AK-47 Arriving Next Week

[Linstrum]

I have been thinking about getting an AK-47 for the last few years and today I saw that Southern Ohio Gun has a current add in The Shotgun News for them and various SKS types plus a bunch of other old Combloc items I have never heard of before. One of my buddies runs the local gun store here in the Tularosa-La Luz-Alamogordo area of New Mexico so I went and talked to him about it. He indicated that the Romanian variant of the AK-47 was the best of the AK-47 types currently being offered, so I ordered one of those. The version I ordered is chambered in the original 7.62x39 instead of the newer 5.45x39, with original military issue wooden stock, bayonet, two 30-round magazines, and a cleaning kit. I normally don't get stuff sight unseen, so I hope I don't get bit too bad with this $349.95 AK-47. My friend has never had to send anything back to SOG, so that is a good sign.


I know that these rifles are not built for accuracy, so if it does under 6-inches at 100 yards then I will probably be ahead of the game.


I know that Lee has made a mold for the 7.62x39 cartridge for about ten years now and I'd like to know what kind of feeding performance and operation I can expect from the Lee, or any other fat .30 cast boolit design appropriate for the bore size.


Unfortunately, all of my loading books are older and don't have any listings for the 7.62x39 cartridge. I have on hand WC820 (close to H110), Red Dot, Green Dot, Blue Dot, 2400, Unique, 700X, IMR4064, IMR4895, IMR4227, IMR3031, and XMR2015. One or more of those ought to work.

[Scrounger]

All kinds of loading data on the Internet, and I don't think any harm would come from using .30-30 cast bullet data in that caliber.

[Vly]

Also search this site and the Castpics site for threads and articles on reloading for the SKS. Data and info for the SKS should work for the AK as well.

[NSP64]

In my Yugo SKS the LEE 155gc over 20-23 gr IMR4895 (2000fps) reliably cycles action and gives good accuracy.I couldn't get 4227 or 2400 to work but you might. Slug the bore and cast some boolits to see if you may have to Leement the mold.

[45 2.1]

The Romanian AKs are the best of the lot as your buddy says. A friend has had several and they've all been very good. A good AK can, when loaded with good lead boolit loads achieve about 3" to 4 " groups at 100 yds provided you can see the sights the same everytime. The SKS rifles can do quite a bit better than that.

[45r]

Never tried a romanian but my polytech seems to be plenty good to me.My sons bulgarian seems even better.I wonder how much longer they will be available.

[wolfspotter]

Romanians seem to be the cheapest, not the best ones out there. Like my Romanian, most have canted front, rear sights. The canted rear sight block will make the operating rod run at an angle instead of parallel to the barrel. Easy fix is to drive your pins out and re-drill the holes after you've lined everything up properly. I could shoot one inch groups at fifty yards and with my bad eyes had no problem keeping all my shots in a 8"X10" target at 100yds. Haven't tried cast boolits yet.