First outing Ruger American Ranch 7.62x39

[ciwsguy]

This looks like a keeper to me. Used factory brass cased S&B 124 FMJ ammo, indoors at 50 yards. This ammo had 0.311 diam lead core bullets. Also shot Fiocchi 123 FMJ with .310 bullets, which resulted in a slightly larger grouping. Looks like a keeper to me.

[chadio]

Nice. What optic on the Ruger?

ciws - the R2D2 gatling from hell

[bamaranger]

I think a tidy x39mm bolt rifle is a very handy rifle. Powerful enough for most of what we do with rifles. Not too expensive to feed nor too abusive to shoot to allow for ample practice. I've not got an American Ranch, but I do have it's big brother, a 77MkII lightweight, and it is one of my favorite rigs.

My experience has been that x39mm ammo quality is all over the map. We have to shoot what we can find these days, but W-W white box 123 FMJ has been a good performer in several of my rifles so chambered. The Hornady SST bullet does very well in my reloads as well.

Plunk a tidy scope on your Ruger and you'll have a vey useful rifle.

[Jim567]

https://share.icloud.com/photos/09eW...ovHNapj_dAKzsg

My Ruger American in 7.62 x .39 was a very pleasant surprise.
Very handy and crazy accurate.
Obviously that 115 yard group was bench rested, 9 power Vortex, but it’s a joy to shoot offhand.

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0eeB...ji2aNZd57wXBGQ

The top target is my AK, 3 power scope.Huge difference in accuracy with the same round.

[ciwsguy]

What optic? Vortex 3-9x40

[taylorce1]

I have a Ruger American Ranch as well, but in .300 BLK. Once my suppressor came in it has become my favorite range toy. Shooting steel with subsonic ammunition makes me giggle like a little kid at Christmas.

I really thought the rifle was so-so until I got a suppressor. However, it has been pretty accurate from the start with just about any ammunition I feed it. This year I'll use it deer hunting in Oklahoma with some 190 grain Hornady Sub-X loads, it has worked okay with supersonic loads on deer in the past.

[seanc]

Try some PPU rounds in your Ruger. My CZ 527 does well with PPU soft points. I was disappointed with the SST rounds that shot well in my AKs. Each rifle has it's preferred ammo. Lately, I've just been shooting Golden Tiger 124's which give decent accuracy for plinking. Out of my rifle, the SSTs shoot about the same as the GTs.

[ciwsguy]

Haven’t found any PPU 7.62x39. Have Wolf steel case, S&B and Fiocchi. Just ordered some Norma. Most of what I buy is brass cased to facilitate reloading.
Speaking of reloading, for those who reload the 7.62x39, what powder/bullet combination do you find works well for you?

[stagpanther]

I've had good/excellent results using hornady 123 sst's and cavity back 125's with AA1680, shooter's world blackout, H4198, and CFE BLK.

[jetinteriorguy]

In general I’ve used H335, AA1680, Bl-C(2) and RE7 with good results. The best bullets I’ve used are the Hornady SST’s. RE7 and the SST’s have given me right around 1MOA consistently in my AR47. Most other bullets and powders can give between 1-2 MOA.

[stinkeypete]

Very nice! Time to back up another 50 yards!

[Scorch]

I like a nice, accurate little rifle in 7.62X39. I built a couple of Mauser 93s in 7.62X39 and they are a joy to shoot. With Wolf ammo you will be lucky to get better than 1-1/2" to 2", but that's plenty good enough for anything up to deer size out to 300-ish yards. Low recoil and good terminal performance.

[ciwsguy]

I don’t care much for polymer stocks, but admit they are
1) lightweight
2) they work

I have read that some folks try to replace factory polymer stocks with a Boyd’s or other laminated stock, but sometimes the results aren’t so good.

[ciwsguy]

Using Lee premium die set with .310 expander ball. Very difficult to resize. Yes, I’m lubing the brass. Using once fired S&B, Fiocchi and Norma. Using Federal LR primers. Difficult seating the primers, though all seated successfully.
So do any other reloaders have similar experiences with 7.62x39 resizing and primer seating?
Brass has been wet tumbled with SS pins and Hornady brass cleaner.
Wondering what others experience

[ATCDoktor]

I bought my RAR in 7.62X39 when they were first announced and I find it to be an exceedingly accurate and handy rifle.



I have hand loaded hunting ammo using both Nosler .308 diameter 110 grain Varmageddon and Nosler 123 grain “tipped” .310 bullets with great success (although groups with the .308 diameter bullets were not as good as the .310’s)

This is 5 rounds at 100 yards using a max charge of Accurate Arms 1680 and the .310 123 grainers:


Groups with the Varmageddons similarly loaded were twice that size with odd flyers here and there.

Accuracy with the Varmageddons was definitely good enough for hunting and I have taken several coyotes with that bullet and a max charge of AA1680:

At 2600 fps the 110 grain Varmageddons are devastating at 85 yards


I have fired what I consider an inordinate number of steel cased ammo through mine and accuracy (depending on brand) is quite good with that as well with groups hovering around 1.5 to 1.75” at 100 yards.

If you want a very nice, inexpensive, relatively cheap to shoot (at todays prices) you can’t go wrong with an RAR in X39.

[jetinteriorguy]

Originally Posted by ciwsguy

Using Lee premium die set with .310 expander ball. Very difficult to resize. Yes, I’m lubing the brass. Using once fired S&B, Fiocchi and Norma. Using Federal LR primers. Difficult seating the primers, though all seated successfully.
So do any other reloaders have similar experiences with 7.62x39 resizing and primer seating?
Brass has been wet tumbled with SS pins and Hornady brass cleaner.
Wondering what others experience

Try wet tumbling without the pins.

[tangolima]

I also have Norma 7.62x39 brass. The primer pockets were tight when they were new. They will loose up after some loads. No problem with resizing. What lube do you use? Is it difficult going in or coming out?

Most semi autos are over gassing. They tends to chew up the extraction rim. Not good for brass life. Adjusting gassing is way easier on a mini-30 than my sks.

-TL

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

[Jim567]

It’s amazing how accurate that rifle in that caliber with a 16” barrel can be!!

https://share.icloud.com/photos/02a9...9xdFc3hHrmF0zQ

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0b7S...qX86OYO_jlVnew

I didn’t do anything to that rifle except slap a scope on it and install a sling.

[ciwsguy]

What Lube? Hornady one shot on the outside of the case and in the neck. Most difficulty is on the downstroke on my Redding T7. I have no trouble resizing 223 Remington brass cases on this press.

[tangolima]

Originally Posted by ciwsguy

What Lube? Hornady one shot on the outside of the case and in the neck. Most difficulty is on the downstroke on my Redding T7. I have no trouble resizing 223 Remington brass cases on this press.

It is just me. I don't want to get close to Hornady one shot lube. I still have 2 cans of it and I am happy to give them to you for free if you pay the shipping.

Down stroke of the handle or the ram?

-TL

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

[stagpanther]

It is just me. I don't want to get close to Hornady one shot lube. I still have 2 cans of it and I am happy to give them to you for free if you pay the shipping.

Down stroke of the handle or the ram?

-TL

I'm pretty much of the same mind--I think they use a petroleum distillate to keep in solvent. I do, however, like their wax which comes in a tub and is much less expensive than imperial.

[GeauxTide]

I'm a 6.5 Loony, so I went with the American Predator in Grendel and put it in a Boyd's Spike Camp stock. Look forward to the chrony results.

[ciwsguy]

Well, I did use some Unique case lube over the one shot and things got easier, but you still need some lube on the inside of the case mouth, so that’s where the spray one shot has an advantage. The hard to size problem was mostly at the bottom of the down stroke. I never got that kind of drag when reloading 6.5 Grendel on the same press.
Also had a problem with the Lee bullet seating die. At max depth setting, the bullet was about 0.010 short of minimum COAL. Added a small washer between the seating stem and the adjusting screw to get more seating depth. That fixed that issue, but I’ve ordered a set of Hornady dies. Not very happy with the Lee die set so far.
P.S. did I ever say I really don’t care much for flat bottom bullets? The Nosler Varmageddon and the Hornady SSTs are hard to get started into the case mouth.
I also noticed a considerable amount of case neck stretching on resizing. Sometimes up to 0.010 inch stretch on once fired brass.

[tangolima]

You never clarified whether it was down stroke of the handle or the ram. Based on your description it sounds like the it was the handle or the he upstroke of the ram.

I had that happened to me on a arisaka t38. The rifle has loose chamber while the Lee die is tight. The resizing was trying to iron out the slightly bulging brass. I could make it work with a bit more imperial wax smeared near the brass head. But it was still hard going. It is actually counter productive as the brass is being over worked for no benefit.

I started looking for other resizing die. I bought a bunch of old Hollywood dies. One of them was just right.

It may be the cause of your resizing problem.

-TL

P.S. for a small fee, you can ask Lee to hone the die to your specs. I believe you need to send in a few fired brass with the die.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

[ciwsguy]

It was not on the upstroke. Most resistance was on the downstroke near the bottom. Chamber checker of resized case showed some overtravel was needed to squeeze the case to the correct dim in order to pass the plunk test