll note that I'm not handloading in the traditional sense, but rather tweaking Russian factory loads. A number of other folks have been doing this, but I may be taking it a bit further. I load for the SKS specifically, I'll agree that it's not a precision rifle but it is capable of more than most people seem to think. Russian ammo is crap, but it's cheap and it can be made better pretty easily. |
April 22, 2007, 04:46 PM | #5 |
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Google Ed Harris
1995 i think, his article in Rifleman was seminal in defining 7.62 x 39 loads using a bullet mould he designed for NEI and adopted by Lee.
The Lee 312-155-2R mould is excellent and I am trying to get a 6 cavity of it I use Accurate 2230 or Data 2200 according to published data and it is excellent at 100 yards ~26.5 gr Yodar
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April 22, 2007, 10:25 PM | #6 |
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Good luck finding brass.
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April 24, 2007, 08:54 PM | #7 |
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7.62 x 39 brass
Midway a few years ago sold lapua brass on sale ,briefly :>( 20.00/C and reguarly w/w for $22.00 /C. I bought a MESS of it.
I buy white box w/w and salvage the brass. i still have a couple hundred un-used cases from the GOOD ole days and my loaded brass, W/W and Lapua , will give me as many as six loads per case With re-used cases, and cast bullets, the ammo reloads very cheap. Primers and gas checks are the most costly. Surplus powder less than 3 cents, cases and cast bullets virtually free, primer $0.022 , gas check $0.022 yodar
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April 24, 2007, 11:42 PM | #8 |
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Reloading 7.62X39 isn't worth the effort, and it costs more than buying factory ammo!
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April 25, 2007, 07:14 AM | #9 | |
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Quote:
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April 29, 2007, 09:01 AM | #10 | ||
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Quote:
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dogfood |
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April 29, 2007, 05:29 PM | #11 |
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I've been reloading 7.62x39 for about 10 years.
When I discovered my handloads let my Bulgarian SLR-95 shoot 5-round groups inside 2" at 100 yards, I swore that my SKS and AK rifles would never again fire steel cased Wolf crap. Taking a whitetail with an AK and 123gr Winchester softpoint handload last fall reinforced it. Surplus steel cased ammo can climb the price charts until the cows come home, as far as I'm concerned.
Maybe I was privileged, but as a range officer I walked home each weekend with buckets of once-fired brass in all sorts of chamberings. Having several thousand pieces of 7.62x39 reloadable brass took a lot of the cost consideration out, and when Wideners has specials on Russian or Israeli 123gr AK bullets, I take advantage of the deals. Also, I've been running Golden West Brass .311" 124gr AK bullets, they sell for $75.00/1000. That leaves me to buy bulk Accurate Arms 1680 powder (my favorite for 7.62x39 and 7.62x45) and CCI #34 primers to keep my SKS and AK rifles fed. I wish I had gotten in on the Data Powder deal back around 1998, but it appears to have dried up since then. |
April 29, 2007, 08:04 PM | #12 |
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handloaded 7.62X39
I do for my M-30 and a buddy has a SKS I have let him shoot some of my good stuff out of. He has the small 4X scope, at 100 yds off rest socked 'em into 2" groups easy and one at 1". As good as we could hold basically.
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