Getting 160gr Boolits to Feed in the SKS

[scottnc]

NOE 316-135-FN-N5. I think Lee was the source for the original version of this mold. Before I make a mess of things would anyone who has made this boolit feed from the stock magazine care to offer some direction? Currently the nose hits the breech end of the barrel hard, the round much too low. The side of the boolit is also (too soon) hard against the tapered section of the bolt rail where it tapers inward to direct mil spec ammo in the direction of the chamber. The mag lips are as high as the bolt rails will allow which doesn't seem high enough. Options are to move the lips to position the round more to the center or higher. Any help is appreciated before I cut or grind on something difficult to put back.

[scottnc]

Update - Not as much work as anticipated. Took the no-grind option until I heard from someone, luckily it seems like it's going to work. Used a tapered punch held horizontal in a bench vice as a dolly to address the very top magazine feed lips. The punches diameter and taper approximated that of the cartridge case. The existing feed lips were not flat to the side of the case, the ends touched the case the middle did not. The gap was largest right about mid-point. Straightening and raising maybe .030" the tops of both feed lips has the 160gr. bullet gliding right. The feed lip radius was increased slightly too so it more accurately matches the cartridge care. My guess is that when the boolit nose was almost to the breech face of the barrel the case rim was in the "hump" of the feed lip, the mag springs upward pressure on the cartridge pushed the rim up, into the "hump" canterlevering the boolit nose down (via the slightly lower feed lip) so it impacted the barrel. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it until I find out otherwise. The magazine sorta being held in by the trigger group has some latitude up and down once installed which affords some lee-way to play with the feed lips without them binding against the bolt rails in the receiver.

[Tokarev]

SKS was designed for 125gr bullets. What are you trying to achieve?

[scottnc]

SKS was designed for 125gr bullets. What are you trying to achieve?

Why, a sub-minute of angle SKS of course you silly.

[Outpost75]

The fast 250mm twist rate in 7.62x39 greatly over stabilized the typical 123-125-grain bullets. Accuracy is much improved firing a 154-170-grain bullet and with appropriate powders like RL7 you can safely approximate .30-30 ballistics with cast bullets.

[scottnc]

Yup.

Anyone else having trouble staying signed in during a visit? This is the third go-round this visit.