Poor man's reload: 7.62x39?

kodiakjack

kodiakjack

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Ok folks... Remember in grade school when your teacher said "there's no such thing as a stupid question"?

Well, I may be about to prove ol' teach wrong. Bear with me:


So I've got this SKS laying here and deer season's coming up. I've always hunted with .308s and Slugs, but I got to thinking that it'd be nice to give the old ruskie a chance at filling my tag. But all I've got laying around for ammo is a few thousand rounds of surplus FMJ.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT reload. I have no reloading equipment. I am pre-newb or worse when it comes to reloading. 95% of the stuff you guys talk about goes waaaay over my head.

Given the above, here's my MacGuyveresque plan: I'll pull a handful of bullets (pulling hammer being the ONLY piece of equipment I have) and simply replace and reseat them with some more appropriate hunting bullets of the same weight. I'll just re-use the casing, powder, and primer from the surplus ammo.

So... Am I an idiot? (be gentle). Is there some piece of this puzzle I'm overlooking?

If this is doable, what are some of the highest regarded hunting bullets in 7.62x39? Which GGN vendors carry them?

And in response to the question "why not just buy hunting ammo?" : My LGS doesn't have any at the moment, Canada Posting some bullets is a lot cheaper than Fed Exing live ammo, and besides, this might just be the tipping point to finally get my ass into reloading...

Well, wha'dya think?


Edit: update see post 30 (no go)
 
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While on the surface this is possible, you would need to stick with the same
Or similar bullet weight.
I believe the 7.62×39 needs a .311 projectile and getting the bullet seated without tools with what I am guessing is steel cased ammo could be a problem.
If your new bullet is seated in the case too deep you will get pressure spikes that you don't want.
I would look for factory stuff harder but it can be done how you are asking if you are cautious and know what you are doing.

Jody
 
Considering that you could cause damage to the gun and yourself. Perhaps miss your dream animal, or even much worse...wound and let it get away. Wouldnt it be easier to just shoot your FMJ ammo as usual and buy some soft point ammo for the gun. Think you are over thinking things here.
 
Firstly, you will begin to seriously doubt this venture by the time you get the first bullet pulled. Surplus can be sealed, crimped or both. Pulling X39 with an inertia puller takes about the same effort as driving a 6" nail through concrete with a 16 oz ball pein hammer. You will wonder what they make those pullers out of and why it hasn't been smashed to bits. The powder charges in surplus vary in weight by as much as 3 grains in the Czech M43 I've pulled. Consider when I load match ammo I weigh charges to one tenth of a grain. 3 grains makes shotgun patterns. You'll need a seating die to properly seat bullets anyways. And you'll need a press to put it in. And it wouldn't be right to try it without knowing what you're doing. A reloading manual is a must before reloading. It's nice to know all the little important things that seperate bullets from bombs. Only one is fun to touch off right infront of your face. It's time to invest in a reloading setup my friend.
 
It's not exactly a new idea, LOL. Replacing bullets can work if you do it properly. Lots of people have done similar stuff for the last 100 or so years.

It would likely work just as well or better to simply buy a box of hunting 7.62x39 hunting ammo for $20.
 
It's not quite a s simple as pounding a new bullet into the case mouth with a hammer. You don't actually need a press but you will need some sort of tooling to make it work. The Lee Loader tool would be useful for seating and crimping the bullet.
 
supernova said:
Firstly, you will begin to seriously doubt this venture by the time you get the first bullet pulled. Surplus can be sealed, crimped or both. Pulling X39 with an inertia puller takes about the same effort as driving a 6" nail through concrete with a 16 oz ball pein hammer. You will wonder what they make those pullers out of and why it hasn't been smashed to bits. The powder charges in surplus vary in weight by as much as 3 grains in the Czech M43 I've pulled. Consider when I load match ammo I weigh charges to one tenth of a grain. 3 grains makes shotgun patterns. You'll need a seating die to properly seat bullets anyways. And you'll need a press to put it in.
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I've pulled and seated the SAME bullets numerous times now, as I make goofy little crafts for friends. See here: http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/foru...-A-MAN!!-(Gun-Nut)?highlight=How+to+open+beer

Pulling is a little harder than the .308s, but not as hard as folks have typically made it out to be. To reseat the bullet I have a little jig for my vise made out of wood that slides the bullets in nicely. As this is UNFIRED brass, is crimping necessary? The seated bullets are in there really snug (snug enough to open a beer)(even without the epoxy) (and no, lol, I don't plan to epoxy the hunting rounds :p)

For seating depth, my plan was to use a micrometer to compare the old and new billets, and seat the new with the exact same portion in the case.

As for powder, I'd just be putting the exact same charge back in. If that charge safely fires a 123 gn .311 FMJ projectile, the (to my thinking) it would safely fire a 123gn .311 soft nosed projectile. Makes sense?

And it wouldn't be right to try it without knowing what you're doing. A reloading manual is a must before reloading. It's nice to know all the little important things that seperate bullets from bombs. Only one is fun to touch off right infront of your face. It's time to invest in a reloading setup my friend.
Click to expand...

That's an excellent quote. Maybe sigline worthy :)

And that's why I run things past my fellow gun Nutterz before trying any of these hair brained ideas. But given my "experience"<giant finger quotes> above, what are your thoughts on the necessity of crimping? What are the risks of not crimping? <said the obvious newb>
 
Not crimping can cause 3 ssues, bullets can get jammed deep in the case while feeding causing high pressure, or walk out in the mag while shooting spilling the guts out, or walkout in the chamber upon feeding and cause under ignition and jam a bullet in the barrel.
 
Why not just spend the $20 on a good box of hunting ammo? You'll have 20 rounds for 20 deer. So basically a $20 investment to hunt for the next 10-20 years.
 
He mentioned his remote location and unavailability of X39 SP at local stores means high shipping costs for a box of ammo. Kodiak, Hitzy explained crimping well. An autoloader handles ammunition violently. Crimping isn't always necessary but it is a very good idea. A bullet pushed back into the case or bumped out of the case is no good at the range let alone in the bush. The other problem is steel cases. The factory that made the ammo had the tooling for the job but the reloading dies on the market are intended for use with brass cases. Crimping may not be possible with steel cases.
 
OP, where are you located? Just thinking that someone near you might know where to find some decent ammo for you. Hornady SST, Hornady Zombie (same as SST), Federal Fusion, Sellier and Bellots, MFS soft points and Barnaul soft points are all hunt worthy rounds. My Canadian tire has most of that list. There has to be something near you that'll work.
 
Worst idea yet. M43 uses a mild steel core, a thin layer of lead and a copperwashed steel jacket. The lead is to allow compression as the rifling engraves the bullet. It is fmj not cmj. I.e. the jacket is open at the base. There is a very good chance the core would seperate in the bore as the gas pressure would surely cause. Firing a second round could be catastrophic if much is left in the bore. Even if the bullet remained intact until impact, the jacket would seperate and terminal performance would be a roll of the dice. Please do not do this.

bcnorth said:
Grind the tip off.
most of it is lead core.
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I would say if you want to reload any ammo read a manual first and ask lots of questions. Your on the right path to start reloading your asking questions about it. If you were hunting with other calibers reloading could be a possible way to source excellent quality tailor made ammo. Ask around and see if anyone would be interested in helping you get a start at reloading or if they would show you how.
 
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