Question for 308 handloaders and fal shooters

[crimsoncomet]

Hey guys.
I picked up a nice FAL the other day, and boy is that 7.62 pricey stuff. My question has to do with ammo and reloading prices over time. I found berdan primed surplus ammo for a decent price, but it is out of the question because it is non-reloadable. Being a reloader, I cant stand throwing brass away. I can buy winchester 7.62 FMJ for 13.00 a box or PPU for 10.00 box. Should I start with loaded ammo and then reload from there. Or, should I buy new brass and surplus pulled bullets and go from there. I thought about new brass and M2 (30-06 seating it deep and put the lee FCD to work). What is the best path for starting to shoot this caliber? Buy new Win. or PPU ammo and then reload. Or, brass and bullets and start from scratch. Thanks for helping me get started on 308 guys.

Also, anyone know how the PPU brass would hold up? I have heard FALs are hard on brass and that PPU brass is soft.

 

[Sunray]

"...start with loaded ammo and then reload from there..." It's that or buy brass. Buying ammo means you can go shooting tommorrow. Buying brass means you need to have the dies, etc. first. Same shell holder as the .30-06 family. You'll have to work up a load anyway.
Most of us started with factory ammo. Doesn't have to be 7.62NATO either. Regular .308 will be fine. Despite what you see on the 'Net. Before there was an Internet, .308 Win and 7.62NATO were the same thing. Thousands of rounds of both were reloaded and fired out of FAL's with no fuss. Couldn't ever afford any kind of FAL(real milsurps, not the assorted copies around, Stateside, these days. There were no copies then.) when they weren't evil, up here. Load for a semi'd Winchester M14 though. It doesn't care if its fed .308 or 7.62. It kind of liked the IVI I got to use in the Queen's Service. Didn't do any serious testing, but it hit a cinder block at 100 with no fuss.
The only important part is that semi-auto's require full length resizing every time(pumps and levers do too) and watching the case lengths. Other than that, it's no different than loading for a bolt action. You don't really need a crimp or CCI "milspec" primers either.
"...it is out of the question..." It's not great ammo and some of it is corrosively primed.

 

[animator]

I've gone about it several different ways.

1. Buy any/all milsurp you can find and go shooting. Even if it's not reloadable, it can still be turned in for scrap.

2. Buy milsurp that is reloadable. Lake City is one example.

3. Buy various commercial loads (varying bullet weights, etc) to see what your rifle likes, save that brass, and then develop a load that is close to a commercial load your rifle shoots well.


As far as brass goes, if the rifle is beating up the cases, you can turn the gas down a bit, so long that it still cycles. I keep mine a bit low, so that it doesn't launch brass 50 feet away, but rather maybe 10-15 feet to my 2:00. I also use a brass catcher so I don't have to spend time chasing down empties. It'll leave a bit of a dent from the ejector, but other than that, I haven't had any issues with brass getting damaged during ejection.


As far as the lifespan of the brass, I have some S&B brass that is on its 5th load and still holding up. Several others (PPU, Hornady, Winchester, Remington, Lake City, and Indian) that are on their 2nd or 3rd load. I've only been reloading for a little less than a year, so my brass life expectancy experience is a bit limited. Of course, how hot you load the brass will also affect it's lifespan...

 

[dacavasi]

I've reloaded several hundred rounds of PPU brass with no problems at all, and, actually, gotten some pretty decent groups with them (reloaded) in my bolt actions ( I have a DSA FAL that I shot most of the factory stuff out of). Enjoy that FAL, they are the cat's meow!

 

[db_tanker]

For the most part, FAL's aren't hard on brass...CETME's and HK's are. At least, my FAL isn't.

As for components, do a google search for Pats Reloading, get you either a jug of 844 or 846, some large rifle primers, then find some good pulled bullets and then go start shooting different kinds of boxer primed brass ammo.

Other good powders are AA2520, IMR4198, IMR4895 and Varget.

One thing I would also suggest, get a brass catcher top cover from DSA. I have one and they are great.

 

[USSR]

I've got 500 pieces of once-fired U.S. 7.62x51 brass that was not fired in a machinegun, that is for sale. It is clean and shiny, and I have removed the primer crimp. Contact me if interested.

Don

 

[LNK]

My FAL is not hard on Brass. I use LC brass as well as WWB and Rem. Seems to like 42.5Grains IMR4895 with Winchester primers. Picked up 2k 145 gr SPBT for I think $140. This combo is good for 2.5-3.5 MOA. Can't expect much more than that from a Fal anyway.

Good luck,

 

[crimsoncomet]

Thanks guys. I have plenty of LR primers and plenty of powder. I have 2520, varget, h335, 748 and benchmark.

 

[medalguy]

I vote for reloading. Buy once fired USGI brass, WC846 from Pat's, and the pulldown M80 bullets for around 11 cents each and you're good to go for a long time. That combo works real well in my FAL.

 

[crimsoncomet]

When buying LC surplus brass, what is the percentage of machine gun brass that you usually get in a lot?

 

[USSR]

When buying LC surplus brass, what is the percentage of machine gun brass that you usually get in a lot?

99.99% or more of LC 7.62x51 brass is machine gun fired. The snipers use LC M118 LR, which has the "LR" on the headstamp and has no primer crimp. After working on blown out, out-of-spec, MG fired LC brass from "generous" chambered machine guns, I will no longer buy it. It's just not worth the effort.

Don