APOD Firearms

Getting ready to reload for the x39.

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  • 72sofsme

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    well, I don't have a bolt (or similar) but I do want to get into hunting boar with the x39. I purchased some brass and dies, have Hornady SSTs but started eyeing these steel cased FMJs (Wolf or Tula ...??) and see the cost of the Lapua brass (very painful). So, my thought is simply this, pull about 100 of thses FMJs and replace with the Hornadys and I will have good quality hunting rounds and not worry about searching for brass while in the woods with a bunch of pissed off boars. I usually pick up my casings as I like leaving the environment as clean or cleaner than I found it but the cost of the brass and inability to find them every time ... just thinking its easier. I also have a box of Speer 150gr (.311) which would require a change to powder charge to keep chamber pressures safe ... so that would require dumping the charge and going with something else as I have no idea what the burn rate or adjusted charge weight would be for that. Anyway, thank you for the input on your project ... will continue to follow this. I did buy a box of the 200gr Bear and would like to find out how to replicate them at some point in the future.
     
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    Daezee

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    What I didn’t care for was the “feel” of chambering and extracting (especially the extracting and lifting the bolt handle) when using factory steel cased compared to my brass case reloads. Just not as smooth. Maybe that will change after more rounds are shot. My Blackout RARR feels so smooth and it’s fired around a 1000 rounds.
     

    Daezee

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    well, I don't have a bolt (or similar) but I do want to get into hunting boar with the x39. I purchased some brass and dies, have Hornady SSTs but started eyeing these steel cased FMJs (Wolf or Tula ...??) and see the cost of the Lapua brass (very painful). So, my thought is simply this, pull about 100 of thses FMJs and replace with the Hornadys and I will have good quality hunting rounds and not worry about searching for brass while in the woods with a bunch of pissed off boars. I usually pick up my casings as I like leaving the environment as clean or cleaner than I found it but the cost of the brass and inability to find them every time ... just thinking its easier. I also have a box of Speer 150gr (.311) which would require a change to powder charge to keep chamber pressures safe ... so that would require dumping the charge and going with something else as I have no idea what the burn rate or adjusted charge weight would be for that. Anyway, thank you for the input on your project ... will continue to follow this. I did buy a box of the 200gr Bear and would like to find out how to replicate them at some point in the future.
    Thank you for the additional info. I see your point when it comes to hunting. I rarely find my Blackout brass when hunting, but such brass is much cheaper than reloadable 7.62x39.
     

    Daezee

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    Short preliminary test. 4 shots in each group. 50 yd distance. WW LRP. FC brass. Nosler .308 125 gr Ballistic Tip. 7.62x39 RARR. Scope set on 7x. Friend had appt so he couldn't be there with his chronograph. I picked loads towards the higher amount of powder range listed as I wanted more velocity.

    24.5 gr 1680: .76" group (I need to try this one again with more shots)
    25 gr 1680: .96" group
    25.5 gr 1680: 1.57" group
    25 gr IMR4198: 1.25" group (3 shots were touching with 1 shot an inch away) (I need to try this one again but with more shots)
    25.5 gr IMR4198: 1.71" group
    26 gr IMR4198: 1.39" group
     

    Daezee

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    Shot 7 more rounds of each of my two best reloads listed above. Both gave 3" 100yd 7 shot groups. Was hoping for better. Maybe my RARR just doesn't like .308" bullets. I know it likes the pulled 7.62x39 fmj bullets, so maybe mine prefers the bigger diameter bullets.

    Got a call and then confirming email from Ruger end of last week. After their end of the year inventory, they found they don't have any flat dark earth RARR magazine well assemblies, so they are sending black. That's fine with me, a two tone RARR.
     

    Rebel_Rider1969

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    Shot 7 more rounds of each of my two best reloads listed above. Both gave 3" 100yd 7 shot groups. Was hoping for better. Maybe my RARR just doesn't like .308" bullets. I know it likes the pulled 7.62x39 fmj bullets, so maybe mine prefers the bigger diameter bullets.

    Got a call and then confirming email from Ruger end of last week. After their end of the year inventory, they found they don't have any flat dark earth RARR magazine well assemblies, so they are sending black. That's fine with me, a two tone RARR.
    Keep it coming!! Thank you for the info.
     

