314299 in 7.62 x39

[BustemAgain]

I had about 20 of these cast up that I did at the end of another session so I could check their seating depth in various .30cal rifles with a Stoney Point tool. I found that in both my Ruger and CZ 7.62x39mm bolt actions I could seat them to magazine length and get at least .010 in. of the nose engraved. This had me some what excited so I did a quick visual sort and found 13 that were good enough for what I had in mind. Which was to try these out before it got too dark to shoot.

I loaded 10 with 12gr. XMP 5744 and the remaining three with 7gr. of Unique. I shot these @ 50 yd through my CZ 527. The XMP 5744 load averaged just under 1.250" for two 5 shot groups and the 3 loaded with Unique went into a .897" triangle. This is not as good as I had hoped but probably as good as I could expect with such a rushed first effort.

My question is, has any body else tried this bullet in the 7.62x39mm and if so what has been their experience. I have got the pot warming up right now and I am going to cast up about 20 pounds of these and see what I can come up with. I am looking for something under 2" average for 5 shots at 100 yd.

BustemAgain

[26Charlie]

Yes, they work OK in SKS too - someone wrote an article in the CBA magazine "The Fouling Shot" about heavy CB's in SKS. I tried some, and they worked the action and didn't group too badly in the SKS. A friend offered me abuot a thousand pull-down .303 British 174 gr. J-bullets, for next to nothing, which I bought and also tried in the SKS with similar powder charges - they worked too. You don't need light bullets in the 7.62x39, it appears, the twist is fast enough to keep the heavies stable. All I had to do, as you mention, is seat the bullet so as to have the OAL suitable for the magazine.
I used the 300 meter sight setting to be on at 100 yards.

[Buckshot]

http://www.fototime.com/994525C6A0A3639/standard.jpg

Ya mean like this? Lyman 311284 @ 217grs. Engraves well. My 23" bbl is .300x.308" so they're sized .309".

................Buckshot

[NVcurmudgeon]

Yeah, Nevada Duke borrowed my 3142999 mould, for casting some 03A3 boolits. He ran some through a CZ 7.62 X 39 and said they were the best boolit he had tried in it.

[Maven]

I've tried #314299 @ .314" with 14gr. Hercules 2400 in my Type 56 (Chinese) SKS. 50 yd. accuracy was good+, but almost double what I get from my 145gr. CB (C.E. Harris' design, but made by LBT). I've also tried a 195gr. fat Loverin (CBE mold) with 14gr. WC 820 with slightly better results than #-299.

26Charlie, Was the [CBA] article you saw in the Aug., 2006 FS?

[26Charlie]

Maven - It was before that, 2002 0r 2003 I think.

[Sundogg1911]

I hope i'm not hijacking this thread, but I have a 7.62 x 39 queation too. The only rifle i've ever cast for has been 30-30 (With excellent results) I'm thinking of casting for my AK-47 just as a plinker round. If i'm going to buy a mold specifically for the AK, what is a good choice? Will I have to load it really light? I always worry about pushing lead in a rifle with a gas tube. thanks

[MT Gianni]

Sundog1911, My sks works with the lee 155 gr. It was designed by Ed Harris of Ed's Red fame and comes in tl ot large groove. I would start with that one. I shoot a yugo with a gas cut off so most is single shot usuage. My best groups in the H&R with this cartridge are with the 311466 a 152 gr rn louverin. I don't think cast is the best platform to see how many you can dump downrange in 2 mionutes but I don't thnk that is what you want to do either. Gianni.

[BustemAgain]

Mavin, thanks for the 14gr of 2400 suggestion. I gave it a try along with 7gr and 7.5gr of Unique. I wound up having ignition problems with my CZ 527 due to a weak firing pin spring mixed with Rem 9 1/2 primers. My normal primer in 7.62x39mm is Fed GM210M but I am about out and nobody has any in my area right now.

I called CZ and they are sending a new firing pin spring. Apparently my rifle is one of the first imported in this caliber and that batch generated enough complaints about failures to fire using mil spec ammo that they went to a stronger spring. I never got the memo. Long story short , I got several groups under 1 inch with 14 gr 2400 and 7 gr Unique along with a few misfires and vertically strung narrow groups. 7.5 gr Unique went under 1 3/8".

I am going to start the whole process over and shoot at 100 yards when I get the new spring installed.

[Junior1942]

I hope i'm not hijacking this thread, but I have a 7.62 x 39 queation too. The only rifle i've ever cast for has been 30-30 (With excellent results) I'm thinking of casting for my AK-47 just as a plinker round. If i'm going to buy a mold specifically for the AK, what is a good choice? Will I have to load it really light? I always worry about pushing lead in a rifle with a gas tube. thanksThe recent "fat" 311041 group buy works well in both my 30-30 and in my SKS. In the SKS, I get 1700 fps with 1.8cc of surplus 4895. And perfect action feeding.

[Leftoverdj]

Bustem, the replacement spring and molying the inside of the bolt cured my ignition problem. It also halved group sizes with ammo that I did not even know was having ignition problems.