Reloading Russian Cartridges

chasep255 · April 17, 2011, 04:05 PM

Do any of you reload 7.62x39 or 7.62x54? I would like to but I think it may actually be more expensive than buying surplus. Also brass seems to be a bit hard to find since most is either steel or berdan primed.

dahermit · April 17, 2011, 04:20 PM

Both 7.62x39 and 7.62x54 boxer primed brass is readily available. I have hand loaded both. They are no more expensive to hand load than any other similar cartridge.

chasep255 · April 17, 2011, 05:21 PM

I know there not more expensive but can you beat the price of surplus ammo?

PawPaw · April 17, 2011, 05:49 PM

Whether or not you can beat the price of surplus ammo is a question that varies from week to week.

However, it is easy to beat the quality of surplus ammo, especially if you're talking about the quality of some of the surplus ammo I've seen for Russian mil-surp rifles.

603Country · April 17, 2011, 07:08 PM

The neighbor's kid came over this afternoon with his Moisin Nagant (carbine version) to shoot it on my 100 yard range. He brought the 15 rounds he got with the rifle. I looked them over before he shot, and had to reject a couple of them as looking unsafe (split necks or something similar to that). I couldn't make sense of the head stamp, so I don't know where the ammo came from or when it was made. It might be better long term to load your own ammo rather than buy whatever cheap stuff you can find.

As for the rifle, it was the first MN that I've shot. The muzzle blast was amazing, but the kick wasn't much. The trigger pull was about 2 inches long (Ok, I'm exaggerating), but it was pretty smooth. Sights weren't as bad as I expected. Took me a few minutes to figure out the safety. It was hard to use, but I have to assume that under the conditions it was designed for, the rifle safety was the least of a Russian soldier's concerns. I never did figure out how to get the bolt out of the action.

I still don't want one, but it was better than I expected.

okiefarmer · April 17, 2011, 07:10 PM

Only problem I have personally experienced with using brass cases in any combloc gun is that they seem to be somewhat rough on extractor rims. Very violent ejection operations on combloc guns, hence, the reason they use mostly steel case ammo. Otherwise brass shoots just fine.

chasep255 · April 17, 2011, 08:19 PM

Quote:

I never did figure out how to get the bolt out of the action.

I actually figured this one out by accident. I pressed down the trigger with the bolt open since I wanted to close the action without cocking the gun. The bolt fell out on the ground. To get the bolt out of an MN simply open it up and hold down the trigger.

chris in va · April 17, 2011, 11:04 PM

It's not worth it unless you plan to shoot for accuracy. Wolf still has it beat for plinkers. I cast for my 7.62x39 bolt action, otherwise finding decently priced 311 bullets is like finding Waldo. Then there's the whole brass case issue, mainly why I sold my Saiga to pick up an AR.

April 17, 2011, 04:05 PM	#1
chasep255 Senior Member Join Date: December 21, 2009 Location: NJ Posts: 727	Reloading Russian Cartridges Do any of you reload 7.62x39 or 7.62x54? I would like to but I think it may actually be more expensive than buying surplus. Also brass seems to be a bit hard to find since most is either steel or berdan primed.

April 17, 2011, 05:49 PM	#4
PawPaw Senior Member Join Date: December 24, 2010 Location: Central Louisiana Posts: 3,137	Whether or not you can beat the price of surplus ammo is a question that varies from week to week. However, it is easy to beat the quality of surplus ammo, especially if you're talking about the quality of some of the surplus ammo I've seen for Russian mil-surp rifles. __________________ Dennis Dezendorf http://pawpawshouse.blogspot.com

April 17, 2011, 04:20 PM	#2
dahermit Senior Member Join Date: October 28, 2006 Location: South Central Michigan...near Posts: 6,501	Both 7.62x39 and 7.62x54 boxer primed brass is readily available. I have hand loaded both. They are no more expensive to hand load than any other similar cartridge.

April 17, 2011, 05:21 PM	#3
chasep255 Senior Member Join Date: December 21, 2009 Location: NJ Posts: 727	I know there not more expensive but can you beat the price of surplus ammo?

April 17, 2011, 07:08 PM	#5
603Country Senior Member Join Date: January 6, 2011 Location: Thornton, Texas Posts: 3,998	The neighbor's kid came over this afternoon with his Moisin Nagant (carbine version) to shoot it on my 100 yard range. He brought the 15 rounds he got with the rifle. I looked them over before he shot, and had to reject a couple of them as looking unsafe (split necks or something similar to that). I couldn't make sense of the head stamp, so I don't know where the ammo came from or when it was made. It might be better long term to load your own ammo rather than buy whatever cheap stuff you can find. As for the rifle, it was the first MN that I've shot. The muzzle blast was amazing, but the kick wasn't much. The trigger pull was about 2 inches long (Ok, I'm exaggerating), but it was pretty smooth. Sights weren't as bad as I expected. Took me a few minutes to figure out the safety. It was hard to use, but I have to assume that under the conditions it was designed for, the rifle safety was the least of a Russian soldier's concerns. I never did figure out how to get the bolt out of the action. I still don't want one, but it was better than I expected.

April 17, 2011, 07:10 PM	#6
okiefarmer Senior Member Join Date: February 20, 2006 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 381	Only problem I have personally experienced with using brass cases in any combloc gun is that they seem to be somewhat rough on extractor rims. Very violent ejection operations on combloc guns, hence, the reason they use mostly steel case ammo. Otherwise brass shoots just fine.

April 17, 2011, 11:04 PM	#8
chris in va Senior Member Join Date: December 26, 2004 Location: Louisville KY Posts: 13,806	It's not worth it unless you plan to shoot for accuracy. Wolf still has it beat for plinkers. I cast for my 7.62x39 bolt action, otherwise finding decently priced 311 bullets is like finding Waldo. Then there's the whole brass case issue, mainly why I sold my Saiga to pick up an AR.