    Daezee

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    Today's RARR 7.62x39 reloading:

    Had about 400 123 gr Berry's plated 7.62x39 bullets left from the estate sale that never sold, so I bought them a while back, hoping I'd find a use for them. They are .311" diameter. Pondered where to start with them using 2400 powder. Started at 10 gr 2400 and went to 14 gr 2400. Figured that'd put them in the 1xxx fps range. No high pressure signs. Only chronographed 1 of each load, so the average could be lower or higher, but it'd give me an idea of the velocity. Wanted a mild load for plinking and shooting steel. WW large rifle primers. 2.13" oal. FC brass for grouping tests; misc brass for velocity testing.

    10 gr - 1318 fps
    11 gr - 1447 fps
    12 gr - 1536 fps
    13 gr - 1639 fps
    14 gr - 1739 fps

    I then loaded more of 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 gr 2400 loads and shot for groups. They all hit lower than my "full charge" 123 gr fmj loads...makes sense as the plated bullets were going 500-900 fps slower. NONE of the above 5 loads shot bad. 100 yd groups (rounded off) were 1" - 1.5" (actually best was .96"). 14 gr was the best, so a quick trip home to load more of them and back to the range to sight my RARR in with them. Specifically, 8 clicks difference in elevation sight settings. Resighting the rifle, the 14 gr load shot just as well as it had a half hour before.

    Now, the feeding with those flat nose bullets was not perfect as with a pointed bullet, but no big deal for my use. If fed too slowly, the shorter oal can cause the round to tip up hitting the edge of the chamber and stop before going into the chamber...just pull the bolt back an nth of an inch, the round falls down straight and then can be chambered with no need to remove your hand from the bolt handle. This happens about 1 in 10 times. Might have no problem with another magazine...will see once my RARR AR mag well comes from Ruger.
     

    Oldergeek

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    Today's RARR 7.62x39 reloading:

    Had about 400 123 gr Berry's plated 7.62x39 bullets left from the estate sale that never sold, so I bought them a while back, hoping I'd find a use for them. They are .311" diameter. Pondered where to start with them using 2400 powder. Started at 10 gr 2400 and went to 14 gr 2400. Figured that'd put them in the 1xxx fps range. No high pressure signs. Only chronographed 1 of each load, so the average could be lower or higher, but it'd give me an idea of the velocity. Wanted a mild load for plinking and shooting steel. WW large rifle primers. 2.13" oal. FC brass for grouping tests; misc brass for velocity testing.

    10 gr - 1318 fps
    11 gr - 1447 fps
    12 gr - 1536 fps
    13 gr - 1639 fps
    14 gr - 1739 fps

    I then loaded more of 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 gr 2400 loads and shot for groups. They all hit lower than my "full charge" 123 gr fmj loads...makes sense as the plated bullets were going 500-900 fps slower. NONE of the above 5 loads shot bad. 100 yd groups (rounded off) were 1" - 1.5" (actually best was .96"). 14 gr was the best, so a quick trip home to load more of them and back to the range to sight my RARR in with them. Specifically, 8 clicks difference in elevation sight settings. Resighting the rifle, the 14 gr load shot just as well as it had a half hour before.

    Now, the feeding with those flat nose bullets was not perfect as with a pointed bullet, but no big deal for my use. If fed too slowly, the shorter oal can cause the round to tip up hitting the edge of the chamber and stop before going into the chamber...just pull the bolt back an nth of an inch, the round falls down straight and then can be chambered with no need to remove your hand from the bolt handle. This happens about 1 in 10 times. Might have no problem with another magazine...will see once my RARR AR mag well comes from Ruger.
    Keep up the good work. Following with a lot of interest. Thanks for all your efforts to document this.
     

    Daezee

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    Keep up the good work. Following with a lot of interest. Thanks for all your efforts to document this.
    Thank you for the nice comments. I like experimenting. Sometimes great results; sometimes failures. For example, great results with pulled Swedish wooden bullet blank powder when using it for shooting cast bullets in the 6.5x55, but poor results using it in the 45/70 with cast bullets (grouping inconsistent, lots of unburnt powder, inconsistent "bang" sounds). Tried magnum primers, no go. Tried tilting rifle back to have powder near primer when firing, no go.
     

