What mold do you use in your AK and how is it?

[shaggyant]

I have been keeping an eye on the group buy section for a few weeks now but there hasn't been anything specifically for the AK. So, I am checking to see what everyone prefers for casting for use in their Kalashnikovs. The more cavities the better as my Russian bullet hose really likes to eat up the lead when I'm at the range.

[303Guy]

You might want to consider heavier boolits to get the action to cycle with lower muzzle velocity and chamber pressure. A round nose would give more weight for length, as would a flat nose.

[Larry Gibson]

Lee's C312-155-2R works very unless you AK is grossly over groove diameter. If you want a higher production rate that with a single 2 cavity just get two 2 cavity moulds and work them in tandum. Production can be quite fast that way.

Larry Gibson

[Coffeecup]

I'll second the vote for the C312-155-2R; I had excellent results with it in several AKs. A friend who shot one of those short-barrel oversized handgun jobbers said his worked better with a heavier bullet (180 grains if I remember right).

Remember to keep an eye on bullet fit.

[Rangefinder]

I'm using the TL312-160-2R for mine. It actually drops heavier and finishes at 173gr. with a copper GC. My MAK-90 loves it in ways only a boolit caster could appreciate. :D 16gr. H335 cycles smooth and doesn't fling my brass into the next county--has a pretty good "oomph" behind it too without wasting unnecessary powder.

[truckmsl]

I would highly recommend slugging your barrel before buying a mold. Mine was .313 and I opted for a .314 group-buy 6 cavity spitzer mold and it has worked great.

[Buckshot]

................No experience with an AK, and VERY limited experience with a Roumanian SKS but it WAS 7.62x39 [smilie=l: I barreled a small ring Mauser to 7.62x39 (.300 x .308" bbl) and had been using 2 boolit moulds while working up loads for it. Both were Lee numbers and the one I ended up using the most was their C312-155-2R. The other was the C312-185-R.

No flies on the heavier slug in the bolt action and if your AK can use a .312" boolit it'd probably be the better choice. As I said my experience was with an SKS and it was exactly ONCE! I had 50 test loads for the bolt action which was 5 loads/10 rounds each. From the 23" bbl of the bolt action 3 of the loads were right at 2,000 fps. While loading those for the Mauser I loaded 5 of each load for the SKS. From the SKS all five loads printed a group that ran about 5"give or take, at 50 yards.

That nay not be very exciting but in each group I'd get 2, 3, or even 4 that would were rather 'clannish'. I distinctly recall there was no leading, and a further positive was that every round went through the target point first. Add in the fact that these loads weren't simply thrown together, I didn't spend any time in reloading voodoo. Visually inspected slugs and thrown powder charges, the lube was Javalina. From what I saw I was encouraged that very possibly with a bit of intelligent work it probably would provide very useable accuracy. Stuff like fitting the boolit to the throat, working with harder or softer alloy, a different lube etc. And maybe even a slightly heavier slug as others suggested. The SKS and AK don't look like each other but I'd think what worked in one should provide similar accuracy in the other?

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