Echo
USAF Ret
DPS, 2600
NRA Benefactor
O&U
One of the most endearing sights in the world is the vision of a naked good-looking woman leaving the bedroom to make breakfast. Bolivar Shagnasty (I believe that Lazarus Long also said it, but I can't find any record of it.)
Free floating your barrel is no guarantee of accuracy improvement. Why do you suppose most gun mfgrs use a small pressure point at the end of the forend? It sure as h××× isn't to degrade accuracy! At this point I would find a way to put 3 or 4 # of upward pressure somewheres near the muzzle. If you can't get it near the muzzle, buy one of those doughnut thingys that you slide up/down your barrel to find a null spot. Supposedly that can/will help accuracy. One other thought...you may just have a lousy barrel. FWIW
In most cases, I believe that is to compensate for a barrel that started life out bowed and has been straightened. Then it has been pressure-point bedded to try and keep it where it was bent for re-alignment. But you will have to form your own opinion about mass-produced rifles.
I should point out to those who pick up on the squabble, that this thread is years old. The interesting part, the gunsmitthery or lack thereof in an sks, is both very old and never dying, but quite interesting as pointed out by others.
Another reason to continue to bash away at this issue with the sks: The case size is nearly ideal for midweight 30 cal cast bullets which rarely hold 1moa for long anyway, so a rifle that peaks out at 2-3 moa is just fine. The action is very forgiving, even if some unburned powder or grits get involved. It's semi auto and with a nice load will dump the brass at your feet but burn those inexpesive rounds in a very satisfying manner. So, its ok for an unexpected meeting with momma bear on my land. I always feel a little funny about bolt action at night vs large fast p'd off bears. Finally, with its fixed mag and wood stock, its not regulated by NY Safe so I dont have to worry about transport and shooting at the range and such.
So, the pressure point stuff is usually to remedy barrel harmonics, which is almost assuredly an issue on the sks. Another way to remedy this is by dropping the ammount of powder by 1/2 or so, which bare base cast bullets are happy with. A lousy barrel would create flyers and such a lot, which mine normally does to the tune of 5 moa with factory ammo. But 10 moa zero shifts smack of mounting, either the barrel, the action, the receiver or the scope. Since the receiver cover and scope mounts feel rock solid, and temperature seems so often the driver for the shifts, I suspect the barrel to stock mount. I will see if the reduced loads give increased accuracy.
Free to live, Free to die, Free to till the earth, And see the sky!
So. You pick up on a thread dead over a year, and then comment on the same. Allrighty, then. Carry on.
Well at least ya can't send him to the stickies someone is obviously reading deeply.
In the time of darkest defeat,our victory may be nearest. Wm. McKinley.
I was young and stupid then I'm older now. Me 1992 .
Richard Lee Hart 6/29/39-7/25/18
Without trial we cannot learn and grow . It is through our stuggles that we become stronger .
Brother I'm going to be Pythagerus , DiVinci , and Atlas all rolled into one soon .
As slow as things have been all over I'm kind of glad to see something move . I have an old 59/66 that shoots factory into a foot or so at 100 (the bbl is 305x316 ) . With a cast papered bullet and brass fattened up it shoots nice little 3x5s with its mushy 1/2 inch of trigger expedition and a 200gr spire point.
The beauty of and old thread finding it way to the top again is that sometimes a guy just stuck the gun back away and somebody finds something that just pulls it all together. I for 1 never gave much thought to bedding a a semi-auto rifle or adding tip pressure to a rifle that goes through as much movement as an sks or ak,at every shot. I may attempt to stiffen the bedding in mine and go back and try the 312-155 again,patched of course.
I have read many times of the sks dropping brass at the operators feet Ive even seen it ,but mine lobs brass in a 12 foot 1/3 of a circle. So I need to work on that it has the forged dust cover with the see through scope mounts ,I'd say 10 minutes of movement optimistic and why a 22" bbl for a cartridge that is all done in 16-18 at best ? Unless they share all of the 91 30 Nagant bbl tooling.
In the time of darkest defeat,our victory may be nearest. Wm. McKinley.
I was young and stupid then I'm older now. Me 1992 .
Richard Lee Hart 6/29/39-7/25/18
Without trial we cannot learn and grow . It is through our stuggles that we become stronger .
Brother I'm going to be Pythagerus , DiVinci , and Atlas all rolled into one soon .
To verify twist rate, put a mark on your cleaning rod then 1 foot later make another mark and make a third mark that extends the length of the rod past the mark closest to the handle. Now insert cleaning rod to first mark and push in to the second mark counting the revs that the long line makes... Now you know the twist rate per foot.
My sks is a 20" barrel and interior ballistics shows for my 1500 fps load, it gains 200 fps in the last 5 inches, during which pressure is nearly constant. That's 25% extra energy, so quite worth it as far as reducing powder cost and peak pressure.
Idea is great, but twist rate is turn per number of inches. Similar but inverse of screw threads in english, more like the metric designation. either way it makes sense to check my gun just for general knowledge.
Free to live, Free to die, Free to till the earth, And see the sky!
OK. I have been doing some investigating on my Norinco SKS and came across this thread, I don't care how old it is. That being said, throughout reading here I have been wondering if you had tried any other powders. I use the Lyman cast bullet handbook myself and it doesn't even list 2400 as a powder for the Lee- 312-155-2R, which is the mold I use also. It lists IMR 4227 as the most accurate, which I haven't tried yet but I am now going to do a ladder test with it. I use Accurate 5744, with 14gn start load and 19gn max load. I was getting pretty wide groups going up the ladder till I got to 19gn charges. With 19gn's I was not only able to get groups inside 2" at 100 yards, but it was the only charge that would function the action properly.
If you can get your hands on some IMR 4227 I would do a ladder with it, Start load at 13gn. and Max load at 18gn. I have found in the past with a round that performs poorly with one powder can do much better with another comparable powder. FWIW
I see that I have offended some with my choice of words. In hind sight I should of chosen better. I will next time. Again, my apologies.
As for load on the sks, I have finalized on a load that shoots well for that gun. I’m using NOE’s 155 gn flat nosed gas checked bullet in a .315 diameter and powder coating them and as your saying settled on 4227 powder. For my gun it just works the best. 17.2 gn. Can get 1 1/2-2” groups all day at 100y.
Wonderful to hear after eight years you have seen progress with your accuracy CHALLENGED rifle!
I am going to take mine out, hopefully this weekend to try some rounds loaded with IMR 4227. Thanks for the good report, I'll be working up to 17.2gn to see if this is the sweet charge for mine. I look forward to the testing, in my opinion it's one of the most enjoyable parts of the addiction. Enjoy your new found load for what I think is a awesome gun to shoot.
Well am I happy! I took my new sks to the range today and after sighting it in was able with iron sights to do a honest 1 1/4” triangle group at 100m or 110 yards. If I were to die right now I’d die a happy man! (At least pertaining to my new sks ) this was achieved using the 155 gn Lee pointed sks bullets gas checked and powder coated. 17.2 gn 4227. Also 2 years ago using that load but the noe ranch dog copy flat nosed 155 gn I took a mulie doe at 210 yards. It walked 10 yards and dropped. When gutting her there were no distinguishing organs in her chest. It was all jello. It hits with authority.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |