Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Powder for 762x39

Hello Guys and Gals,

Well just finished a 7.62X39 AR-15 Upper build for my son...
I just hope once we get the custom lower from the dealer its
going to run well...

The specs look like this:

Stainless Steel Medium Contour (.750" @ GB) 416R, Cut Rifling,
1:10 Twist Rate,5/8 Threaded Combo. FS/Compsensator.

Forged 7075 Flattop Upper with M4 feedramp extension that I
melted to the receiver ramps and then nicely polished
(sorry I forgot to take some pics of It).

Single Rail Gas Block...

M1913 Quad Rail, T-Marked...

Tacical Folding Bipod...

Simmons Whitetail Classic 6-20X44mm Scope (not shown in pic.)

Custom Billet Lower on order from local dealer...








So my question for you guys is which powders have you used for
the X39 that have given the best accuracy and velocity from the
100-150gr. projectiles...

The other question is have any of you tried using .308 diameter
projectiles in your .310-.312 rifle bores, and if so what type of
accuracy and velocity have you achieved ?


Thanks.

Your bore is what...310 or 311?
I have tried numerous light 308s in my Commies and without fail they all skunked. Every one. Not keyholing or anything, but no better than Commie-made ammo.
Given the price and performance of surplus today, you are better off reloading with a brass catcher. You might come in four or five cents higher per unit cost, but hopefully you will find the right combination.
I have some Z Maxes coming and hope they shoot, conventional US FMJ's and SPs in 310 never really produced much improvement from surplus performance. The best results I ever got was with HDY 32 cal (312) XTP 100 grainers, with both 322 and 4198 (Hodgdon). 322 was a hair on the slow side -- but 1.25 inches for 5 at a hundred from an SKS ain't too terrible.

Hopefully someone here with a bolter 7,62x39 will weigh in with some inherent-accuracy feedback on the cartridge. I plan someday to find an old action and convert it for a 308 bore, just because.

Well, here is what I said earlier in this thread. The CZ is a bolt action.



Not withstanding rost's dislike of all things to do with Accurate Powders, the AA 1680 is one of the best balanced powders for this cartridge. It gives an excellent combination of velocity and accuracy. There are many others that work well, too. WC 846 surplus and BLC2 worked well for accuracy but I doubt it is the best high velocity powder.

So far as bullets, I have tried several 308 diameter bullets in the 125 to 150 gr range in the CZ, and they all have worked very well. Off the top of my head I can remember using ballistic tips (125 gr I think), 125-135 gr bullets from two different manufacturers, 150 gr flat nose WWs and RN Hornadys (both 30-30 bullets), and some 150 gr 303 bullets, among others. I've never slugged the CZ's bore but it is supposed to have a .310-.311. It's never seemed to matter which diameter bullets I've shot in it. Now, understand that I am not trying to get bench rest accuracy. One to 1.5 MOA suits me just fine.

The Colt AR upper shoots just as well as the CZ with 123 gr Hornady SPs and AA1680. This is my hunting load in both rifles.

Wish I could send pictures. The very first group I fired through my Colt AR x39 measured 1/2 inch. Used a Barnes 110gr with IMR4198.( the old 110gr without groves. No longer available of course)

Next tried the Speer 130gr HP. Groups were almost as good as the Barnes group. Also with IMR4198.

I have a very early model Mini 30. I believe it has a .3085 barrel. Rel.7 with the speer 130gr gave two inch groups at 100 yards.

As an aside here, this early models magazine handles 7.62x30 just fine. Its the proper size and shape. However, it is clearly marked Mini 14.

Ruger has issues with markings on their firearms, mags etc., they really don't have a clue.
For example, the Ruger Mini-14 is marked 223 Caliber on the receiver. First, it is not a 223 Caliber, it is a .224 Caliber. Second, it is not a 223 Remington as it is a 5.56x45.

When a guy gets a 7.62x39 upper for his AR do they have .308" barrels or .310's? Whose upper is the way to go? And do you need different mags or do the std 223 ones work? Magnum Man

Magnum Man, I can't speak to all the upper mfg's, but of the one's I've seen they've been .310. You will have to have special mags. 10 round 6.8 mags work, I have a mix of ASC and Cproducts 10 rounders and they've worked without any issues. ASC also make a 30 round mag. I have not used it. Too long and cumbersome for me and I use my x39 only for hog hunting and have found no need for the hi-cap mag. I only load 8 rounds in my 10 rounders. CH

Thanks CH and Dave Skinner sorry about the thread drift. Magnum Man

Magnum Man, your welcome and I am guilty of driving this thread off into the weeds too. But hopefully we can get it back on track, because I'm interested in loading some x39's in the near future and would like to find a good powder. So far on this thread we've seen reported that AA1680 powder is good and bad. We've also seen recommendations for Re7, and some qualified recommendations for BL-C-2. Now that I'm in the message box I can't get back to the thread to review it for more powders and have to just rely on my memory. I've used a lot of BLC-2 (mil-surp) in my 5.56 and have had good results. I'm about out of that so I'm not inclined start experimenting with it for the x39.

So....are there any other powders that would work well in the 7.62x39? I think this is probably one of the least popular cartridges for reloading, because of the weapons it's most frequently shot thru and the availability of cheapo ammo. But I'd like to improve the accuracy of my hog hunting rounds and the bullets I use. Although, I used the silver bear soft point stuff this year and it seemed to work just fine. CH

Excellent points CH, yes the upper has a .310 bore...

Since we have a accurate AR-15 platform w/ a X39 round
and a good quality SS barrel, it beggs for some load
developement.

I guess we will see how well it fires the crappy Russian
steel cased stuff...although I expect It to do better in
accuracy than the AK-47 or the SKS.

AA 1680 was supposed to have been designed for the X39
cartridge...I will also try RL-7,H4198,H322. I think I
have some H4227 somewhere, It might be too fast though
for the X39.

Thanks.

My experience at the range with the new production commie stuff has actually been pretty good with some qualification. Shooting 5 shot strings I almost alway get 4 rounds grouped very tightly with a flyer an inch or two away. I just finished up my yearly Texas hog hunt and I used Silver Bear 125gr SP. I managed to kill 9 hogs for the week and I think they worked pretty well, but always at the back of my mind when I was squeezing off a round was "which one of the 5 will this one be? But really my rational mind tells me that the groups I'm getting are more than good for the shots I was getting. I think my longest shot was maybe 50 yards, most a lot closer. But this is my hobby and I know I can't leave well enough alone, so I'll tinker with some reloads, because I know my AR is capable of much greater accuracy than any AK that I've seen, it'll just take some ammo of equal quality. I plan to pick up some dies later today and some .310 bullets next time I stumble by some, then I'll be in the market for some powder. Based on what I'm reading here I thinking I may give the AA stuff a try with a single pound purchase. Of course I'm like everyone else and would like a powder that would work with some of the other calibers I load. CH

Thanks DannyL,
I have a bunch of 150's and perhaps some 4198 laying around, I might give that loading a try in my Oly AR uppper. I'm guessing it'll be pretty slow, but might make a good hog load. CH