Bullet options for 7.62x39

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c3pppo

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Hi folks. I've got a Robarms XCR that I want to start reloading for in 7.62x39. I've got a couple of boxes of Hornady 123gr .310 bullets that are specced for this calibre, but I was looking for something a little heavier to take advantage of the 1/9 twist of the barrel. I came across the Hornady #3131 bullet, which is .3105 174gr intended for use in .303. I'm wondering what your thoughts might be on using this as an alternative target bullet. I'm not interested in hunting with this calibre, paper only.

For those who don't know, the barrel is 18.6 inches. A little short for a good target shooter I would think, but I like to try to wring as much precision as I can out of my toys.

So; too heavy ?. Too big ? What are your thoughts. ?
 
.311 bullets made for 303 british should work fine.

You might also want to actually try .308 dia bullets in your rifle. Lots of fellows, myself included, use .308 with some success in 303 Brit rifles, that are really made for .311 bullets. If your gun does fine with the .308 bullets then bob's your uncle, 'cause you've got a whole world of bullet choices!

As far as weight, I've shot .308 dia 165's in my SKS ...
 
Interesting. I happen to have a thousand 150gr .308 that Hornady sent me as a reward for buying their Lock n Load press. I was thinking that they are a little too light for my .308 1/10 Savage, but if they work in the XCR I'd be mighty pleased.

Anyone else ?
 
7,62x39

There are 150 grn bullet loads in most to the major reloading manuals. My Ruger M77 has a 308" bore as does the Ruger Mini 30. The Sierra Manual states that they tried 310 bullets in a Ruger and 308 bullets in a SKS and were surprised that they obtained acceptable results in both instances.
 
Hornady 150 grain .312's, and all the WC-735 I could cram in the case (28-ish grains, if memory serves). It was the most accurate load I ever had in my old Mini-30, and about 2230FPS muzzle velocity. Had I ever gone hunting with that gun, that's the load I would have gone with.

Or, as said -- try .308's -- you might be pleasantly surprised.
 
My 7.62 x 39 in my AR has a 16 inch barrel and consistently shoots around 1 inch (5 shots at 100 yds). If you are looking for accuracy I would use Rel 7 with the Hornady 123 gr. VMax and a match primer. That has worked very well for me and I'm shooting the javelina at 300 m easily with this load. I don't know that a heavier bullet would necessarily give you the best accuracy if that is what you are looking for.
 
Rugerman and all the rest, thanks. The replies have intrigued me me enough to consider doing some load development. Ideally, I'd like to come up with something that get's this cartridge working a little better at longer distances.

Currently, using S&B factory ammo at 123gr, I'm seeing about 2300 fps average and about 7.5 inches drop between a 100m zero and 200m target.

I'm thinking of a number of possibilities. As I said I have some heavier .308 bullets and if they work reasonably well in my barrel, then I'm thinking that I could start working toward some heavier weights. trying to get a better BC. If that works, I'm thinking that I could try some of that Reloader 17 I have sitting here looking for something to do., since it seems to like working with heavier bullets.

My XCR, now that I've got a couple of hundred rounds through it, seems to have decided it wants to be a 1 MOA rifle. It worried me at first spraying bullets around the neighbourhood but has settled down quite nicely. I'm thinking I'll have to put a better scope on for this kind of testing ( currently a 1.5-5x30 ) . Oh'well :).

I love a new project and this seems like something that could be quite entertaining.

167gr Lapua Scenars.....hmmmm...
 
Bullet Options

I'm having a hard time locating .310 bullets. WSS in Edmt has some, $55 for a box of 50 (must be Unobtanium tipped)

I found some Sierra 130gr .311 for a good price.

Would it be ok (safe) to shoot .311 out of my XCR 7.62x39 ?
 
c3pppo said:
. . .My XCR, now that I've got a couple of hundred rounds through it, seems to have decided it wants to be a 1 MOA rifle. It worried me at first spraying bullets around the neighbourhood but has settled down quite nicely. I'm thinking I'll have to put a better scope on for this kind of testing ( currently a 1.5-5x30 ) . Oh'well :).

I love a new project and this seems like something that could be quite entertaining.

167gr Lapua Scenars.....hmmmm...
Click to expand...

I am using the same scope. I think it 's more than adequate for load development at 100m. After that, it's just elevation adjustment. I wouldn't worry about the scope that much. I would concentrate more on load development. Just my .02 cents worth.
 
Zeb said:
my concern is using .311 in a .310 bore.
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Ah, gotcha.

You might find that max pressures and velocities are reached sooner that they would be with .310" bullets. Other than that, no problem. There's even a possibility that the .311s might shoot a bit more accurately, even moreso if your ".310" barrel is actually a bit oversized.

(All but one of my .308 Win target barrels are actually .307" bore diameter, and Krieger even made .3065" barrel. There used to be theories that with short .30 cal bullets, e.g. 150 grain match bullets or NATO military bullets, that it was a good idea to squash the bullets down a bit in order to get more bearing surface and a straighter ride through the bore. That theory is mostly fading these days I think, in that people do expect to get good results with .3080" barrels using and the 155 target bullets.)
 
Zeb said:
my concern is using .311 in a .310 bore.
Click to expand...

Have no fear about that -- I've fired everything from .307 to .312 bullets in my old Mini-30 (.309-ish bore, my calipers said). Never a problem, never any change in pressures that I could tell. The .312's were the most accurate bullets in that gun.


YMMV.
 
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