Moulds for the SKS?

[2ndAmendmentNut]

1) Going to start reloading and casting for my Chinese SKS for the first time. I am looking for a mould that will be appropriate for cast boolit hunting. Recommendations will be appreciated.

2) I have herd some talk about 7.62X39 “whisper” loads involving 200gr+ boolits at subsonic velocities. I am very interested in hearing more on this. Do these loads cycle the action? How is accuracy? Again mould recommendations would be appreciated.

3) All rifle moulds for the most part seem to come in two cavities. For plinking purposes could I use a Lee 6-C mould intended for 32cal pistols?

[Ole]

There's a sticky at the top of this forum that covers your questions in detail.

[madsenshooter]

1) Go to the bottom of the page, click on Group Buy Log In and register there, you'll see they have the Lee 6 cavity mold for the C312-155-2R. A great buy, you'll be able to make a bunch of bullets at once and it should make a good hunting weight bullet for you.

2) I'll leave to someone else.

3) Yep, a bunch of plinkers at a time, reminds me, I got to get some multicavity moulds for some of my favorites, this single cavity stuff is getting wearisome.

[2ndAmendmentNut]

Thanks guys red the Sticky. A lot of people like the Lee 155gr mould but I hear about trouble with COL and this boolit. Also only a small amount on the “whisper” loads, so if anyone has more info on this subject and would not mind educating me, I would really appreciate it.

[Ole]

Thanks guys red the Sticky. A lot of people like the Lee 155gr mould but I hear about trouble with COL and this boolit. Also only a small amount on the “whisper” loads, so if anyone has more info on this subject and would not mind educating me, I would really appreciate it.

I load that bullet (Lee 2R155) quite a bit for my SKS.

One thing i've been doing lately: Every once in a while, after a bullet is seated, something about the gas check expands the neck enough so it doesn't grip the bullet enough to hold it securely in place.

What I've been doing lately to remedy that is I took the guts out of my resizing die and use it to put an "ever so slight" squeeze on the neck of my finished cases. It squeezes the neck much like a Lee factory crimp die does.

I've tried half a dozen different powder combos with this boolit and they all work well enough to not notice a difference when shooting pop cans.

[Maven]

2ndAmend. Nut, C.E. Harris' sticky, referred to above, makes no mention of the Chinese/Type 56 SKS. I had one and found the then available factory molds (C.E. Harris' design) cast too small to fit my bore. In short, I had Veral Smith make one that dropped a .314" CB (a clone of C.E. Harris' design, the specs. of which were published in the American Rifleman). Btw, you may also wish to read my article on the SKS in CASTPICS. As I wrote, many CB designs will work in the SKS if they're sized to fit your bore. This includes Ly. #314299 and 180gr. FMJ bullets that I pulled from Hansen (nee Privi Partizan) 7.62 x 54R cartridges. For either of these, I wouldn't exceed 14grs. Alliant 2400 or 14grs. WC 820 (AA #9 burning rate). Hope this helps!

[KCSO]

This is also an excelent bullet for any 312-315 bore rifle and gives the best accuracy in my 303's.

[res45]

Rather than just retyping everything I will link to one of my previous post,as far as OAL with either of the Lee designs by C.E. Harris that can be used in the SKS I have shot them both with no problems.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=73295

[blackpowder man]

I have a 309 160 1r mold that is the same as the sks ed harris mold, but Lee had them in 309 on their closeout page. The bullet does great in my .30-30 and .30-06, however I pp'ed some for the sks and they seem to load awfully far into the case. Well below the neck. I have not shot them because they still are not seated far enough. I've been loading j bullets for dad's sks and thought I'd try some pp cast in mine. Anyway if anyone has a coal that they are using for the lee 160 to give me and the fella who started the post a guideline please post it. Thanks Andy.

[JIMinPHX]

As was already said, 99% of what you would want to know about that cartridge is in the sticky at the top of this forum category, right here -
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=13453

C.E. Harris spent a fair amount of time developing a cast boolit design that would feed reliably & work well in those guns. It's going to be hard to improve on what he came up with.

A real good place to start would be to get this mold & try it out.
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=0000690361

Edit:
I tried putting a small hollow point in those Harris boolits & I tried filing a small flat (1/8") on the tips to improve hunting performance. Neither fed well. A soft alloy with a gas check is probably the best thing that I've found for hunting with boolits in that caliber.

[FAsmus]

Nut;

I have had excellent results shooting my SKS with the Lyman 311466.

Things like 5 x 1.500 groups @ 100 yards are readily possible with this bullet and essentially full-power loads.

This mold is no longer in production but they show up on eBay regularly .. or ask on this site for someone who wants to sell one.

Good morning,
Forrest

[mcdonl]

Just got back from the range with my Chinese/Type 56 SKS. I tested the following load and it functioned flawlessly and shot accurately, which was a pleasant surprise because I have ran wolf and (DMC?) through my Norinco SKS and both of them had issues.

Bullet - Lead Cast RN using the Lee TL312-160-2R mold with straight wheel weights. These were tumble lubed with straight Lee Liquid Alox.
Case - New Winchester Brass
Primer - CCI Large Rifle Primer
Powder - 16g H4198
Length - 2.163

I also used the Lee FCD with a "mild" crimp.

I was going to use this as the starting load and work my way up but it shoots so well that I will go with it.

Also, no leading of the barrel.

It is a good day!!

[Wayne S]

Go to the group buy sections and look foa a GB .314-129, or go to the venders section, see avaliable NOE molds and PM "SWEEDE NELSON, and see if there will be and avaliable molds This one is to throw .314 X .302 nose I think, in it;s spire point form it should throw 138 +- gn. bullet,

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=65839

Look at the 2nd page

[6.5 mike]

Any body got a cast load for a type/56 that slugs 0.2995/0.3105 ? Slugged it 3 times, couldn't believe it's that tight.