7.62x39

[45-70 Chevroner]

I am buying a 10" custom barrel from Dave VanHorn chambered in 7.62X39 and I am wondering about shooting factory Wolf steel case Ammo in it. Does anyone have any experience shooting this ammo in a TC or other custom barrels? I heard someting about not shooting said ammo through barrels in question.
I will also be shooting a lot of cast bullets in it. I have at preasent 3 molds I can use, a lyman 130gr. PB a lyman 110gr. PB and a Lee 155gr. GC. spire point. I think I can probably get at least one of them to shoot good.

[Johnch]

Is the barrel going to be .308 or .311 ?
If as in my Spartin rifle .308
Then I would recomend you not

But even if the barrel is going to be .311
Just my opion , I wouldn't

As I see it
If you are going to invest that kind of $$ in a barrel
At least shoot some decent stuff , copper jacketed , brass cases
As to avoid the posibility of some how messing something up with steel cases and some times soft steel jackets

I am not saying Wolf ammo is junk
As I blast a fair amount of it in the SKS and AK

But they were made to shoot that stuff and work 100% of the time

John

[45-70 Chevroner]

Mr VanHorn said it would be alright to shoot .311 bullets through it even though it will be a .308 barrel as long as I buy brass case ammo. The majority of my shooting will be with cast though. I'm not disagreeing with you, only going by what he said. I'm quite sure that if I do so it will raise the pressure some.

[Ole]

If you're in the Phoenix area, I can give you some sample Lee 2R155 boolits to try.

I use them in my SKS's and they seem to shoot pretty good with dang near every powder combo that i've tried. I normally use 15.0 grains of Alliant 2400 because powder is expensive and i'm a cheap ****. :mrgreen:

Edit to add: These are .312" bullets.

[MT Gianni]

I have shot a few, less than 10 through a Handi Rifle. They go bang without any visible pressure signs.

[Leftoverdj]

Get the best hearing protection money can buy and wear plugs under it.

[lead-1]

Ole I have a question for you, do you use regular 30 caliber gas checks on your SKS bullets?

[dragonrider]

If you are getting a custom barrel, you are perhaps paying some serious bucks for it. I wouldn't be shooting any steel case ammo in it. May not, probably won't harm it, but why shoot cheap ammo that you can't reload in a fine barrel?.

[Harry O]

Mr VanHorn said it would be alright to shoot .311 bullets through it even though it will be a .308 barrel as long as I buy brass case ammo. The majority of my shooting will be with cast though. I'm not disagreeing with you, only going by what he said. I'm quite sure that if I do so it will raise the pressure some.

I once had a 32-20 barrel that was 0.308". I was specifically told by the factory that shooting 0.312" bullets through it was OK. I shot both lead and thin jacketed bullets through it. Accuracy was mediocre.

[82nd airborne]

Back after WW2, troops brought home Jap carcano's in 6.5mm. no one had ammo so some reamed the chamber for 30,06 and shot it thru a 6.5 barrel. im not saying that is a good idea at all, i am saying that if you can squeeze a .308 bullet thru a .264 barrel, i dont thingk . .004" oversize will cause too dramatic of a pressure spike.

[82nd airborne]

also note, i have been wrong many many times before......just an after thought.

[Ole]

Ole I have a question for you, do you use regular 30 caliber gas checks on your SKS bullets?

Yup. Standard .30 caliber gas checks.

[roysha]

82nd airborne:

I believe you may be a bit mistaken in regard to the caliber of the Jap rifle. The ones that were rechambered to 30-06 were the 7.7s, not the 6.5s. The 7,7 is actually a little larger in both the bore and the head area of the case causing a GREAT deal of expansion at the base of the case just ahead of the web. Although it was safe enough, if really raised cain with the case life.

The 6,5s were often rechambered to use the 257 Roberts case since the Jap ammo was difficult to find and usually not reloadable.

[45-70 Chevroner]

If you're in the Phoenix area, I can give you some sample Lee 2R155 boolits to try.

I use them in my SKS's and they seem to shoot pretty good with dang near every powder combo that i've tried. I normally use 15.0 grains of Alliant 2400 because powder is expensive and i'm a cheap ****. :mrgreen:

Edit to add: These are .312" bullets.

Thanks Ole. I live in Snowflake. I do get to Phx once in a while to visit our son and his family.

[45-70 Chevroner]

Thanks: johnch and dragonrider and the rest of you. No steel cases except in an emergency.
leftoverdj: More noise than a 10" 223 I guess.
I have lots of S&B boxer primed brass hope it holds up to reloading a number of times. Most of my shooting will be with cast.

[45-70 Chevroner]

What loads would be best for my 10" 7.62X39 using my existing molds. I have a Lee C312-155 2R, a Lyman 311466 160 gr. a Lyman 311410 130 gr., and a Lyman 311255 110gr. My powders are Unique, 2400, H4198, squib load Bullseye, and some others that I can't think of at the moment.

