7,62x39 in .303"
- Thread starter h.letourneau
- Start date
Pull the bullet and measure. Very year I have check are .3105
My norinco silver box is .3112. My Cz corrosive stuff is .3106 from 2 different crates. Close enough for me.
I have never used Norinco, as it is NC, and I paid retails for it.
I had the same question and then thought that there was no reason not to load a cast bullet with your fav powder in there... I would think that it is best to start at the bottom of the load data and work up as always, but it should be fine as long as your press can seat the bullet and add a little crimp if needed.
0.312" or 0.315" round balls tapped into the case mouth to the halfway point, over 2 grs of Bullseye or 4 grs of Unique would be the ticket. Might cost a nickel a round. The ball weighs about 50 grs and will have a MV of about 1000 fps - I've done this is a 32RF (with less powder). If you tried this in the SKS, it will function as a single shot. No perceivable recoil, exceptionally quiet, so, so 100 yd accuracy.
I bought a crate 12-15 years ago from Marstar, I think about $150. I only used about 400 rds since I was doing plenty of shooting in my job and my family life kept me too busy to do much hunting and shooting. I had no idea it was non-corrosive until a couple of years ago when I was making up some hunting rounds and while labeling the box "hunting rounds" I noticed that I was using a red marker over the words "non-corrosive". I stopped using them right then and there since I was thinking of buying a x39 in a bolt action. So glad I did.
So far i'm with you on this guys , but I need some clarification on bullet sizes here . I have a Norinco , and I have a Russian , I bought the Last 100 hornady bullets in .310 that Cabela's had in MB last year , and haven't seen any since , What other bullets can I use ? I have been told that the SKS bore is .310, you can use a smaller bullet but not bigger has always been the rule ,but from here I seem to see that is not necessarily true ?? . So my question is can I use a .311 or not ? and What bullet do you recommend ? Also I am looking for soft point as well not FMJ . Any help would be appreciated.
The thing you need to be concerned about is the neck clearance. If the bullet is large enough in diameter that it "pinches" the neck when chambered, pressures will soar. I've never run into an SKS with a tight chamber. If the bullet you want to use will slide easily into a round fired in your gun, you will be fine.
princerobin
Member
- Location
- Kingston, ON
Just a note on my experience doing this...
Works fine, makes a cheap plinking round. Pulled the bullets with my milling machine and a 5/16" collet. However accuracy was poor, the bullets are a little small for my p14 they are 0.3105 instead of the 0.312 it seems to like. I think there is insufficient pressure to bump them up well during firing.
They definitely required crimping with my Lee dies, there wasn't enough neck tension. These will be NON-corrosive as it's the primers that contain the salts, not the powder. Never tried loading them to full power with the pulled down powder.
Robin
Works fine, makes a cheap plinking round. Pulled the bullets with my milling machine and a 5/16" collet. However accuracy was poor, the bullets are a little small for my p14 they are 0.3105 instead of the 0.312 it seems to like. I think there is insufficient pressure to bump them up well during firing.
They definitely required crimping with my Lee dies, there wasn't enough neck tension. These will be NON-corrosive as it's the primers that contain the salts, not the powder. Never tried loading them to full power with the pulled down powder.
Robin
What to do with the empty primed cases from the 7.62? Last year I reloaded them with their own powder and used a 125 grain V-max bullet in .311 diameter. Obviously, I was able to monitor the amount of powder that went in each one so they are all the same now. I have yet to test the accuracy because as luck would have it I wound up in the hospital and have been stuck in bed for the last 6 months. Talk about how to drive a dude crazy!!! Can't wait to get out to the range to load test.
Funny you mention that Andy, I was talking with a friend at the gunshop a while back and he said the same thing about using .311 round balls in the .303 brit and sks. I would like to try it but the mould I ordered in June is still on back order...
When I get the mold it is one of the first things I plan to try.
Cactus
If you tap into the case mouth, it becomes like a "heeled" bullet, and you can use standard blackpowder 0.315" round balls. Anything smaller gives very little bearing surface as it's a sphere, not a cylinder. I've gone as large as #0 Buck (0.320"), and fooled with sizing it to 0.312" or using them as is. That sounds very large, but they size down very easily upon firing. After seating, dab some lube on the exposed surface (alox, beeswax, whatever you prefer).
h.letourneau
CGN Regular
- Location
- Quebec City.
I finally finished testing some loads . I began with the content of a standard 7,62x39 load (24grs) and continue working up one grain at a time.I was shooting with my Enfield NoI markIII* with open sight at 50 yards.
At 24 grs the grouping (5 shots) was 1 1/2". It stayed that way until I hit the 28grs mark: I was able to maintain 3/4" to 1" groups. At 30 grs the grouping began to open up.
I'm very satisfied with the result and from now on 28grs of SKS powder with the 123grs SKS bullet is the way to go for me in my NoI markIII* Lee Enfield.
At 24 grs the grouping (5 shots) was 1 1/2". It stayed that way until I hit the 28grs mark: I was able to maintain 3/4" to 1" groups. At 30 grs the grouping began to open up.
I'm very satisfied with the result and from now on 28grs of SKS powder with the 123grs SKS bullet is the way to go for me in my NoI markIII* Lee Enfield.
