Poor man's reload: 7.62x39?

There ya go. Don't do that, afterall..
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.
 
If your going to start grinding "custom" bullets I will send you 20 123grain .3105 soft point bullets to start you off if you promise not to modify bullets EVER.
 
Yes, you can do this. And while the micrometer is nice if you have it a ruler and a good eye is good enough if you can work to within 1/64 or 0.5mm or so.

Not knowing what this is doing to any crimp on the bullet or what it's doing to the neck tension I'd suggest you single load the reloaded rounds. That would avoid any concerns over bullet setback in the magazine and any.

Or another option is to re-bullet a few to try. Mark one as your "magazine #####" and note the length. Load it and another surplus round over top. Fire off the surplus round and then manually eject the test round. Measure it for signs of any bullet movement. Repeat with another surplus round to be fired. Measure again. If you don't get any bullet movement after a half dozen such test shots then I'd consider the neck tension on the reloaded bullets as OK. Otherwise you simply need to single load and shoot when needed.

To keep things as consistent as possible you want to ensure that your jig for pressing the bullets home is as directly in line as possible so they don't go in cockeyed and reduce the neck tension. And that's what a press does for us rather well. Other options are certainly possible but you want to ensure that whatever you come up with is pretty accurate and consistent.

If you have a drill press it could do what you want. Drill a hole part way through some steel stock as a casing seat locator and use some sort of round bit with a cup or well centered hole as the bullet seating die. The depth stop would regulate the bullet depth. You just need to use a method to make sure the shell plate with the hole for the case head is centered really well with the quill and upper cup piece that lines up the bullet.
 
also, the reloading manuals regard the 7.62x39 as a "light" 30/30- keep that in mind and don't try 30.30 stuff with it- just as 223 is "marginal " for deer- sure you can do it, but SHOULD you?
 
Its an idea that ive done before with 8mm mauser. Pulling bullets is very easy. Have a very hard surface to bang on. If you dont want to go too far with reloading i suggest you get a set of dies"used" maybe and a range press. Its a small hand press from lyman i think. Itll be like 30$ and do it.
 
Single loading directly in the chamber is a bad idea unless you ease the carrier/bolt closed gently.....don't let it slam shut like you normally would when loading.
Check wanstalls or Tradex for some hunting ammo....fixed shipping rates of 15-25 bucks.
 
Well fellas, as usual, you're an invaluable resource for knuckleheads like me. Thank you.



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.

Well that settles it. An excercise not worth the risks. Case closed.

I would take the high shipping cost over going blind any day of the week

And I shall. I'll track some down easy enough, there's plenty of time until November. No worries.

Grind the tip off.
most of it is lead core.

I have been to Epps and seen "The Rifle" (or what was left of it) that took a man's life attempting just that. Nope nope nope.

If your going to start grinding "custom" bullets I will send you 20 123grain .3105 soft point bullets to start you off if you promise not to modify bullets EVER.

I promise. No modifying bullets EVER. Scouts honour.

Yes, you can do this. And while the micrometer is nice if you have it a ruler and a good eye is good enough if you can work to within 1/64 or 0.5mm or so.

Not knowing what this is doing to any crimp on the bullet or what it's doing to the neck tension I'd suggest you single load the reloaded rounds. That would avoid any concerns over bullet setback in the magazine and any.

Or another option is to re-bullet a few to try. Mark one as your "magazine #####" and note the length. Load it and another surplus round over top. Fire off the surplus round and then manually eject the test round. Measure it for signs of any bullet movement. Repeat with another surplus round to be fired. Measure again. If you don't get any bullet movement after a half dozen such test shots then I'd consider the neck tension on the reloaded bullets as OK. Otherwise you simply need to single load and shoot when needed.

To keep things as consistent as possible you want to ensure that your jig for pressing the bullets home is as directly in line as possible so they don't go in cockeyed and reduce the neck tension. And that's what a press does for us rather well. Other options are certainly possible but you want to ensure that whatever you come up with is pretty accurate and consistent.

If you have a drill press it could do what you want. Drill a hole part way through some steel stock as a casing seat locator and use some sort of round bit with a cup or well centered hole as the bullet seating die. The depth stop would regulate the bullet depth. You just need to use a method to make sure the shell plate with the hole for the case head is centered really well with the quill and upper cup piece that lines up the bullet.

Good tips here, but given the accumulative advise above, I would only attempt this if hand-loading rounds, and I'm not willing to neuter it like that.

also, the reloading manuals regard the 7.62x39 as a "light" 30/30- keep that in mind and don't try 30.30 stuff with it- just as 223 is "marginal " for deer- sure you can do it, but SHOULD you?

I agree, and will still be taking the .308s, but there's a few stands that offer 50 yard shots that I expect the SKS would behave nicely on if I do my part.
 
It is called making "Mexican match" ammo. Pull and replace the FMJ with a better bullet.

I used to hunt deer with a Ruger Mini 30, and used MM ammo because I did not have to worry about losing the brass.

Buy a box of 100 123 gr soft points and you can make 100 hunting rounds. Zero probably won't change. Accuracy will improve a bit.

or mail order a couple boxes of Sp ammo.
 
And even out the powder charge while you are in there eh...... MMMmmmm M.M.
Did you crimp the steel cases Ganderite?
 
That'd be called 'Mexican Match' ammo. Been done for eons. However, like Hitzy says, you need a press and dies as a minimum.
Any time you pull a bullet, the case neck gets opened a tick. Your wooden die isn't resizing it. The tiny bead of epoxy is what holds your beer opener(no twist off caps in Queen Wynn's Domain?) together, not the case.
 
I have a SKS and I have a Winchester 30-30 Trapper model with a 16 inch barrel and a Williams peep sight installed. (meaning both are short light weight carbines)

Sell the SKS and buy a 30-30 that can shoot heavier bullets, I have seen your Canadian moose and a SKS isn't big enough.
 
I have a SKS and I have a Winchester 30-30 Trapper model with a 16 inch barrel and a Williams peep sight installed. (meaning both are short light weight carbines)

Sell the SKS and buy a 30-30 that can shoot heavier bullets, I have seen your Canadian moose and a SKS isn't big enough.

Lol. I'll mention a third time that my go to is the .308 for deer, bear and moose... But we're not talking about bullwinkles here. Just deer, and just in a "hmmm, I think I'll take the SKS out for gits and shiggles today" kind of scenario.

I have more potent medicine available, I just feel like the poor little SKS is getting jealous of its big brothers getting to go out every November. It wants a notch I the stock too. ;-)

Variety is the spice of life right? (Don't tell my wife I said that)

Cheers

KJ
 
Mexican Match - that brings back some memories.

In the mid to late 1970s when i was just starting to develop a fetish for foriegn milsurp collecting, I used to pull FMJ out of 7.62x54R ammo and replace it with .308" soft point bullets, because there was no SP 7.62x54R ammo around, and hardly even any FMJ variety either. No press - IIRC I used a .308 Winchester Lee Loader tool (or it might Have been 30-30 or 303 Savage?) to seat the bullet. It shot pretty well.
 
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