7.62 x 39 surplus ammo comparision questions

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Robert Nicholson

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Could you all give me input on the comparision between 7.62 X 39 Romanian surplus (with red seals) versus Sellier & Bellot on stripper clips?
Both of these are readily available to me in British Columbia at low cost. The Sellier & Bellot has the advantage of being on stripper clips but
is there any quality difference between them? I've read Ganderite's sticky on ammo accuracy comparision but I don't shoot well enough (yet)
to notice much difference between these two ammos. However, the Sellier & Bellot seems to have better long range (300yards) performance
in one of my SKS. Is this likely to be just a fluke? Is each and every case of old surplus a gamble as to quality? Thanks for helping.
 
Me thinks that you're over thinking this some what. An SKS at 300 yards is minute of barn door no matter what ammo you use. If you're looking for long range performance, look at something different to fire.

Just buy what's available and blast away. I prefer the non-corrosive Ukranian stuff myself.
 
The Romanian i have is brass cased so I guess it could be reloaded or at least worth some $ as scrap. The chech stuff is preloaded on stripper clips and comes in a nice little lockable crate.
Both go bang and generally in a straight line out to about 100yds
 
Robert Nicholson said:
Could you all give me input on the comparision between 7.62 X 39 Romanian surplus (with red seals) versus Sellier & Bellot on stripper clips?
Both of these are readily available to me in British Columbia at low cost. The Sellier & Bellot has the advantage of being on stripper clips but
is there any quality difference between them? I've read Ganderite's sticky on ammo accuracy comparision but I don't shoot well enough (yet)
to notice much difference between these two ammos. However, the Sellier & Bellot seems to have better long range (300yards) performance
in one of my SKS. Is this likely to be just a fluke? Is each and every case of old surplus a gamble as to quality? Thanks for helping.
Click to expand...

Living in BC and having purchased both types of ammo from the same sources as you and having fired crates of both of them in multiple rifles I can say this:

The Czech ammo tends to be more precise in my rifles, the stripper clips are handy and it is less dirty. However, it smells much worse.
 
I haven't used the Czech x39 but from all accounts it goes bang everytime, so does the Romanian x39, I'm almost through a crate of it at the moment. It would come down to price vs. if I needed more stripper clips. In the end your left with an empty wooden crate and a #### eating grin and so if you want to have a bunch of strippers to load more ammo into then go with the Czech, if you don't care for the stripper clips get Romanian. Hell, get both. You won't not shoot it that's for sure lol.
 
never really see a difference in the few sks i got or even the cz858 , but in my xcr-l the romanian brass case tend to be a little more accurate , too bad im nearly out of that stuff ...
 
I can't tell you about 300 yards but I own several types of 7.62 x 39... Russian, Romanian & Czech. Based on performance and packaging I have always really liked the Czech on stripper clips

But really at 100 yards (which is what the SKS was designed for) they all go bang and do the job, in my experience.
 
Sellier & Bellot isn't surplus.
An SKS at 300 with any ammo is wishful thinking. Hornady factory(123 grains), sighted in at 200(snicker) drops 14.4 inches between 300 and 400. With only 644 ft/lbs. of energy at 300.
In any case, if you're not reloading, you must try a box of as many brands as you can to find the ammo your rifle shoots best.
 
It's widely known that the Czech surplus ammo was made by S&B, which is why it's marketed as such. It's not sold in S&B cardboard boxes, but if it came off their production lines...

I agree with your comment about the optimism of x39 at 300m. It truly was a doctrine round and necessitated a full section taking shots to hit at that range. Part of why the Soviets replaced it with the 5.45...
 
Who is selling SKS that has performance at 300yd?

My XCR with non-corrosive is MOA+ at 100, Minute of Clay pigeon at 200 and minute of moon at 300.
 
Back in the day I tried every surplus x39 I could get my hands on. In MY rifle, the Czech was the clear winner with tighter groups.

EDIT: Nowadays I only shoot the non corrosive from Can-Am. Both the white box Norinco and the Dominion ammo work well for me. I won't be going back to surplus corrosive.

Thanks,
Cal.
 
Thank you all for your responses. I will buy the Czech S&B for the convenience of the stripper clips and try a case of non-Corrosive from CanadaAmmo soon.
About the 300 yard thing; It was fun! Try it. I got a 24 inch group of four hits with five shots while sitting at a range table with a sand bag to rest my 1950 Tula.
Iron sights, no modification -refurb, newbie with old eyes.
 
I use the Czech lacquered steel stuff predominantly, but Im currently shooting Romanian brass.
My main SKS shooter is lazer, so accuracy ratings from me are negligible. Both are equal performers IMHO.
Some say the downside to the Czech stuff is the laqueur build up in the gun.
I notice the residue and flakes, but I clean my SKS same day and quite well, so no problems that I've encountered.
I also actually find the Romainain to be dirtier and smelliest.
 
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