[Ole]

Thanks Ole. I live in Snowflake. I do get to Phx once in a while to visit our son and his family.

Shoot me a PM next time you're in town and i'll give you a few samples to try if you're interested.

[Ole]

What loads would be best for my 10" 7.62X39 using my existing molds. I have a Lee C312-155 2R, a Lyman 311466 160 gr. a Lyman 311410 130 gr., and a Lyman 311255 110gr. My powders are Unique, 2400, H4198, squib load Bullseye, and some others that I can't think of at the moment.

I have used 20-21 grains of H4198 and 15-15.5 grains of 2400.

Both loads ran around 1900-2000 fps out of my 20" SKS, so you'll be a couple hundred fps short of that.

[45-70 Chevroner]

Shoot me a PM next time you're in town and i'll give you a few samples to try if you're interested.

I have that mold but thanks anyway.

[lead-1]

Thanks Ole, I wanted to slip in that question and not hijack a thread.

[82nd airborne]

Roysha, I stand corrected, thankyou.
aaron

[Hank10]

I have 3 10" Contender barrels in 762x39, all .308. Using steel cases will have no effect on your barrel but steel cases don't spring back once they expand so are hard to extract, A contender extractor will bend before it extracts a factory load. Even a heavy loaded brass case will bend the extractor sometimes. i just load them a little lighter than factory loads and then no problems. All 3 barrels shoot great with just about any load or bullet. 2 of the barrels are custom, the other is a 300 Whisper rechambered.
H10

[mpmarty]

Steel cased ammo has been around for over fifty years now. I have never heard examples of it causing damage to any firearm.

[MilSurpFan]

also note, i have been wrong many many times before......just an after thought.

It did happen at least once. Was covered by American Rifleman. Heard it was the May '59 issue.

[leadman]

If this is for a Contender and is .308" bore and you shoot steel cased ammo in it you will really be pushing the limits of the frame.

I have chronagraphed some Russian ammo at 2,500 fps out of an SKS. That is 30-30 velocities out of a smaller case.

Since you live up north you may want to talk to Gary Reeder about this. He is at the Pistol Parlor in Flagstaff. He has some strong opinions on the 7.62 in the Contender and about VanHorn!!

[82nd airborne]

It did happen at least once. Was covered by American Rifleman. Heard it was the May '59 issue.

i thought maybe so, i can remember my dad saying how bad they kicked, like that one book with a guy named Solomon in it said..."There is nothing new under the sun" so im sure it's been done once, but id say the majority did 7.7 as Roysha suggested.

[DLCTEX]

Are you saying good American steel barrels are not as good as Chinese or Russian? I'm also surprised that TC extractors are that weak and chambers so rough that cases that function fine in a Chicom rifle can't be extracted. And the Chicom is doing it in a slam-banging semi/full auto. Worry about the pressure from 7.62X39 in a gun that handles calibers with much higher operating pressure? Are we tilting at windmills? Or is the TC a marginal gun?

[Hank10]

i don't think there's any pressure problem but there is an extraction problem.
I've had to knock out cases with a rod and remove extractors and hammer them back straight enough to know that for sure. Not sure about this but have heard that is the reason TC made a few barrels in 762x39 then discontinued them.
H10

[DLCTEX]

I gather this is not a case of the barrel being hot enough to melt the anti rust coating and stick the case that way?

[Rockydog]

DLCTEX, I can assure you that a TC Contender is not a marginal gun. I shoot .45 colt at Blackhawk/Redhawk levels and 7-30 Waters with 150 gr. jacketed bullets in mine with no issues yet and I've had it since 1987. The Chicom chambers, bolts, etc. fit very loosely to allow functioning when dirty, wet, corroded and whatever else may happen in combat. Contrast that to a civilian arm, especially a custom barrel, that's been precision machined. Add the fact that the TC does extract rimmed cases far better than rimless simply due to design and you may have problems with rimless steel cases. Hank has it exactly right. I even have a few extraction issues with my 6TCU, based on a .223 case, and it's rimless configuration. Extractor occassionally jumps the case rim. Rockydog

[Artful]

that rechambering was quite common on 7.7 never heard of 6.5 Jap being rechambered to '06. must have kicked like hell.

I did have a gunsmith friend who had a customer order a Remington 700 in '06 and the customer took posession and then brought it back saying something was wrong as it kick way too hard - AL took it out to the range and fired it and it was a snorting way more than it should and the cases look bad - took it back to his office and checked it out - didn't find anything funny until he slugged the barrel - it was .277 instead of .308 - someone at Remington put wrong barrel on the line evidently- he called Remington and they replaced it PDQ.