    SAWMAN

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    Perhaps a dacron filler is in order.
    Try Fed 215 primers if you can find some. --- SAWMAN
     

    Daezee

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    Oh, on the Swedish wood blank powder in 45/70 cases, I also would tilt the rifle up to have the powder next to the primer. Talked with a friend today. Experimenting with the powder in 44 magnum, he was also having similar problems.

    Mag primers tried were Winchester large rifle magnum.

    No problem as I’ll just continue to use it successfully in my 6.5x55 cast bullet loads. Maybe it’s bottleneck cartridge vs straight wall cartridge.
     

    Daezee

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    Edited my post. The plated bullets are from XTREME, not BERRY'S. Went to order more...out of stock Darn It. Contacted Xtreme...waiting for answer as it are they gonna make more and when.

    Edited to add: out of production, being redesigned, might be ready by the end of 2022.
     
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    Daezee

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    Since the plated 7.62x39 bullets shot so accurate with 2400 powder and I'm about out of them and they are not the best at feeding due to flat tip and I have some quantity of pulled 123gr fmj bullets, I though why not combine 2400 with 123gr fmj bullets. This is for plinking ammo, so...

    Tried, 13.0gr 2400, 14.0, and 15.0. No pressure signs. Did not chronograph today, just shot for groups. 13.0 best; 14.0 very close, but a little worse (perfectly fine grouping); 15.0 yuck, groups about 4 times bigger than 13 and 14 gr loads. Estimate velocity is in the 1600fps range. Since the fmj are pointed, they fed 100% from the AR 7.62x39 mags.

    After done testing the pulled fmj bullets, I went back to shooting the plated bullets with no bbl cleaning (why clean the bore, after all, both types of bullets have copper on the outside). 1st and 2nd shots were WAY out of the groups, then 3, 4, and 5th shots were back in the center of the target where it was sighted in at. Interesting.
     

    Rebel_Rider1969

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    Since the plated 7.62x39 bullets shot so accurate with 2400 powder and I'm about out of them and they are not the best at feeding due to flat tip and I have some quantity of pulled 123gr fmj bullets, I though why not combine 2400 with 123gr fmj bullets. This is for plinking ammo, so...

    Tried, 13.0gr 2400, 14.0, and 15.0. No pressure signs. Did not chronograph today, just shot for groups. 13.0 best; 14.0 very close, but a little worse (perfectly fine grouping); 15.0 yuck, groups about 4 times bigger than 13 and 14 gr loads. Estimate velocity is in the 1600fps range. Since the fmj are pointed, they fed 100% from the AR 7.62x39 mags.

    After done testing the pulled fmj bullets, I went back to shooting the plated bullets with no bbl cleaning (why clean the bore, after all, both types of bullets have copper on the outside). 1st and 2nd shots were WAY out of the groups, then 3, 4, and 5th shots were back in the center of the target where it was sighted in at. Interesting.
    Thanks keep the info coming! I picked up some .310 sst 123gr. (100) all I could get locally. Don't know if I'll reload any before hunting season ends, my press is all set up and tuned for 10mm right now and I need to load 50 200gr hardcast -lipstick for a pig- rounds for testing. Big thanks for the info! J
     

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    Daezee

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    Today's testing: 123gr tipped, Midway seconds (they look exactly like Hornady 123gr SST bullets but with some tarnish on them) (sold out in 1 day). Goal: accurate, fast for the 7.62x39, hunting load if I decide to try it hog hunting.

    Used AA1680 and AA2200. 100yd 5 shot groups.

    1680: Didn't measure the groups, just eye balled them. Groups ~ 1.75" - 2.25". Eh, so-so.

    2200: Now we're talking! 28.5gr 1.4". 29gr 1.29". 29.5gr 1.32" with 4 of the shots at .87". 30gr 1.53". I liked the looks of the 29.5gr group so let's chronograph 3 shots of that. No signs of high pressure. All loads of 2200 compressed the powder. Per data from NRA, Internet, and published data, it should give around 2400fps. Duh, they gave average of 2024fps at 6-7' from the chronograph. I wanted 2300-2400fps for the most power. FAIL my velocity criteria. My Blackout loads go much faster than that in the same bbl length.

    Guess I try other powder(s). Or, just go back to plinking with the rifle and be happy with the fun it provides me.
     
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