Black Bear load for Finn M-39

[trail troll]

Howdy ,,, looking to use my Finn for early season black bear in New England this fall. I want to use a 314299 as I have had good results with that boollit in the rifle before. !6 grains of 2400 has always been good shooter, but I would like to push it a bit hotter. Any ideas ?

Thanks in advance ,,

Bill

[Adam20]

Not sure what caliber your using (7.62x54) I would guess. but hate assume anything, could use more 2400 for more volicity,
A slower powder also can be used for more volicity and lower pressures.
Not sure on your alloy, softer will expand, harder can go thur with no expansion.
Distance of shot is important. Few more details would be helpful

[LAGS]

I have had good luck with The same boolit and loading it with RL-7 ( I think around 30 Grains )
My loading Data is still packed away from a recent move, but I think info is in the Lymann Cast Bullet Manual.

[trail troll]

Adam ,, yes it is 762 x 54. The woods are heavy and distance would be 50-75 yards at best I would imagine. My alloy is water quenched range scrap ,, not sure if a load in the 16-18 grain 2400 range would have enough horsepower for black bear.

[richhodg66]

You may want to consider either getting a bullet with a flat nose or casting some of those with a soft point. There's a thread in the stickies about how to do it.

IMR4895 has worked well for me in .308 and .30-40 Krag. Might want to give some a try.

[ShooterAZ]

I use Accurate Molds version of the 314299, but mine has a flat point for hunting. Pushed to 18-1900 fps I think it would be adequate for Black Bear at 50-75 yards. 18 gr 2400 or 26 gr RL7 should get you close. Here's an article that might be helpful, if you haven't seen it yet.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...Rifles-Article

The Accurate Mold I use:

http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_...=31-200L-D.png

[Outpost75]

I use the Accurate flat-nosed version http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_...=31-215B-D.png with 40 grains of IMR4064, RL15 or Varget with a 1-grain Dacron fill tucked loosely into the case mouth, NOT pushed down upon the powder!

Approximates .30-40 Krag factory load energy. Not necesssary to hard-quench, instead use COWW with 2% tin added about 13 BHN, bullet will expand some and stay together whereas hard-quenched is like shooting FMJ ammo.

[Mark Daiute]

where are you located in New England? I am in Maine and have some flat nosed boolits from the RCBS 200 grain mold.

[Eddie1971]

The loads that work good in my M-39 are using the the Lyman 314299, powder coated, gas checked and sized to .314, over 36 grains of W748 using a magnum primer to ensure the ball powder ignites properly in colder weather. You can also use 40 grains of W760 as well.

[Larry Gibson]

I use either the Lyman 314299 or the NOE 312-299 cast of COWWs +2% tin then mixed 50/50 with lead. I use Hornady GCs and 2500+ lube sizing them at .314. The bullets are AC'd and give very good penetration and excellent expansion, particularly when slightly HP'd with the 1/8" Forster HP tool. I use a slow burning powder such as any of the 4350s, RL 19 or 22 or 4831 and use a Dacron filler. I load them so the first 5 shots hold into usable accuracy of 4" at the max distance I intend use when hunting. That certainly is "minute of deer" elk or bear. The barrel is cleaned every 5 - 8 shots to maintain that accuracy level as pushed hard the softer alloy will begin to foul the barrel after that many shots and the group will open. I figure if I have got the critter in 5 shots I might as well go home and clean the rifle anyway.........

Yes, I am pushing them above the RPM threshold but "best accuracy" is not the criteria here, usable hunting accuracy at the max distance used is.

Here is the 312-299 loaded in 7.62x54R cartridges with the left and right before HPing and the middle after HPing.

Attachment 245994

[yeahbub]

I use the Lyman 311041 for the flat point that's on it or 311291 cast of COWW and paper patched over a snoot-full of Reloader 15, but I can't remember the load just now. When paper patched, even softer alloys can be driven hard, since there's no lead-to-steel contact. The long throat in most military rifles lend themselves handily to accept the increased diameter patched bore-riding nose and seating depth are easily accommodated by the 7.62x54R without protruding below the case neck. Depending on throat wear in your M39, the 311299 could be a good candidate for this.

Of bare boolits and 2400 in the 7.62x54R, my load development started at 16gr and maxed out at 24gr for a 180gr cast boolit before primers started to look like fired factory ammo (both of my molds cast a bit heavy). I get the impression you could go a bit higher than 16, but you know your rifle better than anyone. I have no velocity data for the work I did, so I can't comment on 24gr for hunting large game. For loads I'd be confident to hunt with, I've used 3031, 4895, 4064 and a few others.