.303 plinkers

[Cocked&Locked]

Has anyone loaded up 129 grn 7.62X39 bullets in .303 brit? I'm thinking of experimenting with a plinking load and have some 129 gr soft points and some 110 gr round nose that are the right diameter but I'm unsure as to what powder to try. Any suggestions?

 

[steve49]

Good morning,
I use 4759 or 4198 with the 125 grainers....I load light for around 2000 fps as a plinking /fun/coyote in the yard load......it has less blast and is easier on brass which can be a problem with .303s....if I start with new brass I 'fit' it to the specific gun to minimize stretch and brass loss.....then neck size....

the recent Speer manuals show reduced loads for most cartridges


any 'quicker' powder will do...3031, 4895 even Reloader 7 and probably dozens more.........you can even try cast bullets or the nifty little jacked hollowpoints for the .32 H&R magnum....
Steve

 

[grouch]

Why fool with jacketted bullets for plinkers? You can do it cheaper, better and with far more versatility with cast bullets.

 

[Splatter]

I had good luck transfering the bullet and powder charge from the Czech surplus 7.62x39 for cheap plinking rounds.

 

[Cocked&Locked]

Why fool with jacketted bullets for plinkers? You can do it cheaper, better and with far more versatility with cast bullets.

Because I have them, where as I'd have to buy some cast ones

 

[sunray]

"...good luck transfering the bullet and powder charge..." Luck is right. You have no idea what powder it is or if it's suitable for a much larger case. Using unknown powders is mucho unsafe.

 

[david doyle]

Search CANAM's posts it is done lots.

 

[Cocked&Locked]

Search CANAM's posts it is done lots.

Thanks, will do!

 

[ZuluMike]

Try 27.5 gr of H-4895. It's 60% of the max load in the Hornady manual for 123 gr bullets and 60% of H-4895 is recommended by Hoggdon for reduced loads.

 

[poweredbybeer]

you can even try cast bullets or the nifty little jacked hollowpoints for the .32 H&R magnum....
Steve

I noticed this myself a while ago, while browsing Lee's bullet mold selection on their website. They have 3 different bullet molds for 32 S&W and 32 Colt New Police, all 3 of which are listed as .311 nominal OD (93 grain RN, 100 grain RN and 90 grain SWC, respectively). Would these bullets work in a 7.62x39mm chamber, in an SKS for example? I wonder if one could rival milsurp costs if reloading w/cast bullets...

 

[Splatter]

They would, and you can. Using light charges of pistol powders you could approach the cost of .22rf.
However, the best performing 7.62x39 plinker loads I tried (in a Mini30, not an SKS) was a light charge of 4198 behind a 170 grain flat point GC. This gave decent accuracy and would reliably cycle the action. You'll have to get pretty warm if you want to cycle the action with a 90 grain pill.

 

[poweredbybeer]

^ Cool I kinda like the 90 grain semi-wadcutters, but the ability to cycle the action was my first thought when considering light plinking loads. I'm also wondering if the amount of powder required to reliably run the gas system would create high enough velocities to cause leading of the bore & gas port on an SKS? Conversely, I wonder how fast you could get those little 93 gr. RN's or the 90 gr. wadcutters going? I'm talkin' hard-cast, of course, or gas checked (if it's even worth it for plinker loads). 2700 fps in an SKS with a 90 grain bullet would probably be fun, and accurate as well Hmmmm, more money to spend and more work to do, by the sounds of it...