Well, given the import stuff shoots terrible and isn't priced that great...
I have 500 brass for my Commie rifles, a stack of primers, and am probably going to splurge on 500 ZM 123s.
So -- my last go around with trying to load Commie, I used 322 which shot fine but seemed a bit on the slow side, plus kind of wasteful given my other rifles that love it.
And I ran another small batch with 4198 which was as accurate as the 322 loads.
Do any of you secret apparatchiks have a good capitalist powder suggestion for such a fine socialist round as the M43 7.62x39?

A buddy of mine wanted to borrow a pound of RL 7 to try in his.. the results turned out well enough, they went over to Sportsman's Warehouse, bought home a 5lb jug and loaded up the entire jugs worth over the weekend... split between 2 guys...

so I am just passing this on.. but I know they picked up like a thousand of those Zombie Maxes, an another 10 lbs of RL 7...

these two guys... well I wonder if they think this Zombie apocalypse is actually going to happen...

be it as they may, they really like the accuracy of Rl 7...

I got the recommendation from a guy who used it in a Ruger Bolt Action 7.62 x 39...

Before you go chasing powders, you need to find the right sized bullet. What is the Bore diameter of your X39? Most are .310-.311 some are .308. An undersized bullet can cause accuracy to go to hell.

I have two, one is a .308 and the other a .310. The 308 hates the V-Max or any other secant ogive Hornady bullet. It loves anything Sierra and does fine with the 125gr Nosler BT. The .310 hates the Speer .310 and loves the Hornady 123gr SP. See where I am going here, It's all trial and error finding what works best in your rifle.

As for powders, My rifles like 322, N-130, N-120, H-4198 and 1680. R-7 was always a good performer as far a velocity goes, but accuracy was pisspoor.

They're all Commie barrels. Tried 308s in them, stunk.
I have had good success (after playing with the feed lips) with Hornady 100 XTP 312 pistol bullets. Got them to feed, and that rifle (a Chinese SKS with modified Commie scope mount cut and rewelded) shoots 1.5 five shot groups.
I bedded the action, actually put in pillar mounts, floated the barrel, cut the front stock ferrule away from the barrel, souped up the trigger so it's a poor-mans "set," recrowned, et cetera. No collector value to speak of, it was a hunnat-dollah parts gun, so why not?
I'm just hoping that a good American bullet will get me under an inch consistently with the thing. If not, I have some 308 barrels laying around doing nothing.

So, I have some H 4198 laying around, enough for a test or two. No RL7. What is 1680? What else is good between 322 and 4198?

AA 1680 is a fine ball powder designed for the 7.62 x 39. Delivers top velocities without heavy compression.
http://www.accuratepowder.com/products/rifle/



VV N-130 and N-120. I also have had excellent results with Norma N-200, but it's hard to find.

+1 on the AA1680. I also use WC846 surplus powder (BLC2 equivalent)for heavy bullet loads.

I load for a CZ 527 carbine and an AR with a Colt upper. The CZ shoots 308 and 310 bullets with equal fine accuracy. It also shoots a 180 gr cast bullet with 4227 almost as accurately as the jacketed.

The AR has only had 123 gr Hornady SPs (.310) for hunting and 150 gr pulled military FMJ (308) for plinking run through it so far. I've only had it three months. The former stays close to MOA while the latter averages about 1.5 MOA.

I hope AA quality control is better than the last time I had to dump 32 pounds back on the market as it was junk....

I guess I'll give 1680 a whack for starters along with the 4198. AA powders are more available around here than VV. At least I will have some blasting ammo for my Commie toys -- none of the import stuff shoots for beans.
What DID shoot -- the steel core Chinese on the stripper clips -- and those East German plastic cores -- Klinton took care of.

I'm sure you know there are two 4198 powders, H and IMR, they are not the same and data is not interchangeable. They both work in the x39, H performs much better in my rifles.

Yeah I use Reloder 7 in my Ruger mini 30 and Ruger M77. It gives good acccuracy and performance on whitetails. Both my rifles have .308 barrels and shoot the 125g Prohunter and 135g SSP bullets well. PH

Sure would be nice if Sierra would start making that 135SSP again! Since I ran out I have been using the 110gr Barnes TTSX with good results

That SSP bullet failed more than a few times at 30-30 pistol velocity for us. Just would not expand. I quit using it a long time ago. For non barnes use at x39 speeds, the 125 nosler bt does really nice.

That little plastic tip does wonders to initiate expansion at low velocity. Never had an issue with on game performance with 7mm 120gr in a 14" 7x30 waters either.

That's too bad. Wish I had been around to take it off your hands. I've had nothing but good results with their powders since the 80s.

Yep, you'd have loved this, AA2520, burn rate changed so that our loads were over 200 FPS slower than before, right before national championships, and the accuracy suffered and no matter what we did, we'd get to pressure before velocity...

You simply can't loose 250ish FPS when shooting in national competitoin at up to 1000 yards and loose your accuracy at the same time.

32 pounds of CRAP went cheap.

Took a few MN Whitetails with the 125gr Nosler BT, nothing over 130 yards. Terminal performance was iffy(technical term) at best. They all died and the bullets did their job, but I was not impressed. The Sierra 125gr Pro Hunter is way to hard, pencil through every time. The Barnes 110gr TTSX is a good choice if you like speed and light bullets. For heavy bullets it's tough to beat the 150gr Hornady RN 30-30 bullet. Very accurate and very deadly, slow, but deadly.

Interesting, nephew drives the 125 bt out of his x39 and its never failed us yet. Opens nicely, double caliber size, has always exited, everything has died and dang quick mostly.

Shot a big boar at about 70s once, through both shields, tipped the scales around 270 pounds. Went about 50 yards and nose plowed.

This is a group from my mini 30 when I had it,I think it was a 181 series w/pencil barrel. stock sights useing a lead sled.

Not too shabby for a Mini....
I guess I better get serious about cutting on a 308 barrel for that rotted-out SKS sitting in the back spiderwebs...

AA1680 or surplus WC680. I use WC 860 in 357 Max and 414 and 445 SuperMags
http://www.gibrass.com/gunpowder.html

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