My first 7.62x39 reloads

[tele_mark]

Just loaded them up last night. They're 150 grain .308 FMJBT's over IMR 4198, in .5 grain steps starting at 20.3 grains and going to 22.3 grains. Now I just have to wait for the nice weather to come back to bring the SKS (with new TechSights) to No. Leominster. I'll try to post a range report.

 

[EddieCoyle]

Nice!

It's amazing what it's come to... Ammo prices are so high, you're reloading 7.62x39 and I'm reloading 9mm.

 

[tele_mark]

I was thinking of your 9mm's yeasterday!

Actually, I'm starting to amass quite a bit of 9mm here too. The only thing I have in that caliber though is my CZ52 with the conversion barrel.

 

[BIG GUN]

Remember that if you are shooting those in a SKS, Or AK, those bullets will be .002 undersize.

 

[tele_mark]

Remember that if you are shooting those in a SKS, Or AK, those bullets will be .002 undersize.

Will that affect accuracy that badly?

 

[BIG GUN]

Sure wont help! they should be .310-.311 dia. unless your shooting a Finn rebuild or a rare Ruger77. Maybe a CZ.
Ak's & SKS's even with proper dia. bullets were designed to shoot minute of person, not angle. But are very reliable.

 

[tele_mark]

I'm not looking for MOA with the SKS. I just have several hundred .308 bullets that I have no other use for. The hardest thing I do with my SKS is shoot human head-sized balloons at 200 yards prone, and if I take 2 shots to hit one with Wolf, it's a REALLY good session. I Googled on the subject and found most people had good luck with .308's in a .311 bore -- only one person I found characterized the groups as "shotgun-like". I figure with handloaded .308's, at worst I'll be as good as Wolf, but I won't find out until I fire 'em. If I duplicate "cheap" factory stuff, I'm ahead of the game.

 

[BIG GUN]

Remember, only paper targets are allowed on the Harvard 200/300 yd. ranges!

 

[tele_mark]

Remember, only paper targets are allowed on the Harvard 200/300 yd. ranges!

North Leominster is the scene of the Blue Helmet Practice.

 

[tele_mark]

Well, I had a chance to try out my reloads last weekend and today. I was pleasantly surprised how well the .308 billets worked in the SKS bore. I was even more surprised, despite seeing the phenomenon many times, of how dramatic a very small change in charge can have on group size.

My original loads were .5 grain steps starting at 20.3 grains and going to 22.3 grains. I shot these on Sunday and found the 21.3 loads to be the best, so I loaded some more at 21.0, 21.3, and 21.5 grains and shot them at No. Leominster today at the 100 yard range.

I started with a box of Brown Bear crap steel case stuff to compare, which I shot during my lunch hour at Harvard today. One note -- for the 124 grain stuff, which I originally used to sight in the Techsights, I had to use the 0-2 aperture. When shooting the 150 grain .308's, I had to use the 300 meter aperture, or the hits were off the paper with a 6 o clock hold. Using the 300m though made them slightly high:

11 rounds of Brown Bear:

the 21 grain loads:

The "accuracy" load -- 21.3 grains. It doesn't show too well, but there's a 3 round group just above the 10 ring on the left. This was 10 rounds, not sure where number 10 went.

And then, this is what blows me away, up just 2 tenths of a grain, and the group goes to hell. 21.5 grains:

 

[Twigg]

Looks to me like your three round group could really be a four round group.
Not bad at all.

 

[tele_mark]

The next step is to load up a bunch with just the measure set to 21.3 grains. All of these were worked up with a trickler. So, with the variation of the drop, it'll be interesting what it does to the groups. Still, not too terribly bad a result for an undersized bullet. I'm having a devil of a time finding them, but I'd like to find some proper sized 120-something grain bullets to load and see just how accurate a $130 SKS can be.

 

[BIG GUN]

I have found that the 125G Speer HP's shoot like stink in my Contender and Ruger 77, but they both have .308 barrels.