bullets for SKS: .308 vs .310

[bender]

I've had an SKS for quite a while, but I am just now gonna start handloading for it. I just bought a bunch of winchester 123gr .308 bullets.

Looking thru some loading data, I see that Hornady says that foreign 7.62x39 guns have .311 barrels and do best with .310 bullets. Hornady also says that the mini-30 bore is .308.

I used to handload all my ammo way back when, and I am just now starting up again. I have forgotten alot, but I'll pick everything up again real quick once I get started.

I guess my questions are: my 7.62x39 dies are Lee, bought back in the late-80s, but still unused as of today. will they expand the cases properly for .308 bullets? And are .308 bullets ok in a chinese SKS .310 bore?

 

[steve4102]

.308, .310 and .311 will all shot safely in your SKS. Accuracy is another story. Only your rifle will know for sure which bullet it likes best.
As for your Lee dies, I duno. My 7.62x39 dies are RCBS and they come with a .308 and a .311 expander ball. According to Lee's web site they have a .307 or a .310 Ez Exp for the 7.62x39 die, assumeing you are talking about a Full Length Die and not a Collet Neck Die. http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/parts.cgi?1158388472.3085=90565
Mic your expander and see what size it is.
Loading for a semi like the SKS requires a FL die. If you have a neck collet die you may want to purchase a new set of FL dies.

 

[1911user]

The normal lee rifle die set for 7.62x39 comes with 2 expanders to cover .308 and .311 bullets. The cheap, basic version (RGB in green box) only comes with one expander, but I'm not sure which one. A set of dial calipers is nice to have on the reloading bench and they're under $20 for decent ones.

 

[R.W.Dale]

http://thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=134857&goto=nextnewest

ASK AND YE SHALL RECIEVE!


BTW. Only the oldest batch of Rugers used .308 barrels

 

[bender]

BTW. Only the oldest batch of Rugers used .308 barrels

ok, thanks. The Hornady data I was referring to is from my Hornady reloading manual (number 3), which is from back in 1981 or something... It was my first reloading manual, and I'm pretty attached to it... but I guess I need a newer Hornady manual.

My powders are also very old. I was worried that they might be deteriorated, since they've been in my very hot garage for 10 years, but they look and smell ok. I have an almost full can of Dupont IMR 4198 which I want to use up. You know its old when its labeled "Dupont".

I bought a couple hundred bullets for my SKS off an ebay dealer. He had Winchester 123gr .308 FMJs. I wanted 123gr since supposedly that was what the military ammo used, but I couldn't find 123gr from speer or hornady or sierra. I could be wrong though.

 

[MCgunner]

I've got two SKSs, a 16" Norinco paratrooper and a rifle. Both like .308 fine, will shoot 'em about as accurate as .310 diameter bullets. I used to handload the Sierra Pro Hunter 135 grain spitzer designed for .30-30 and .30 herrett contenders, but Sierra discontinued the bullet. It was a fantastic hunting bullet at 2100 fps out of an SKS and shot into about 3 moa, good enough for broadside 200 yard shots on deer. I'd sight it 3" high at a hundred and it was on at 200. I don't hunt with the gun much anymore anyway, but miss that bullet.

 

[bender]

Looks like I was wrong in the first post. According to Midway, Winchester 123gr bullets for .30 carbine, are .310, not .308. The guy on ebay I bought them off of, didn't have the diameter described. I guess I just thought they'd be .308. Still, the info you guys gave me is helpful... thanks!

Today I looked at my old 7.62x39 Lee dies (never used yet) and the resize die doesn't have a decapper/expander rod in it. The dies may have come with 2 expander sizes, but may have not been installed in the die when new. Maybe I lost them over the 15 years since I bought the dies.

The die set is a 3 die set. At first I was wondering why... but it seems there is a "factory crimp" die in addition to the normal 2 dies.