first successfull boolits! more ?'s

[sh00ter787]

Well, after following Onondaga's advice i popped some gas checks on my 7.62x39 C312-155 and CTL312-160's i managed to get some groups through my 2 saiga's, not as good as i would get out of my normal FMJ loads but a good starting point.

The boolits had been sized to .312 and today I have managed to swage my barrels for the first time and have a dilemma i think....

my 16" saiga came out at .3115 but my 12" was .3125

my boolits with the alloy i am using drop out of the molds at .314 and my lee .311 sizer quite handily sizes at .312 - is it possible to size my boolits so they will be ok in both barrels or is it worth me getting another sizer and lap one to .3125 and the other .3135??

[NickSS]

Get or lap your sizer to size them to 313 or 314 and they will work fine in both barrels. What were you usaing for a charge? I like 16 gr of AA1680 or 20 gr of AA 5744 for that bullet.

[sh00ter787]

i have been testing using 15gn of 2400, looking forward to getting some 5744 - i have used 1680 well with fmj's at 25.5gn but will try some at 16 behind these boolits if you think it will go well :)

[JIMinPHX]

I would size everything to .3125-.3130" & shoot that happily in both guns unless you see problems that need to be corrected.

15 grains of 2400 is one of the classic loads for cast in that cartridge. It should be a good place to start. I've also had good luck with Reloader 7.

You might want to let us know what alloy you are using, & if you are water dropping or not, so that the board members can comment on those things as well. That cartridge usually does pretty well with cast boolits once you get it dialed in.

[sh00ter787]

thanks for the advice - i am using melted down 240gn 44's (i wanted my first sessions to be of a suitable alloy before I start "mixing" my own! also that I dont have much lead hoarded yet!)
all water dropped and left at least a week before sizing and lubing - although next lot will probably only sit for 5 days

i have favorite loads using 2230 and 1680 but all my loading to date has been for fmj's - i finished off a tub of R7 and got good results from it @ 23gn behind a 126gn boolit

[JIMinPHX]

22 grains of RE7 behind a 160-grain Harris gave me about 2-3moa @ around 1920fps. I was fairly happy with that, but I think that I can still do better if I spend some time dialing it in. I only tried 2 different powder charges of RE7 & I didn't fool around with the boolit hardness at all yet.

[MtGun44]

Actually 15-16 gr of 2400 is good for the .30-06 class of milsurp cartridges but is on the
high end for the 7.62x39 due to much smaller case volume. I'd drop that quite a lot
and work up or you are likely to be overdriving the boolit and have unhappy results.

Typically 1600-1800 fps works pretty easily, but it will take more care to advance beyond
that and keep your accy without leading.

Likewise, the 10 gr of Unique load with "any" boolit is a great light load for the std full
power .30-06/8x57/7.55 Swiss/7.62x54R class of cartridges but will be hot or way hot
in the much smaller 7.62x39.

Bill

[JIMinPHX]

15 gr of 2400 behind a 155 Harris in a 7.62 x 39 gives me right around 1800fps & functions most SKS rifles reliably. 14.5gr will cycle some, but not all variants of the SKS.