Russian surplus powder 7.62x39

Fox

Fox

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I broke down 100 7.62x39 surplus that I had sitting around for the bullets for plinking with the 303 Brit.

I did not want to do straight Mexican match with these but thought I could weigh the charge, compare to known data and get an idea of the burn rate then get a load, well, I weighed a load and got 24.2gr of powder, which lines up to IMR 4198 and even looks like IMR 4198. Now that I have an idea that it is a similar burn rate to IMR 4198 I notice that this is too fast a powder for the 303 Brit.

Any comments on my findings? I will probably just load H4895 for the 303 Brit loads but maybe I can use this surplus powder for 7.62x39 non-corrosive loads?

Thanks
 
Don't know how it would work in 303 British,but I'm using this powder in the BD44,7.92x33,download it to 22 gr,works very well.
Only way to find out is to try it,start low and work up.
 
If you are loading the 7.62 x 39 bullet in the 303 case, use the full charge of surplus powder for a nice mild load. Or 2 gr more for a bit more snap.

It would also be a good powder for loading cast bullets.
 
I have found the simple powder swap produces insane velocity spreads which really isn't surprising. I add another percentage of powder to produce stable loads.
 
I have done the straight swap - powder & bullet from 7.62x39 into .303 British, then loaded a cast bullet into the primed x39 case and charged it with Unique. I have a beater Chinese military SKS that I plugged the gas off and fire it straight pull bolt style.

I'll have to check the velocity in the .303. Ganderite may be on to something, maybe a great discovery! :p

I've also used 7.62x54R for powder and bullet in .303, but only used about 75% of the 54R powder. Then I used Unique and a cast bullet in the primed 54R case.
 
Ganderite said:
If you are loading the 7.62 x 39 bullet in the 303 case, use the full charge of surplus powder for a nice mild load. Or 2 gr more for a bit more snap.

It would also be a good powder for loading cast bullets.
Click to expand...

This was my thought, just a little more powder, but the burn rate is really fast for the 303 Brit, is this a problem at all?

I was thinking 26gr or so rather than the 24.2gr that was in the 7.62x39 case but since there is no data I do not want to risk anything.
 
Ganderite said:
It might be fast for a 175 gr bullet, but is about right for a 123gr.

Try 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30. Light plinker loads. You could work up to as much as 34 gr.
Click to expand...

I just did not notice any 4198 load for 303 Brit 125gr bullet, this is why I was asking, if the powder weight was higher than it would have lined up with a powder that is shot in both the 7.62x39 and 303 Brit.
 
4198 powder works fine in 303 with any bullet weight but won't be the optimum powder for highest velocity for the heavier bullets. That said, D4198 with 200 gr cast works great and costs pennies to shoot.
 
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Could check the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook. I've used the reduced cast bullet data with jackets bullets of the same weight to produce some really light plinking rounds. I know 4198 is in there for the .303 for various bullet weights.
 
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