New Deer Rifle

[NickSS]

Ever since I bought my first SKS I wanted a good accurate rifle in 7.62 X 39. I thought that the cartridge would be a very good caliber for deer and similar critters. Well yesterday I bought a CZ 527 mini mauser in that caliber and shot it for the first time today. I used a couple boxes of ammo I loaded years ago for my SKS and never used. One box was cast and one was Jacketed. The cast load was a 160 gr lee over 20 gr of 4198 and the Jacketed was hornady 123 gr sp over 26 gr of AA 1680. The results with both were outstanding for such a small light rifle. My cast loads averaged 1.2 inch groups at 100 yards. This was followed by the jacketed loads which fired groups that were slightly larger. All groups were 10 shot ones. With both loads I noticed that I would get three or four bullets into around 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch and then the groups started to open slightly as the barrel warmed up. My last 10 rounds of J word were fired in two five round strings firing all of them in a minute. The results were 8 in the X ring of a standard slow fire pistol target with six in one hole and two slightly above the one hole group and two rounds hit just below the X ring. The entire group could be covered with a fifty cent piece with room left over.

[NHlever]

That sounds like a really good shooting rifle. Just thinking about your loads, and wondering if the cast boolit was seated with the gas check below the neck? Do you have the OAL of that load? I had one of those rifles several years ago, and foolishly sold it to a friend.....

[NickSS]

I seat the bullet so that the GC is at the base of the neck. Did not measure the length but it does work in an SKS, AK and now my CZ. It shoots about as accurately in all three as does J work loads.