SKS brass

[Oklahoma Rebel]

I am about to get a SKS. I know that semi-auto guns require full-size dies, so I imagine that is extra stress for the brass. What brand of cases would you get for maximum case life under these conditions? and if anyone has ANY tips on reloading for a semi-auto rifle please feel free to share, I know there are some differences, also lee has a 312-155-2rgc mold and I was considering it, it is on the upper weight spectrum, for hunting, but as a do all boolit, should I go lighter? like I said any tips welcome, but especially the cases, thanks, Travis

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Of course, the cases you're most likely to encounter are the steel or copper washed steel Russian cases, both Soviet and current manufacture. For the most part they can be considered worthless as they are Berdan primed and not easily reloaded.

Probably the gold standard are the Lapua cases made in Finland, but they are not very available and tend to be expensive. There are other foreign-made reloadable brass cases, some good, some less so. You can usually find some Winchester or Remington cases, and you'll probably find them to be among the least expensive and just about as good as any.

124 gr. is usually the standard weight bullet, and you'll find may loads listed for it.

[Poygan]

I had an SKS that dented the brass upon extraction. I usually took out the piston and used it as a straight pull action. The Remington brass I had used a small rifle primer versus the large primer used by other brass. I have used the Lee mold but most of the time used jacketed boolits

[Oklahoma Rebel]

ok, and what size gas checks does the lee boolit 312-155-2r use? 30cal or 32cal?

[Yodogsandman]

Keep your eye on the Swap and Sell section, you'll find good buys on brass....

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?299313-7-62x39-brass

SKSs have a 1 in 10 twist so, the lighter boolits have a hard time stabilizing. They'll stabilize the jacketed lighter bullets just fine. Bolt function is another problem with lighter boolits. The Lee die you mention is the gold standard for SKSs but, the boolits still have to fit your bore.

[fivefang]

Hi Reb. .312 155, or TL160 lee both will shoot good, but the .312-185 shoots better in my Norinco '56, the Lyman #311 291 is also a good one, I just seat the GC & Dip-lube throats are big so expand the case necks to accept a .313"boolit your Neck OD will be about.340" that will make for a snug fit & shoot good Fivefang

[RogerDat]

The Lee 160 takes a 30 cal pretty sure the 155 grain does too. They are a nice casting bullet.

I have bought brass from the link yourdogsanman provided to the sks brass sold by orisolo (steve). Good looking brass, good guy to deal with.

You might want to look into annealing solutions if you really want max life from that brass. As you noted as an autoloader it will need to be full length sized and that will work harden the shoulder. Annealing re-softens the brass to help prevent those cracked shoulders from full length sizing.

NOE has a well regarded lighter weight mold for the sks. http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product_info.php?cPath=31&products_id=389 I have not tried it but it is on my wish list.

Also look into powder coating. Works well to allow cast lead to handle the pressures and velocities required for autoloader rifles. With less fouling of ports and piston or rod.

[GhostHawk]

My Yugo SKS rocks with the Lee .312 185 gr gas check over 20 grains of IMR 4895 with a CCI primer. Minute of golf ball at 50 yards with iron sights. I recently had a gunsmith put a piece of rail on a spare dust cover and mounted a Truglo 2x Red Dot on it. Need to get it out to the range and just plain play with it. Learn where it hits at various ranges.

I prefer PPU brass, when I started they were the most inexpensive of the boxer primed brass rounds. I also have the Red Army Standard Elite which are also boxer primed brass. No complaints with either. Brass for this round is where you find it.

If you go big you will have to pull your charge back a bit. You probably won't find much load data for 185 gr.

But if I was to shoot a deer with it, it has 1/3 less speed but 1/3 more momentum because of the larger boolit. So it hits like a sledgehammer. My Mosin rounds dimpled my 8" AR500 3/8ths inch gong. But the SKS can fling it over onto its back at any time with only 2 well timed shots.

Hit it, it swings back, the forward, as it swings back past center line hit it again and down it goes in a heap. It was knocking the paint off the back side.

Probably not the right way to do it, but it works for me. YMMV

[Jniedbalski]

I have the lee tl 160 grain boolet mold. It works good in the sks, Molsen, and my axis 308.it takes the regular 30 cal gas check .do a search on this site for e c Harris practicaldope one the 7.62x39 a lot of good loading info the lee boolet and sks

[Jniedbalski]

When u start loading for the sks I know my lee dies have two size decaping and sizing pins. The smaller diameter pin is for 308 jacked bullets. The larger decapping sizing pin works better for the As cast lead boolets. Helps to keep from shaving lead when seating the boolet. Lee dies now only come with the smaller decapping pin I thank now. If u want the larger decapping pin I thank u have to order the 303 British pin or the 7.62x54r but it's only around 4$ . The lee 160 grain boolet works very good in the sks for hunting or paper shooting

[Garyshome]

Maybe better off buying/shooting surplus ammo. I don't reload for my SKS.

[lotech]

I loaded extensively for two SKSs some years ago using cast bullets up to around 200 grains, I believe. I don't recall if I full-length sized brass and it may not be necessary as with other autoloaders. To get exact information on my experimentation would require some digging.

I quickly found out that cast bullets would easily outshoot surplus ammo, something I found surprising. I sized bullets as large as possible for easy chambering, around .314". In later years when I began working with a couple of Ruger bolt-actions in 7.62x39, I tried Winchester brass and I have some new Lapua I've never tried. However, when I got my SKSs, Remington (small primer pocket) was the only US commercial brass available and it survived countless loadings in my SKSs. Lapua brass may be more uniform, but I doubt it's any better otherwise than the Remington that I still use in my remaining Ruger.

While the SKSs can be accurate 100 yard cast bullet guns, ballistics are a bit anemic for most hunting and these are incredibly crude carbines that I could never warm up to. Also, it's easy to turn an SKS into a fully automatic gun unknowingly with handloads using commercial non-military primers. Best to install a kit from Brownells designed to prevent this and slam fires. I experienced both with one of my SKSs. Others have as well. These guns were not originally designed with safety being a big concern.

[RogerDat]

This is a 10 page post and discussion on reloading for the SKS mentions made of brass but an awful lot about different cast boolits and general information on all things SKS cartridges and reloading. First page discusses those heavy SKS boolits from Lee.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?13453-Practical-Dope-on-the-7-62X39

I have bought surplus non reloadable for bulk "ownership" of ammo, I reload for satisfaction, cost savings, and "assured supply".

I also like the Russian Elite for it's reloadable brass. Cost more than cheapest non-reloadable but is comparable to steel case if you count it as loaded ammo 1x and as brass at $18 per hundred. This link is the item, never bought from them http://www.sgammo.com/product/red-army/180-round-range-pack-762x39-copper-non-magnetic-fmj-brass-case-red-army-standard-el Be sure to pay attention if buying, Red Army "Standard" is steel, "Standard Elite" is the brass stuff.

That first link to discussion on SKS reloading has lots of really useful information.

[samari46]

Sure wish Weideners would bring back the IMI brand of brass. Have a bag of that and some old Hansen Cartridge Company that was loaded in Israel with IMI brass. This was before Privi Partisan NNY or PPU loafed ammo or brass became available. Good brass. Frank

[Faret]

Sure wish Weideners would bring back the IMI brand of brass. Have a bag of that and some old Hansen Cartridge Company that was loaded in Israel with IMI brass. This was before Privi Partisan NNY or PPU loafed ammo or brass became available. Good brass. Frank


Sure wish Weideners would bring back alot of stuff!