Practicality of loading 7.62x39

[Quoheleth]

Have an SKS on the way to my house in the next few days. I reload and have been doing it for several years for my pistols. The only rifle I reload for is my .30-30, and that's cast lead plinking stuff.

Considering the start-up cost of loading for a caliber (eg., powder, dies, bullets, and brass), and the relatively low cost of the Russian ammo, is it worth trying to hand-load for the SKS or just keep an extra Spam squirreled away for hard times?

If reloading is viable, where do y'all like getting components? Just your favorite local shop or is there a real on-line bargain somewhere?

Q

 

[Sam1911]

For me it kind of depends on what you might do with it.

Fir AK and SKS plinking, training, matches, and other paper punching ... eh, probably just buy some cheap steel cased stuff and enjoy it.

If you want to try to wring the very best accuracy out of the gun as an academic exercise (which is fun) reloading will probably be the right way to go.

If you want to hunt with it, you can put together a pretty decent medium game round with a real hunting bullet that will do a better job than most of the stuff you can buy commercially.

I haven't bought any componants for it in a long time, but I'd probably start with Graff's. (Gonna be $1 - $1.50 a case.)

 

[wingman]

I load for a mini-30 worth the effort in terms of accuracy most commerical
762x39 isnt that great,I buy mostly from powder valley.

 

[Walkalong]

I mostly shoot steel cased ammo in my AK, although I am set up to load 7.62X39. It was cheap to buy the Lee die set, so why not, but I have loaded very little. I am considering getting a bolt gun in 7.62X39, and for that I would work up an accuracy and a hunting load.

 

[rfwobbly]

Well, in one sense you're in luck; 30-30 and 7.62x39 both shoot the same diameter bullets. If you splurge and buy the boxer primed cartridges, you'll have some reloadable brass. Then all that's left is the dies.

BTW... Berry now carries plated bullets for the 7.62x39 Click Here !!.

 

[Sam1911]

30-30 and 7.62x39 both shoot the same diameter bullets

Well, they can.

You may find some accuracy improvements by going with the .311" dia. intended, though. Not a huge difference, of course, but worth playing around with. You can use bullets intended for the .303 Brit.

 

[rfwobbly]

I guess what I'm trying to say is that most Russian rifles shoot .310 to .312, but definitely not .308 as some might assume.

 

[Sam1911]

Uh, what?

"30-30 and 7.62x39 both shoot the same diameter bullets"

contradicts the prhase

"most Russian rifles shoot .310 to .312, but definitely not .308 as some might assume"

They shoot the same diameter bullets, just 0.002"-0.004" different?

.30-30 is a .308" round. 7.62x39 is a .311" round, generally, though some folks report fine success using .308" bullets.

(And some 7.62x39 barrels were bored to .308", back in the day, some have said.)

 

[ColtPythonElite]

Due to the low cost of surplus ammo, even at today's prices I don't consider it worth while in dollars to reload 7.62 x 39. I considered it 15 years ago. I even bought the dies. I've never even taken the plastic wrapper off of them. The original price tag was about 16 bucks.

 

[R.W.Dale]

If and when I did shoot handloads in my sks'es I removed the gas piston, turning the gun into a straight pull bolt action so I didn't have to chase my brass all over hell and half of Georgia


Tapatalk post via IPhone.

 

[Mike1234567]

I'm too lazy to reload unless the cost savings is HUGE or I can't find what I want. If I wanted subsonic ammo with heavy bullets in 7.62x39 then, yeah, I'd reload because that ammo is PRICEY. For common stuff, no.

 

[jeeptim]

Reloading SKS

I have reloaded 1000s of 7.62x39 and have some good info for you.
1. Barrys plated bullets work BUT.......... to cycle the action you gotta run em a lil hotter the reccomended and doing so your barrell will get fouled up and the piston will get coated in copper and lead very hard to clean. For me if I am going to spend my time reloading i want better then I can buy.
2. Buy"in once fired brass be sure it is large or small primers I have about 300+ small primers its a pain sorting the small work as well as the large just not as common.
3. 308 310 311 312 DIA bullets have used em all and all work we have a few SKS's and we shoot em ALOT tons of fun 308 good for plinking 50 yards 310 and 311 sweet spot 312 work well in a wore out barrell.
4. Bullets soft point are a lil troublesom in our yogo keep your eye on G/B and the like for pulled bullets the best i have got were 150gr steel core $90.00/1000
5.Cost I buy primers no less then 5000 at a time powder 5 to 8 lb jugs and surplus bullets blemished bullets on sale bullets by the 1000s even with out the cost of the case its tough to beat 1000 steel case berdan wolf for $170.00 yeah we make far better ammo but Its a SKS dont get me wrong I love shooting it and will blow through 500 rounds in a weekend EASY.
So once I burn through the 7.62x39 supplys i have i will be buying loaded ammo by the case.
Hope this was helpful
Enjoy your new toy

 

[FROGO207]

I do reload for a SKS also. I can turn off the gas port as it has the gernade launcher on it. Mine likes .310 bullets the best. I got some once fired brass and use that. I also got some inexpensive reloadable ammo and "made brass" out of that. I have determined that for plinking the steel cased Russian ammo is the way to go at present prices. I have in the past and do presently reload some accuracy rounds with .310 soft point 123 grain Speer Hot-Cor bullets and H4198 1 grain under max load. It still will not beat my 30-30 for accuracy however but in a pinch I could use it to bring home the bacon if needed. I even tried some 173 grain bullets that I pulled from some bad 7.62X54 rounds (.311). The accuracy when testing 75 of them was dismal. Jeeptim has weighed in on the use of plated bullets before when I tried them and he was spot on but I still had to clean my own rifle once before I would believe him 100%.:banghead: YMMV

 

[Quoheleth]

OK...since I'm looking at this for a blaster/fun gun (and EOTWAWKI - which, if you listen to the media is sometime between August 3 and Christmas), the cheap steel stuff is fine.

Is most of the brand name stuff non-corrosive? By this I mean Brown/Silver Bear, Tula, Wolf, Academy brand.

(I realize it's not a reloading question, but I beg your pardon to not start another thread. Last question on this - promise!)

Q

 

[armoredman]

I've reloaded for 7.62x39mm since I could get the dies and etc. Many people scoffed at the idea of reloading such a common caliber. I was also still out shooting my vz-58 during the ammo shortages in recent history, and cases of 7.62x39mm garbage were going for premium prices. I like reloading, consider it a hobby that happens to feed my other hobby, shooting, and I don't really care about the attendant prices tags, as in "how much am I saving?" But am I saving? Yes, I also cast in this caliber - the Lee mold bullet is a bit heavy, but I did find a great 129 grain cast slug that works well. Caveat, I usually use the cast in the bolt action, as it will lead the gas piston block slightly in the vz-58, but not the barrel.
As for Berrys', they now make a NEW 7.62x39mm bullet, seen here with the others bullets I like,




This bullet works FANTASTIC at jacketed velocities in the bolt action CZ 527M, with no shedding of the jacket, but for some reason the rifling in the vz-58 shreds the jacket at even low velocity. Difference in rifling, I guess; if you start reloading I'll send you 10 or so of the Berry's to try out.
If you enjoy reloading, and like to be able to shoot when the ammo shelves are bare, go for it. If reloading is a chore, and casting not even in the running, then buy your cases of ammo while you can.
PS, I shot reloads out of a Yugo SKS once, and the rangemaster at that range was shocked, even more when I picked up the brass. He'd never seen anyone reload the cartridge, much less shoot home reloads through a Yugo. I just smiled and kept on shooting.

 

[denton]

I have an SKS and do mostly shoot reloads. A long time ago, I stocked up on 123 grain bullets, very cheap.

One experiment I did was to load some 150 grain bullets, hoping for a good hunting round. Accuracy was very poor. I suspect the bullets were not getting enough MV that the spin was adequate to stabilize the bullet.

IIRC, the Mini 30 is a true .308" bore, as opposed to the .310-.311" of the SKS.

