7.62X39 cast in AR-15 rifles/

[curator]

I have found that the 7.62X39 cartridge is a good cast boolit round in my AR 15 rifles. Mine have the standard bore/groove of .302/310 and 1 in10" twist. I am loading 25 grains of IMR 3031 and the Lee .310/125 boolit with gas check and lubed with LBT blue. I am casting with WDWW and get BHN 22. Groups average 2.5 inches at 50 yards and about 4 inches at 100 yards. I get zero leading and accuracy is as good or better than condomised bullets at 2200 fps.

Any one out there with other cast boolit formulas that give good results?

[Texas by God]

Not yet but that's my next AR build. One(or two) piece(s) at a time. I've tried to like the .300 BO with cast but I feel the 7"twist ain't feeling it. I have 60% of it so far!

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[Lloyd Smale]

not with the 762x39. the bushmaster I had wouldn't even do jacketed reliably. But in the 300 bo I found a bullet that runs real well. Its the 130 rcbs pointed gas check. The lee 125 didn't run a 100 percent in my bo. So far the only two bullets that seem to run a 100 percent are the rcbs and the lyman 155. Wish the 762 would have worked out because its hands down a better deer round but I tried about everything. C products mags, AK mag springs in them polished ramp different buffer weights and springs and it helped some but still wasn't a gun id trust my life too. That was about 10 years ago though. Maybe they have it figured out. But im sure skeptical. My mini 30 sure didn't run like a typical mini 14 either. Ill say one thing about that bushmaster though. If it shot 5 shots in a row reliably it did put them in nice small groups.

[WinchesterM1]

I have a Ruger ranch rifle in 7.62x39 and I use 21.5 grn of IMR4198 over the Lee 150 flat nose sized to .312 seated LONG, I powder coat all my Boolits but this load will give me right at a 1” group at 100. I have killed a lot of deer with this load, the longest shot was 235 last year and she ran about 20 feet and fell over.

This is a Boolit recovered from that same load
Attachment 238343


This is also at 100 yards this is a group I was shooting to test how fast I could cycle the gun and shoot as fast as I could while keeping somewhat of decent accuracy no more then 1 second apart from shots more like 1/2 second between shots
Attachment 238345

[RED BEAR]

I use almost the same load as winchesretm1 in my ruger but i settled on 21.0 grains it works great i will say it looks like you may shoot a tad better than me. I use this load in a sks ak as well.

[Sig556r]

Got both the Lee C312-155-2R & CTL312-160-2R which both shoot accurately fine PC'd with GC at moderate speeds. Haven't reload in a while as ammo is dirt cheap (around $4 or so per box of 20) & saving brass to feed the grendel. However, steel cases tend to be hard on AR extractors so I shoot them mostly on my Sig556R. No leading or cycling issues so far.

[Adam Helmer]

I have no AR reloading experience. "Sam" issued me an AR in July 1965, and I have no need of one today. I did not like the AR then, or now. Ah, but I digress. I do have a few 7.62x39MM SKS arms (Russian and Chinese) and all like my water quenched WW + tin Lyman #311410 130 grain plain base boolits. I use IMR4198 and take out chucks and coyotes here on my farm at whatever range they offer and the magazine has not yet run dry.

Adam

[Texas by God]

My BO has run perfectly with every cast boolit I've tried in it- the problem is that none would group better than 3"- at 40 yards. J- words will do 1-1/4"- at 100yds out of my Anderson 16". My buddy has a new x39 that has gone 300 straight(factory) rds so far with no cleaning and suprising accuracy from Tula fmj. I'm gonna try my own because it is a great little cartridge.

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[mto7464]

The problem I see with an ar15 like my 300 BO is the shape of the bullet and the feed ramps of the ar. Most bullets if they have little ogive and a flat point get damaged on the way in. Not much but a little. The sharper the point the better which makes for a poor hunting boolit. Have yet to get it to shoot as well with cast as jacketed and I think is is why. Plus my lack of enough molds that will work. what boolits have you tried Texas?

[500Linebaughbuck]

what about the ks-47?

https://palmettostatearmory.com/psa-...tm_campaign=cl

[turtlezx]

15 grs h110 powder 160gr lee boolit in the sks cycles well 3" groups 50yds not as good as js

[hpbear101]

Interesting thread. I just put a BCA upper on a PSA lower, C-Products 10 & 30 round mags, and I am very impressed with it so far. I really liked the 7.62 in my SKS and wanted to try it in a AR15. I've put a few hundred rounds of the cheap Wolf WPA hollow points through so far and not one hiccup, cast bullets will be next.

