Yesterday was disappointing in that my RARR didn't like frangible bullets, so today let's try jacketed with 2 different primers and powders and try some steel case FMJ rounds for control groups, Wolf and Academy Sports. Goal: Accurate "plinking" ammo. All groups shot at 50 yards keeping with my vision ability. All groups measured center to center. All rounds 2.2" oal.
Primers: CCI 400 in small primer Remington brass and Winchester large rifle in other brass.
Bullets: Pulled 123gr FMJ. Make unknown, but suspect it could be pulled from USGI 7.62x39 made during Vietnam War, considering where I got them from. No steel in core or jacket. Remnants of tar sealant left on bullets. Occasional light pull mark, but nothing to worry about. Crimping groove, but I didn't crimp.
Powders: AA1680 and H335.
Academy marked ammo easily outshot Wolf, giving .64" vs .96". Bigger flash and recoil than my reloads. Stickier extraction than my brass case reloads. Typical Academy 5 shot group:
CCI small rifle primers in Remington brass and AA1680 powder gave about one "hang fire" or "click bang" per group with the hang fire round 1 1/2" - 2" low out of the group. Black soot on outside of brass even with the heaviest load tried. Groups tended to string vertically. Here's a typical group with the low hang fire flyer:
CCI small rifle and Winchester large rifle gave no hang fires with H335. All H335 loads were compressed. No soot on outside of fired brass. Tried 31, 32, and 33 grains. Nothing shot bad in that all groups were 1" or less. 32 grain was the best. Here's a 32 grain group. As a side note, this group actually contained 4 brands of brass to see if mixing brands had an adverse affect on group size at a distance I might shoot at.
The CCI 400 w/AA1680 hang fires was very surprising, as I use the same primers and powder in subsonic Blackout reloads with no problems (Blackout does use a 220 grain bullet vs the 123 grain being used in the 7.62x39). Winchester large rifle primers were not tried with AA1680 in the 7.62x39. Limited testing of CCI 400 vs Winchester large rifle and H335 showed bullets going into the same group
Primers: CCI 400 in small primer Remington brass and Winchester large rifle in other brass.
Bullets: Pulled 123gr FMJ. Make unknown, but suspect it could be pulled from USGI 7.62x39 made during Vietnam War, considering where I got them from. No steel in core or jacket. Remnants of tar sealant left on bullets. Occasional light pull mark, but nothing to worry about. Crimping groove, but I didn't crimp.
Powders: AA1680 and H335.
Academy marked ammo easily outshot Wolf, giving .64" vs .96". Bigger flash and recoil than my reloads. Stickier extraction than my brass case reloads. Typical Academy 5 shot group:
CCI small rifle primers in Remington brass and AA1680 powder gave about one "hang fire" or "click bang" per group with the hang fire round 1 1/2" - 2" low out of the group. Black soot on outside of brass even with the heaviest load tried. Groups tended to string vertically. Here's a typical group with the low hang fire flyer:
CCI small rifle and Winchester large rifle gave no hang fires with H335. All H335 loads were compressed. No soot on outside of fired brass. Tried 31, 32, and 33 grains. Nothing shot bad in that all groups were 1" or less. 32 grain was the best. Here's a 32 grain group. As a side note, this group actually contained 4 brands of brass to see if mixing brands had an adverse affect on group size at a distance I might shoot at.
The CCI 400 w/AA1680 hang fires was very surprising, as I use the same primers and powder in subsonic Blackout reloads with no problems (Blackout does use a 220 grain bullet vs the 123 grain being used in the 7.62x39). Winchester large rifle primers were not tried with AA1680 in the 7.62x39. Limited testing of CCI 400 vs Winchester large rifle and H335 showed bullets going into the same group