 

[zoom6zoom]

I've been paying about sixteen cents a round for brass cased, lead core Yugo. The ammo would have to get much more expensive or my time much less valuable to reload for this one.

Maybe once I burn through the 10K rounds in the basement.

 

[Eb1]

I bought my VZ to replace my AR. I sold my AR, and it killed me. Anyway. I bought the VZ because I wanted a 30 round auto rifle. I am not shooting HP this year because I don't have the time.
Reloading for the VZ doesn't seem practical because the gun to me is not a hunting rifle nor is it a fun gun. It is a worst case scenario get away from my family and property rifle that can be ready at the drop of the hat. So stocking up on ammo at the cost of $190/1000 vs. the time and cost of supplies isn't worth it to me. At 200 yards I can groups good enough to handle business if needed. So I don't bother reloading it. Plus in an auto you have to chase brass, and I don't like to chase brass.
I'd rather reload for the .44 Mag, 30-30, or .303.

 

[res45]

I've reload the X39 for both my Yugo and Chinese SKS for several years now. Back when I started reloading that caliber steel case ammo was cheap like a $1.50 per box but I didn't like the accuracy and consistency between the various brands of ammo. If you just slinging lead downrange I guess it doesn't really matter,I would just suggest trying different brands find the one that shoots the best in your rifle and stick with it. I found Golden Tiger and Brown Bear lacquered case ammo to give me acceptable accuracy for SHTF purposes so that what I stocked up on,I like to keep a couple K rds. in reserve.

Anyways back to the reloading,back in the day components were much cheaper than they are now but still more expensive than steel case ammo but you could produce much better quality and special purpose ammo and work up accurate loads in your particular rifle. I bought lots of brass both new and once fired on the cheap and I could get Hornady SP and FMJ bullets in bulk for $9 per 100 now there $20+ For all my J bullet loads I use Reloader # 7 that I bough in bulk it works with any J bullet as well as cast.

On the subject of cast bullets that's pretty much all I shoot now days when I want to do some plinking or target shooting with my SKS rifle,I assemble two loads using the Lee 160 gr, gas checked TL bullet,the first load uses 12.5 grs. of Alliant 2400 and launches Lee bullet out of my Chinese SKS at just over 1400 fps MV cycles the action and drops the brass right at my feet and cost me about 8 cents per rd to produce. The second load use the same bullet and 14.5 gr.s of 2400 and produces a MV right at 2K fps. of course the brass gets thrown a bit further but I use a catch net at the shooting bench,the cost of the second load is just under 10 cents per rd.. Both loads are very accurate and will shot one ragged hole groups at 50 yds. as long as you do your part.

I slugged both the bores on my SKS rifle and they both came out at .312" in dia. I've found in my case that both rifles shoot the most accurately with .310" dia. J bullets .311" in 125 and 150 gr. are a close second and .308 dia. bullets are a waste of time in my rifles. On the subject of brass being thrown into the next county that is an easy fix,first you need a extra gas tube and a set of numbered drill bits. Basically what your going to do is take the extra gas tube and drill three small holes one on top and two on the sides to bleed off excess gas pressure before it affect the gas piston which in turn slows down the bolt speed and ejections pattern,it does not affect MV but only where the brass goes.

Here is the mod. by Larry Gibson
http://www.sksboards.com/smf/index.php?topic=41391.0

 

[Afy]

I have reloaded 7.62x39 simply because of the crazy laws in France that limit you to 1000 rounds of manufactured ammo a year in this caliber. I use a 123 grain privi bullet with VV 120 and S&B and Lapua brass.

 

[Fishslayer]

The range I go to does not allow ammo with any steel in it, case or projectile. That kind of ammo is usually pretty pricey. So I do intend to reload 7.62x39 for my Mini-30.

It's an early model with .308 bore but shoots OK with .311 (I assume) MFS ammo. I'm told Lee's die set comes with parts for .308 and .311 projectiles.

What bites is scrounging brass, running it through the tumbler and finding out it's Berdan primed...

 

[FROGO207]

^^^^^^ Use a flashlight and inspect it prior to polishing. You can easily see the type of primer hole used. You see, I am lazy AND cheap.