[Texas by God]

mto7464- I've tried these over W296 and the 113 over Unique to try a slow load when the W296 load shot poorly. The 155 PC bullet at estimated 1800 fps shot the best but not good enough. It would be a poor hunting boolit though. I've not noticed any nose deformation on any of these.
Curator, I apologize for drifting the thread. I'm taking notes for the future, though!

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[Lloyd Smale]

what alloy are you using?

I have a Ruger ranch rifle in 7.62x39 and I use 21.5 grn of IMR4198 over the Lee 150 flat nose sized to .312 seated LONG, I powder coat all my Boolits but this load will give me right at a 1” group at 100. I have killed a lot of deer with this load, the longest shot was 235 last year and she ran about 20 feet and fell over.

This is a Boolit recovered from that same load
Attachment 238343


This is also at 100 yards this is a group I was shooting to test how fast I could cycle the gun and shoot as fast as I could while keeping somewhat of decent accuracy no more then 1 second apart from shots more like 1/2 second between shots
Attachment 238345

[WinchesterM1]

Loyd Smale. I was using 75/25 WW to pure. I cast about 2K of these bulllets every year and weigh them to +- 2 grn then I PC them shake and bake but I shake them really hard to get a thin coat add a gator GC and then size BASE first through a modified LEE sized to throw a true 312 bullet then I size them again nose first, I let them harden after that for a month or 2 and then I can load and shoot

I don’t have a BHN tester but I’m gonna say they are more along the 11-13 BHN maybe? I dunno it works for me

[Patrick L]

Interesting thread. I gave up trying to get cast to perform in my 5.56 AR, but always said I would like to build one in 7.62x39 specifically for cast. But, since I live in Prince Andrew's feifdom, I'm not sinking a dime into an AR platform. No telling how long I can keep it!

[WinchesterM1]

Get the Ruger Ranch in 7.62x39 I had to buy 2 because it was too much fun. My wife wouldn’t let me shoot hers and I wanted to shoot it... easily the best shooting x39 I have seen it holds 5-6” at 400 yards

Interesting thread. I gave up trying to get cast to perform in my 5.56 AR, but always said I would like to build one in 7.62x39 specifically for cast. But, since I live in Prince Andrew's feifdom, I'm not sinking a dime into an AR platform. No telling how long I can keep it!

[Lloyd Smale]

why do you feel base first sizing trues up a bullet better then nose first? Competitive shooters have been nose first sizing for generations. If your doing it to seat checks seat them before you pc and there a lot easier to put on. Also ive tried base first sizing with lee dies and it about always damages the nose using any soft alloy. I nose first size to seat checks and also to take the bullet down a bit so that after pc I don't distort the bullet because it takes to much pressure to size. Now there are some gc bullets that are just cut to big to easily check even without pc adding to it but base first sizing doesn't do it any better. as a matter of fact without the ram pressing on the base (check) it tends to be less reliable seating them. I have a lyman sizer with a gas check installer tool on it that's used just for those. Your 75/25 alloy is probably closer to 9bhn. I find its rare anymore to find clip on ww that will test much over 10bhn. now water dropped your 75/25 alloy probably runs around 13-14. You should thank your lucky stars for that gun. Its a rare gun rifle shooting that soft of a cast bullet at those pressure levels that will shoot even close to that good. Heck in my experience its a rare sporter weight gun that will shoot 10 shots fired quickly into a group that small with its best loads using match bullets. Me I couldn't shoot a group that small with any of my guns shooting one shot every 1/2 a second. Couldn't do it if you gave me one second per shot and 5 shots instead of 10 running a bolt

Loyd Smale. I was using 75/25 WW to pure. I cast about 2K of these bulllets every year and weigh them to +- 2 grn then I PC them shake and bake but I shake them really hard to get a thin coat add a gator GC and then size BASE first through a modified LEE sized to throw a true 312 bullet then I size them again nose first, I let them harden after that for a month or 2 and then I can load and shoot

I don’t have a BHN tester but I’m gonna say they are more along the 11-13 BHN maybe? I dunno it works for me

[Texas by God]

I finished mine and the only problem I've had so far is that I had to use a standard trigger and Hammer to set off the Russian primers reliably. The accuracy is pleasing as this a 10 shot group at 40 yards and I knew both times when I pulled the shot. The reliability is 100% with tula and monarch steel case ammo.
Lloyd I think it's time to try another!
I am anxious to try cast in it for sure.

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[Texas by God]

I never dreamed I could establish an accuracy goal with Tula steel case ammo but hey I'll take it. 100yds. I have high Hopes for cast; I hope the Lee C309150F will drop fat enough to size .311"- if so that 25 grs of 3031 will be my first try. It will work on deer for sure.

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